Why do so many right-wing Christians continue to lie about Catholicism, even after Catholics set them straight?

Man...I've SHOWN CJ in multiple places where the Catechism clearly states that works aren't always necessary and he's still spouting his lies. If someone wants to hate something, then they'll hate it.

I mean - how are you supposed to convince such a person of the beliefs of Catholics when that person simply assumes that since you're a dirty Catholic, you must be trying to trick them with lies?

Sometimes I feel like they wouldn't even believe me if I told them the sky was blue.

To answer your question - I don't think it's ignorance or deliberate slander. Some of them are simply ignorant, but you can identify those people easily because they're actually receptive to correction, but you're not asking about them.

There are a fair amount of people out there that truly believe that the Catholic Church and all of its members are an insidious organization determined to pull every soul they can to hell. In other words - they think we're Satanists in disguise, or at least dupes of satan. As a result, they feel that nothing we say should be trusted, even about our own beliefs. CJ, for example, has easily crossed the line into deliberate slander, but for the most part it comes from a decision to assume ill intentions instead of assuming good faith. That is neither deliberate, nor understandable. Though it is really crappy and wrong.

edit - JP2's quote in CJ's link is of zero relation to works or a works based salvation. The word "works" isn't even in it. See how blatantly deceptive he is?

Personally, Fundamentalist dont know dirt about Catholicism. They just talk about what they know, and find a way to twist Catholicism as being some evil religion. Dont read any anti-catholic site, they will just bash catholics. Actually, fundamentalist complain about the Mainline Churches and the orthodox churches claiming to know so much about them. Instead, they dont know anything about other branches of Christianity.

It is difficult to correct any position after you have made a behavioral commitment to that position. In psychology, this is Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. Our ideas change to conform to our behavior rather than taking a more difficult step to change our behavior to bring it in line with the truth.

Our Protestant friends are heavily invested in their religious behavior, which includes tithing to man-made organizations developed to oppose the church, teaching in their Sunday Schools, and working in their charitable projects. These actions aren't all bad, but they commit Protestants to the errors of Protestantism, most notably salvation by faith alone (which relieves them of the concrete actions required by Christianity) and scripture alone as the only source of revelatory truth (which allows every reader to be a private interpreter of Christianity),

I hope all seekers of truth will at least allow that Catholics do not worship statues, nor do they worship Mary, nor do we expect to earn our way into heaven through good works. I hope they can at least recognize that not all priests are pedophiles (probably none in the last 30 years), and that Catholic sacred tradition comes from Jesus and is not man-made (though Catholics have developed traditions like Christmas celebrations). I hope all will recognize that Catholics are Christians, indeed, the original Christians of the Bible. Arguing positions as discredited as those you have listed demonstrates prejudice and a closed mind, and discredits the poster as a truth seeker.

Cheers,

Bruce

Pride.

FOR THE HERETIC "CJ"

----CJ says: "There is no "pope" in the Bible. Every "pope" is a false prophet."

~~~The bible says~~~

Titus 1:

7 For a bishop as God's steward must be blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain,

8 but hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled,

9 holding fast to the true message as taught so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.

~~~The Dictionary says~~~

pope (pp)

n.

1. often Pope Roman Catholic Church The bishop of Rome and head of the Roman Catholic Church on earth.

bish·op (bshp)

n.

1. A high-ranking Christian cleric, in modern churches usually in charge of a diocese and in some churches regarded as having received the highest ordination in unbroken succession from the apostles.

Understandable ignorance or deliberate slander? A little bit of both. They probably don't truly understand the practices of the Church or even what Catholicism stands for. Of course, sometimes, they don't want to and would prefer to go on preconceived notions.

Former President Jimmy Carter said it best...

"The fundamentalists believe they have a unique relationship with God, and that they and their ideas are God's ideas and God's premises on the particular issue. Therefore, by definition since they are speaking for God anyone who disagrees with them is inherently wrong. And the next step is: Those who disagree with them are inherently inferior, and in extreme cases -- as is the case with some fundamentalists around the world -- it makes your opponents sub-humans, so that their lives are not significant."

Yeah I hear what your saying. I just try to let it go over my head. Anyway to say a catholic is not christian is ridiculous as christian means to be christ like which is to be kind to others. Not really meant to be the name of a religion. I hope thats what you meant by right wing

>right-wing Christians

I think I found the problem.

>Understandable ignorance or deliberate slander?

Neither. It's deliberate ignorance.

For some reason the extreme right wing movement is a dysfunctional movement that claims it is their way or nothing.

I also feel they claim to know God better than anyone and feel they have the right to judge others, not just catholics.

This movement has done so much harm to the christian community.

Deliberate slander 99% of the time.