To continue, “Why did you become a Catholic?” is a different question from “Why did you become a Christian?” What’s the reason for that difference? Well, here’s a clue: http://rainhadocanto10-evangelicalchristian.blogspot.com/2010/08/roman-catholic-church-is-not-christian.html
This is only one of many “Christian” anti-Catholic sites, of course. A friend sent it to me this morning; the title of yesterday’s post (“Christianity vs. Catholicism”) attempts to answer the exact question I asked.
Catholics scratch their heads over this sort of thing. Where does this stuff come from? Dutifully ecumenical-minded, they ask questions like, “My goodness, if these people don’t want to be Catholic, okay, but why do they hate us? We accept them, we acknowledge the validity of their faith. Shouldn’t all Christians want unity—if not in the same church, at least in the same faith in Christ.”
Well, the links on the sample blog cited above link love of country to Christianity. What kind of Christianity? Any of the 28,000 or so protestant denominations currently active. The only Christian denomination they hate is Catholicism. Why? Where does it come from? From the English Deformation—which had the same motive. All the lies—historical, (e.g., “The Inquisition killed and tortured millions of people because they disagreed with the Pope”), theological (the ever-popular “Catholics worship Mary”), even linguistic (“Call no man ‘father’”, and of course, “Jesus’ ‘brethren’”)—not some, but all the lies have their origin in 16th century English anti-papal propaganda. American protestants inherited that ___. What was the English motive? Actually, American anti-Catholics can look at their own motive because it’s the same: concentration of power (and faith is the greatest power there is) in the state. What did England fear? Authority that supercedes the state’s. What do the patriotic American anti-Catholics fear? The same thing.
And the left-leaning folks, usually secular, humanist, atheist, or some combination of these, fear the same thing. Strange bedfellows for evangelical sorts, it may seem, but they actually have one binding aim that the evangelicals don’t recognize—kill the authority of the Church. Any pro-choice or pro-homosexual activist prudently expresses public approval of “Christianity”, keeping his more honest opinions to himself; it’s a policy that has borne good political fruit: “Christian” means “open minds, open hearts, open doors”, as the Methodists now advertise themselves. And American Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson says that rejection of homosexuality is “not Christian”. So, “Christian” is okay, they say, only “Catholic” is evil.
Catholics aren’t Christians, but Catholics. Ask anybody, including Christians. On either side of the Atlantic, on either end of the political spectrum.
What does the term conversion mean then? Does it mean love of country? Does it mean loyalty to one’s cultural or national identity above all other loyalties? Or perhaps it means a belief in one’s own judgment as supreme moral authority—and if supreme, shouldn’t it be “shared” with unenlightened others? If it means any of these things, it may be a conversion to something, but not to Christianity. If, however, one recognizes all these as mere extensions of the self, one has converted to Christianity, which means one has become Catholic.
So, when someone asks me why I became a Catholic, I answer, “Because I believe in Christ.” When they repeat the question, “But why did you become a Catholic?” my answer is “I just told you.”
Or you could answer the repeated question, “I want to be in full communion with Him.” Or, “I don’t simply believe in Him, I am His bride.” Or, “He has incorporated me into His body, and I desire His presence in mine.” Then watch ’em run!
What you are describing in the erastianism of the Protestants is the implied notion that the world is sufficient. There is a radicalism in Christ that we are alwayst tempted to compromise, and even Catholics do this day in and day out. Christ is not just a kind of psychology for adaptation to the world, He makes all things new, even in conversion, and overcomes the world, without rejecting or denying it.
You are writing, Dena, about more than just conversion to the Catholic Church; you are writing about the secret challenge of the One who understands completely and utterly our souls and our mean selfish daily acts of selling them and selling out the Truth.
“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
Why would the world even bother to hate
Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson? Or any other number of lukewarm Christians (including Catholics)?
The smart enemies of the Church know that if She can be broken, the rest will fall of their own instability. And if some useful idiots can help with that breaking, well, so much the better.
I have a friend who, along with her husband–a Baptist minister–claims to be “non-denominational”. They are missionaries in rural Mexico. Because I was on the mailing list of a newsletter in which she criticized “the Catholics”, I questioned her attitude toward Catholicism. In her response to me, she denies anti-Catholicism but she also identifies Catholics with reference to satanism: “. . . the Catholic religion (sic) here is not the same as in Rome or the US. In the villages, it is deeply rooted in idol worship, spiritism, witchcraft, and the occult. There is a large group called Santa Muerte in this whole area, with lots of churches around the towns. Lots of cars have the grim reaper insignia on them. It is a satanic church with lots of members. It’s interesting to ask people if they are Christian. Usually the answer is, ‘No, I’m Catholic.’ They do not even want to do business with Christians. One Catholic lady would not sell us a piece of land because we are Christians.”
My friend and her husband are hard-working people who have given up everything for their mission work. Their faith is sincere, to say the least. And I’m sure they’re not unique–there are many others like them.
But notice the use of language, the nomenclature she uses.
Immense potential for generating employment increases the significance of the small scale industries to a considerable extent. The countries that face an extreme problem of unemployment particularly put a lot of emphasis on the growth and development of the these Industries. The primary advantage of these industries is that they specialize to produce the consumer commodities. They follow the labor intensive approach for the producing the commodities.[url=http://www.stockexchangeupdates.com/]Stock Exchange Updates[/url]
UPDATE:
Ruminating on this Catholic/Christian distinction and on my missionary friend’s dedication and recognizing that I’d been feeling a bit guilty about her radical protestant missionary zeal (where’s my Catholic zeal?), I perceived at last that my guilt had blinded me to her blatant anti-Catholicism. (If you want to be a *Christian* missionary, why go to Catholic, which means *Christian*, country in the first place?)
Right.
I told her so.
I don’t think we’re friends any more.