| Re: Why are SUVs and Christianity similar?
>>>>> My parents were Catholic when I was born and gave it up because of the
>>>>> weekly donation issue. It seemed to them that the church was out for
>>>>> the money and people were trying to buy their way into Heaven.
>>>> Had to drop in here. Your up bringing is the problem. The Catholic
>>>> church, in most non-catholic's opinions, DOES NOT follow the true
>>>> teachings of Christ and therefore are not a true Christian church.
>
> You're just describing the centuries-old rift between Catholics and
> Protestants (some of whom, primarily Lutherans, still accept the primacy
> of the Pope). If I were Catholic I'm sure we could get into a heated
> debate about it.
>>> The Pope is just the figurehead of the church and does not make many
>>> decisions. It is the Cardinals that tell the Pope what to say.
>
> Nonsense. It is Catholic dogma to excommunicate anybody who challenges the
> Pope's primacy. The *nature* of his primacy can be debated, but his
If that were true then it seems to me that 90% of the US Catholics should be
kicked out. They are openly thumbing their noses at him and his teachings
on birth control, divorce and more.
> As I said, I'm not Catholic myself, but I've spent enough time with
> practicing Catholics to have learned a thing or two....
Ask them if they are following the teachings of the church on all things.
Only a handful of the "practicing Catholics" I have known through my life (I
dated one for a while) were what I would call true Catholics, i.e. following
the teachings of the church. The rest looked at them as guidelines not
rules.
>> Heck most of the Catholics I know don't even follow their own rules.
>
> Most of the "religious" people I know, regardless of faith, don't follow
> their own rules.
Which is my point. I'm telling you I'm a vegetarian but I eat pork, beef,
chicken and fish. Now am I a vegetarian or not?
I can tell you I'm a Catholic (not to pick on them but because we have been
talking about them) but I don't go to mass, have sex outside marriage, use
birth control and support abortion on demand. Now am I a Catholic?
To me the answer to both questions is a huge NO.
>
> That said, there's actually a process by which Catholics can formally
> question some of the tenets of the church without being excommunicated. I
> forget what it's called, what can be questioned, and the details about how
> it works, but it's an involved enough process that I'm guessing the people
> you're talking about are merely lapsed to some degree and not "officially"
> questioning the church.... :-)
My point had very little to do with Catholics in specific. I picked them
because they are world known and I know a little about their religion. My
point was and is you can't condemn a group based on actions of people who
are only claiming to be members of that group.
|