I am reply to the first post since I don’t want to single anyone out but I do hope that this is read by those that would benefit from it.
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As a lifelong Catholic I continue to be amazed and saddened by the hatred that is expressed by our protestant brothers on this forum. I grew up in the 60’s and was never taught to hate people from other religions and am amazed that the same apparently did not hold true for other Christian faiths. In fact I never experienced such hatred in person which leads me to believe that many of the things said here would never be said directly to a Catholic’s face. How very sad.
If your anger is because someone in the Catholic Church hurt you, let me be the first to apologize. People and institutions are not perfect and God knows the Catholic Church, and people acting on Her behalf, have made many mistakes over the years. For those harmed in such a way, I pray that God brings a Catholic into your life that can show you that true Catholics and the true Church doctrine is not as evil as you must believe it is (to express such hatred) and that you might once again return to the Church.
If your anger is not due to personal experience but rather biased teachings all I can ask is why? What is your purpose in expressing such hatred? Are you trying to convert us to your way of thinking? Such vitriol is never effective. I might understand you taking such strong positions if you were speaking out about current failings of the Church. In that case, I would be right there with you. We need to shine light on any evil practices to preserve the Church for future generations. In my studies of the faith I have yet to see a ‘bad’ Church teaching that was not eventually corrected. Likewise, evil actions taken by those within the Church (such as the pedophile priests) have always been denounced – perhaps not as quickly as they should but we are moving in the correct direction.
But it is not current practices that you are spewing hatred for on this thread. You have been presented with the current teachings on cremation and why the Church objected in the past. You might believe that there were other reasons for the past positions but what does that matter? In fact, if you are not a Catholic, what do even the current teachings matter? If you disagree so be it. That is why you are not Catholic. What is it to you that we Catholics might believe differently? If believe that some crime is being committed by all means please expose it. If it is just a difference in belief do you really need to be so argumentative?
As Christians we have many things in common. I might remind you that even your forefathers were Catholics for the first 1,500 years after Christ’s birth. I have studied the differences and am comfortable with my choice to be a Catholic. I trust you have done the same. I won’t try to convince you of the righteousness of my belief unless you express an interest in discussing them. Is it too much to ask to be shown the same level of respect?
In any case, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year!
I haven’t spewed anything to anyone on any religious thread, and I have seen some anger directed at Catholics. I have also seen anger and vitriol directed against Protestants by Catholics simply because protestants don’t believe in all of the same things that Catholics do. It goes both ways.