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It might come as a shock to stfassisi and MarkBsnr that they are classed as "Protestants".

I don't know why you misinterpret almost everything I write, I don't know if it's me or if it's you. It shouldn't come as a massive shock that I'm inclined to believe it's you.

I'm not calling stfassisi and MarkBsnr Protestants, I'm saying that if people want to believe in total depravity we Catholics (among whom I include stfassisi and MarkBsnr) might as well let them.

Catholics don't believe in total depravity, Calvinists believe in total depravity: Since a Calvinist believes in total depravity that belief is going to color everything. IF Calvinist A believes in total depravity, fine, let him be totally depraved, at least it's consistent with what he believes.

Therefore the statement "Only a mind that believes in total depravity would..." can easily work as "only a totally depraved mind of a Calvinist would..." Good grief, how can it even be an insult when it's a foundational belief of the whole crazy system? See, "crazy system" is insulting because Calvinists don't believe their system is crazy, but totally depraved shouldn't be because THEY BELIEVE IN TOTAL DEPRAVITY. At the same time Catholics don't believe in total depravity so we don't see everything and everyone around us as totally depraved, including ourselves.

Of course this has nothing to do with the Unitarian doctrine of Total Ridiculousness. Probably... maybe...

Good grief, how can it even be an insult when it's a foundational belief of the whole crazy system? See, "crazy system" is insulting because Calvinists don't believe their system is crazy, but totally depraved shouldn't be because THEY BELIEVE IN TOTAL DEPRAVITY. At the same time Catholics don't believe in total depravity so we don't see everything and everyone around us as totally depraved, including ourselves.

Good job putting things in perspective.

If O REG wants to get into an in depth look at Calvin's ridiculous doctrine of total depravity than he ought to start a thread on it.

It's been discussed here many times, at nausea

IF Calvinist A believes in total depravity, fine, let him be totally depraved, at least it's consistent with what he believes.

Gk Chesterton sums it perfectly

"Protestants are Catholics gone wrong; that is what is really meant by saying they are Christians. Sometimes they have gone very wrong; but not often have they have gone right ahead with their own particular wrong. Thus a Calvinist is a Catholic obsessed with the Catholic idea of the sovereignty of God. But when he makes it mean that God wishes particular people to be damned,we may say with all restraint that he has become a rather morbid Catholic"-GK Chestrton