I actually think you are the one that keeps wanting to argue simply because it appears you can't accept the fact that people leave Catholicism fully aware of what it teaches and the history it proposes it has come from. I find it quite telling, and sad, how many Catholics on this forum refuse to believe someone can be a completely committed and strong Christian and have the assurance of salvation that comes from that and NOT be a Roman Catholic.
There have been a few that have come right out and stated that former Catholics WILL NOT be saved no matter how much they love and follow Jesus Christ as long as they resist going back to the Catholic church. An atheist is given a better chance at salvation than an ex-catholic - imagine that! Shouldn't it be a goal of ALL Christians to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ rather than trying to get them to join a church? Isn't it possible that Almighty God is able to draw all mankind to Him through Christ and that church fellowship comes AFTER that relationship is started?
If you notice on these kinds of threads it isn't the non-Catholic Christians who are trying to get people to leave their local church to join theirs. What gets disputed here is what is seen as false doctrine - what are called damnable heresies Peter's epistle warns about:
That's what we are trying to battle against, not just picking on Roman Catholics. That a few RCs like to keep the pot of dissension stirred up between them and non-Catholics is pretty blatant - it's been going on for years. A few, I think, abuse the privilege of posting threads on this website by using it as a stand-in for creating their OWN site and I don't see many of their names on the donor lists every quarter, either. Now, perhaps they imagine they are doing the Lord's work by promoting Catholicism, I don't know. But what I do know is there are a LOT of good strong Christians on this site who are not Catholic and are offended by some of the threads that deliberately provoke. One of the things the Lord says He hates is he that sows discord, spreads strife and stirs up conflict in the community. (Proverbs 6:19) If Catholics truly want to participate on OPEN Religion Forum threads then it comes with the territory that their views may be argued against and challenged. We are remanded by Peter:
It's something we should ALL strive for don't you think?
I agree that a person sincerely seeking truth can be saved. However, I usually find that those who leave or reject Catholisism are just mistaken about its teaching. Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
What I’ve noticed is that Catholics tend to post threads that promote Catholicism and keep people abreast on the happenings within the Catholic church. They strongly contend for people joining the Catholic church, even as far as claiming they are not saved for not doing so.
The thread s posted by non-Catholic Christians are the prayer threads, the devotional threads, Bible study threads, the threads that encourage right relationship with Christ, and don’t ever, that I can ever recall seeing, try to encourage or bully or threaten people with hell-fire for NOT joining their own denomination.
I have almost no idea of where most of the other non-Catholic Christians who post on this forum attend church, or what their denominational affiliation is and it doesn’t matter!
I. DON’T. CARE.
If they have come to Christ in faith for forgiveness and are born again/born from above, that’s good enough for me, whether I agree with them on everything or not.
It sure is interesting, though, to notice the focus of the Catholics vs the non-Catholics.
One is on a church. The other is on Christ.