"ZOMG I hate Catholics!!!1" "...Really?"

I don't understand why so many people are so eager to declare that they "hate" those who belong to the Roman Catholic Church. Because, how could they? Unless every one of the billion or so Catholics in the world had lined up and personally kicked your aged grandmother in the face, I don't see a basis for anyone to have such a strong condemnation of such a huge demographic of people.

It's possible to claim that you hate Catholic teaching, of course. But that also seems highly improbable. For one thing, there is a huge variety of belief amongst members of the Catholic community. There has to be- it would be totally, utterly impossible for 1.1 billion people to all believe exactly the same thing; or even to agree on all of the fundamentals. I know/know of openly gay Catholics, staunchly traditionalist Catholics, universalist Catholics, socialist Catholics, even atheist Catholics. To say you hate all of these people's beliefs in one fell swoop is to condemn about 78% of human opinion, without even realising it.

For another thing, the aspects of Catholic doctrine people say they hate are almost never actually true. "Catholics say all non-Catholics are going to hell!" Well, I'm sure some Catholics do believe that, but official Catholic doctrine as of the Second Vatican Council is (while I can't remember the exact wording) "anyone who does the best that they can be in the eyes of God is right with God, regardless of their belief system". That's actually a lot more tolerant that the majority of Protestant church doctrines.
The other faux-Catholic belief is "everything the Pope says is infallible". This is not, and has never been, the case. From my limited understanding, the Pope is only given infallibility in issues of deep moral crisis which threaten to divide the Catholic church, during which time he takes counsel with all who are willing to give advice, undergoes deep reflection, etc. The clincher, for me, is that this has only happened something like twice in the whole history of the Catholic church. Of course, some people will say it's stupid for there to be such an authority in any case- but the rationale behind it is actually perfectly sound. The Catholic Church is an organisation with common goals, and in order to function coherently, it needs a mechanism to deal with issues which threaten to cause schisms. The truth is, nearly all the organisations which have ever existed have established an authority like this; they just don't use the word "infallible". In the US government, the President can take an executive decision if an argument isn't getting anywhere. In a major corporation, the CEO can do the same.

I'm not even going to go into the pedophile priest thing. If you are seriously going to judge a millenia-old belief system and a billion people over the actions of a minority, then I have no more time for you.

Wanna know what I think? (If the answer's "no", this is a strange place on the internet for you to be.)
As far as non-Catholic Christians are concerned, I think we only direct so much hatred towards the Catholics because they are an easy vent for the blame which is on the Christian faith as a whole. I think that rather than seriously analysing why the Christian faith has been used to cause pain and division, and why our reputation is not as glowing as we would like it to be, it's easier for many people just to say "oh, that's not us, it's the Catholics", and then move away under the impression that they are guilt-free. I think that it's an attempt to polarise the Christian community into "us, the real Christians" and "them, the not-real Christians", rather than actually assessing and reflecting upon the many diverse practices and points of view held by those who follow Christ. It's dangerous, and it's infantile, and we should stop doing it.
As far as secularists go, well, there's no real reason for you to separate Catholics from the rest of us foolish religious people. Perhaps it's because the Catholics get so much stick from non-Catholic theists that they seem an easier group to target? I don't know. Either way, open and intelligent discussion is always more welcome than sweeping condemnation.


This issue isn't as singular as you're probably thinking it is right now. The whole anti-Catholic thing is just one part of the divisory bickering which is going on amongst people of all faiths. The fact is, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jew, Christian of any church, we all striving for the same God, and we all have the same belief in the need for spirituality. In my opinion, the doctrines of all the major world religions (including ones like Buddhism and Wiccanism) have far more similarities that differences. And, ultimately, we share many of the same goals. It is far more beneficial to emphasise the things we have in common, than the things we continue to bicker over.

And so ends today's (8) Universalist Rambling Of The Weeeeek! (8)

Peace out!