Lerxstcat

You're welcome! That's a very common misconception - so much so that not even all Catholics get it! I paid attention and asked questions at Catechism (Sunday school) though - too many questions, if you asked the nuns!

wilthrill

Well, I don't know if IRRITATE is the correct word.

I believe VERY STRONGLY that as long as you aren't hurting others you should be able to believe or worship however you choose. If one chose to worship the Easter Bunny then fine.

So I don't have a problem with catholics per se or methodists, or baptists or budhists or wiccans etc.

However sometimes when talking to people I WILL ask , "how can you believe A when your holy book says B?"

Mormons are a good example. Have you ever heard the whole story of how Joseph Smith "wrote" the books that the mormons added to the bible. South Park did a hilarious episode in which they discussed this. And like the guys in South Park, I scratch my head and say to myself, "boy those sure are some crazy beliefs". But like the guys in South Park, while I may disagree with their beliefs I have to respect the mormons because they are good solid family people and pretty much every one I've met were just good people.

Basically the point I keep questioning catholics on is how they can worship the pope. And Lerxt you can use words like respect b ut the fact is many catholics I know PRAY to the Pope and Mother Mary. They will tell you flat out that they PRAY to the Pope and Mary.

You brought up a point about protestants and their pastors (loved the line about Catholics being a monolithic cult) BUT there is one very important difference. The protestants RESPECT/REVERE their pastors. But they don't PRAY to them.

Even the Old Testament prophets (what we'd call religious nuts) weren't PRAYED to.

Now a good catholic would tell you that one (if not the central) of the ten commandments is, in lay man's terms, "I am the one god. Don't worship other gods" and yet they will turn around and PRAY to the Pope.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am agnostic. I believe in GOD but haven't found any religion that isn't full of contradictions.

I love debating ideas and to leave you on a high note here is a joke I heard about the Episcopalians.

Why aren't Episcopalians any good at chess?

They can't tell a bishop from a queen.

Razz

I thought of this thread when I saw this.

savereno

I'm not Catholic, but my wife is, and they do not worship the Pope... I hope that statement comes from not being educated on the religion rather than ignorance.

The Pope is "the" leader of their religion, the top guy, in the WHOLE world. If people want to crowd together to see him, I can dig it. People gather in large crowds for much dumber things in life.

If the world had one leader, everyone would gather around when said leader would ride through a city.

I've never heard of anyone praying to the Pope, never. Maybe Mary, I don't know, I will ask my wife. I normally don't pry into how she prays. Catholics seem to have more faith in their religion, especially when comparing them to Baptists.

On a related note... this is kind of amusing.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4aiXVfys74 in case it doesn't embed properly, it is not embedding on my computer.

Lerxstcat

People who pray to the Pope don't understand catholicism, but then not everybody understands the religion they follow. I don't pretend to understand everything about Catholicism myself, nor do I believe in every dogma the Church promulgates.

I think that's a misconception on your part that because someone is a Catholic, that they believe everything the Church says, hook, line and sinker.

But what I DO know, and have said before in this thread, is that Catholicism does not pray to the Pope, or Mary or the saints as dieties.

We do believe that those who have died still exist as immortal souls who have passed on and are to varying degrees in communion with God, more so than those of us still alive on the Earthly plane.

They word "pray" really means "please". so when Catholics pray to Mary or to saints they aren't praying as to a worshipped diety, but to a departed soul who has God's favor and his ear. It's basically a prayer saying "please put in a good word to God for me. Intercede with Him on my behalf.
My plea may not mean anything to Him, but if His Moth"er Mary asks Him to help me, that will carry more weight than Lerxst asking God directly.

This makes sense to me, and I don't see Mary or the saints or departed Popes as dieties. But I do believe that they are departed souls who can receive our communications, particularly Mary. I don't really pray to saints myself, but I do pray to Mary for intercession. If the Mother of Christ can't get me a break, then I'm out of luck. She is not a diety but she is an especially holy woman and unique as the mother of God's incarnation as man.

You may not want to recognize this distinction between reverence and worshgip, but it still exists. But again, many Catholics are not experts in their religion. You're raised in it and you go every week, but not every member of any religion is a theologian. Some people are questioners and some don't feel the need to question.

I agree with you that probably no religion is 100% correct in its teachings; with humans that is impossible. But it doesn't negate the good that religion does either. I find it surprising that anyone who went through Katrina and its aftermath would question that, since Christian volunteers of all denominations have been crucial in our recovery.