Catholicism

[Shamrock]

I'm dabbling in it right now with the on campus Catholic group. Anyone here that thinks of themself as a Catholic or is a Catholic please post your experience with the religion here.

 

*What do you think are the 3 most important things about being Catholic?

*How do you feel about fundamentalist Christians saying you're going to hell? (includes most Protestant groups, especially baptists)

*Do you consider yourself a cultural Catholic or a spiritual Catholic?

*Do you have problems mingling with Catholics from different background i.e. Irish, German, Hispanic?

 

Any other questions concerns you have pose them. I'm interested.

[Das Texan]

A)

 

1) belief in the big man

 

2) the role Mary plays

 

3) Social Justice

 

B)

 

Let them think whatever they want, I dont care. They do their thing. I do mine.

 

C)

 

Spiritual

 

D)

 

I could care less....San Antonio has a mixture of all groups, although as a white Catholic in San Antonio I am marginalized, but again I dont care mostly.

[SoFlaFish]

What do you think are the 3 most important things about being Catholic?

 

 

1. Belief in the Holy Trinity of God, the Son, and the Spirit as one.

2. Faith and works will lead to spiritual salvation.

3. Being a part of the one holy catholic and apostolic church church that derives its origin from Christ himself (and not some wacko who thinks he can read and interpret the Bible better than anyone else can).

 

How do you feel about fundamentalist Christians saying you're going to hell? (includes most Protestant groups, especially baptists)

 

I could care less. If you want to make a fundamentalist's blood boil and head explode, just explain to them that the Catholic Church is the one and true apostolic church and that they derive their faith from some minister that decided to launch a crusade. I've been told I'm not even a Christian and that I worship the Pope and statues. I've heard it all, but truly believe that no man can judge another.

 

Do you consider yourself a cultural Catholic or a spiritual Catholic?

 

Both. However, my spiritual Catholicism is derived more from ontology:

 

Ontology is not a subjective science as Kant describes it (Ub. d. Fortschr. d. Met., 98) nor "an inferential Psychology", as Hamilton regards it (Metaphysics, Lect. VII); nor yet a knowledge of the absolute (theology); nor of some ultimate reality whether conceived as matter or as spirit, which Monists suppose to underlie and produce individual real beings and their manifestations. Ontology is a fundamental interpretation of the ultimate constituents of the world of experience. All these constituents -- individuals with their attributes -- have factors or aspects in common. The atom and the molecule of matter, the plant, the animal, man, and God agree in this that each is a being, has a characteristic essence, an individual unity, truth, goodness, is a substance and (God excepted) has accidents, and is or may be a cause. All these common attributes demand definition and explanation -- definition not of their mere names, but analysis of the real object which the mind abstracts and reflectively considers. Ontology is therefore the fundamental science since it studies the basal constituents and the principles presupposed by the special sciences. All the other parts of philosophy, cosmology, psychology, theodicy, ethics, even logic, rest on the foundation laid by ontology. The physical sciences -- physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics likewise, presuppose the same foundations. Nevertheless ontology is dependent in the order of analysis, though not in the order of synthesis, on these departments of knowledge; it starts from their data and uses their information in clarifying their presuppositions and principles. Ontology is accused of dealing with the merely abstract. But all science is of the abstract, the universal, not of the concrete and individual. The physical sciences abstract the various phenomena from their individual subjects; the mathematical sciences abstract the quantity -- number and dimensions -- from its setting. Ontology finally abstracts what is left -- the essence, existence, substance, causalty, etc. It is idle to say that of these ultimate abstractions we can have no distinct knowledge. The very negation of their knowableness shows that the mind has some knowledge of that which it attempts to deny. Ontology simply endeavours to make that rudimentary knowledge more distinct and complete. There is a thoroughly developed ontology in every course of Catholic philosophy; and to its ontology that philosophy owes its definiteness and stability, while the lack of an ontology in other systems explains their vagueness and instability.

[Shamrock]

Thanks for the answers so far...I left out one question I wanted to ask.....In your opinion, are other religions a legitimate manifestation of God calling another people even though it's through a different religion. For example Islam or Buddhism.

