"Delusional" works

Post #319,523 by drook 1/4/10 2:10:52 PM Reply	"Delusional" works The other way to put it is that anyone who questions that "We believe" thing is not a "good Catholic". The organization dictates an all-or-nothing acceptance of what it teaches. "Good Catholics" reconcile the fact that "the Church" has at times changed its mind or done bad things with the explanation I gave: Those were cases of human fallibility, not an indictment of "the Church". When "the Church" does something good, it's evidence of God's will working through true believers. When "the Church" does something bad, it's cases of imperfect humans refusing to follow God's will. When "the Church" decides that something that was true before is no longer true, or vice-versa, it's evidence that the previous "truth" was based on imperfect understanding of God's revealed wisdom. In all of that, feel free to replace "good" with "things I agree with" and "bad" with "things I disagree with" to get the practical reality of how most Catholics live. People don't generally do things they don't want to, nor refrain from from things they do want, just because the Church tells them to. See divorce, premarital sex, and birth control for the easy examples. -- Drew
Post #319,530 by static 1/4/10 5:20:21 PM Reply	+5, Insightful. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.
Post #319,531 by drook 1/4/10 5:28:23 PM Reply	Do you think protestants are different? I know Catholics better, having been raised that way. But most of what I said applies to most religions, in my opinion. I agree with your point above about Catholics and ritual, but most "believers" of any flavor seem all too willing to disregard inconvenient pieces of the scripture they claim to believe in, and to disavow any supposed fellow believer who isn't practicing the "right" way. -- Drew
Post #319,534 by static 1/4/10 6:06:48 PM Reply	Yes and no. The short answer is that Evangelical Protestants would say they're not so tied to ritual, but when they are, they hide it better both from themselves and from others. They would probably not see that arguments over when in the service that communion is held is much different. I've seen a church lose a lot of people because of huge frictions over the teaching: it could be argued that some people were trying to disavow their own pastor but the methods employed were indirect and thus unpleasant for many. :-/ A lot of people attending any sort of church would match your description. Those steeped in organisation, process and ritual would tend to emphasise the Do The Right Things At The Right Time approach that you see in Catholics. AFAIK, High Anglicans do the nearly the same things and I'm sure most Orthodox churches would be in a similar mold. Even JWs and Mormons would be similar. Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.
Post #319,535 by crazy 1/4/10 6:34:33 PM Reply	Rent 9 http://www.youtube.c...tch?v=wcKD7Wh14Xs "Sometimes fear is the appropriate response" The guy saying it is their token religious dictator wannabe. But not really.

Welcome to IWETHEY!