[Dodge]

I am not a Catholic and I have no idea how fundamentalist Christians get off saying that Catholics are going to hell.

[Das Texan]

Thanks for the answers so far...I left out one question I wanted to ask.....In your opinion, are other religions a legitimate manifestation of God calling another people even though it's through a different religion. For example Islam or Buddhism.

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I have no problems with them.

 

 

Islam believe in the same God, just a different manifestation.

 

 

Buddhism have their own distinct beliefs and I have no problem with them.

 

 

As long as you believe in what you believe in and try not to infringe on others' beliefs....as long as they dont break any 'moral laws' and we know what they are, I have no problems with any religion.

[legacyofCangelosi]

Actually in my personal experience Catholics are much more tolerant of other nonchristians than many of the evangelicals, and it stems from certain beliefs. I wont go into the original questions you asked sham (sorry its that im not really a practicing catholic although i gained a catholic education for 15 years). First of to clear some misconceptions, catholics do not worship neither the pope nor the virgin mary. Mary holds an honorable position in our church as christ's mother and is someone who is 'close' to jesus so you can get to jesus through her. As far as other religions go, catholicism has the whole salvation through faith and works thing going. A priest I knew once told me a great explantion of how to view people of other religions.

 

First- We are all God's children so we have to love and accept everyone (even gays before anyone says something stupid)

 

Second- If a buddhist or hindu, etc. is a good person, helps his fellow man, helps the poor etc, theres no reason why they wont go to heaven.

 

Third- It isnt their fault that they never got to know about Jesus, someone born in china who has believed in Buddha or w.e their whole life cannot be expected to all of a sudden convertto christianity upon hearing word of jesus. Or maybe they never heard of him.

 

Many evangelicals believe that if you dont worship jesus you automatically go to hell, and thats an inherent contradiction of our faith that believes in a kind and forgiving God. To the modern catholics, God's judgement is not black and white. We have to follow the commandments, but they are like the constitution, open to interpretation (Jesus's interpretation)

[Dodge]

Good post, legacy. I can't totally agree but I like your attitude.

[Das Texan]

catholics get a bad rap.

[PhxPhin]

catholics get a bad rap.

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while that may be true, the catholic church as an organization is well overdue for an extreme beating ... probably my least favorite religious entity

[Das Texan]

There is a difference between being Catholic and the Catholic Church in my opinion.

 

 

The Church itself is full of way too much crap.

 

 

The faith is what keeps me.

 

 

Call it contradictory. The Church itself needs major reformations to bring it into the 18th century let alone the 21st century of which we are in now.

 

 

The easiest first step would be to allow priests to marry, something they could do when the Church first started. Then you attack the problems from there.

[PhxPhin]

das .. i'm sure we are probably in the same line of thought on a lot of this stuff

 

maybe i'll make a different topic in the morning as to avoid hijacking Shams thread which seems pretty direct in it's nature

 

i've explored a lot of religous options and a lot of the catholic teachings i'm not to fond up, but as far as a congregation, the people didn't seem as aggressive and overbearing as some of the others i've seen

 

from talking to many people, i know a lot of catholics who think along similar lines ... my fiance is one of them

[MiRi]

*What do you think are the 3 most important things about being Catholic?

1. Understanding that Christ died for our sins on the Cross.

2. Understanding the Holy Trinity

3. Understanding what Mary has done for us

 

*How do you feel about fundamentalist Christians saying you're going to hell? (includes most Protestant groups, especially baptists)

I don't pay attention to them. No one, not even the Pope, can judge where you are going to end up after death.

 

*Do you consider yourself a cultural Catholic or a spiritual Catholic? Spiritual

 

*Do you have problems mingling with Catholics from different background i.e. Irish, German, Hispanic? Nope. Not at all.

[Shamrock]

Thanks for all the answers and commentary everyone! And remember today we are all Irish!

[Dodge]

Thanks for all the answers and commentary everyone! And remember today we are all Irish!

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I'm still a barbaric Norwegian baptist. :lol

[legacyofCangelosi]

There is a difference between being Catholic and the Catholic Church in my opinion.

 

 

The Church itself is full of way too much crap.

 

 

The faith is what keeps me.

 

 

Call it contradictory. The Church itself needs major reformations to bring it into the 18th century let alone the 21st century of which we are in now.

 

 

The easiest first step would be to allow priests to marry, something they could do when the Church first started. Then you attack the problems from there.

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Letting priests marry may even alleviate some of the pedophilia problems

[Mephisto]

What do you think are the 3 most important things about being Catholic?

1. Understand that jesus dies for our sin and that he resurected on the third day(body and soul)

2. that theres only one god

3. that mary is the mother of god and that she's holy

Do you consider yourself a cultural Catholic or a spiritual Catholic?

Both

Do you have problems mingling with Catholics from different background i.e. Irish, German, Hispanic?

No

n your opinion, are other religions a legitimate manifestation of God calling another people even though it's through a different religion. For example Islam or Buddhism.

Islam is similar to christianity. If you look at it is very similar theres some big diffrences but they are similar, and they belive in the same god as we do, and in the same prophets except for Muhamed(sp) and they think Jesus was a prophet instead of the son of god. When Buddhism was first creaty it was just a set a theory on what you should do live a good life as good person, somewhere down the line people started worshiping Buddha, and their wrong. But i belive in the theories of Buddhism because they are also similar to how cristians should live their life.

 

The Church will never allow priest to marry. The Church is all about tradition and this one of the strongest traditions there is. When you become a Priest you vow to serve only god and not have sex nor marry. Now if some sick man becomes a preist to have sex with kids thats a mortal sin, and the Church should not protect them and punish them severly for their actions.

[Das Texan]

The Church will never allow priest to marry. The Church is all about tradition and this one of the strongest traditions there is. When you become a Priest you vow to serve only god and not have sex nor marry. Now if some sick man becomes a preist to have sex with kids thats a mortal sin, and the Church should not protect them and punish them severly for their actions.

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In 'tradition' priests could marry.

 

 

That changed I think in the 11th or 12th century.

 

 

Read some church history.

 

 

And you actually dont vow to serve god while not having sex or marrying....thats not exactly how holy orders works. The vow of celibacy has been given as a vow for I'm not sure how many centuries, but I dont believe that vow is actually in canon law.

[Mephisto]

i know that at first priest could mary, but that changed and I think is better that they dont get to marry. I think is very noble to give up your sexual life to become a priest.

[Das Texan]

i know that at first priest could mary, but that changed and I think is better that they dont get to marry. I think is very noble to give up your sexual life to become a priest.

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fine and dandy....but you cant use the tradition arguement though, cause the real tradition had priests marrying.

 

 

too bad nobody wants to become asexual essentially.

 

 

 

i know many many guys that would love to be priests, but are also called to be a husband and father also.

 

therefore i can safely argue that married priests would go a long long way to alleviate the priest shortage. put in rules that you have to follow the old rules to become a bishop and what not....married priests would do wonders. and it wouldnt be the end of the world and the spirituality recieved wouldnt be worse.

[Mephisto]

i think i would be open to allow priest to marry under that proposal. Let priest marry, but if they want to move up they have to give that up. Also didnt Jesus ask his apostals to drop everything and follow him? Thats why the change was made to not allow priest to marry, because if the apostals couldnt than neither should priest.

 

BTW: My brother was going to become a priest until he met his wife. So I see your point. He would have made a fine priest too.

[Das Texan]

i think i would be open to allow priest to marry under that proposal. Let priest marry, but if they want to move up they have to give that up.

 

BTW: My brother was going to become a priest until he met his wife. So I see your point. He would have made a fine priest too.

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but this wont happen, cause the church is so far to the right on so many issues.

 

 

and still thinking we live in the 16th century.

 

 

 

i would love for the next pope to be a 'progressive' and/or from the western hemisphere, i'd settle for an african.

 

 

it wont happen though.

[Mephisto]

it also wont happen because if the church is going to make this change i think they'll do it from the priest all the way up to the pope instead of just making the change for the priest.