Are Catholics about Christ or "The Church"



The question Protestants and secular people are asking Catholics is "Why do you stay in your church (when it has so many scandals)?" So, some of its big thinkers have wondered that themselves and invented an answer, "Because our church is about Christ. Christ is unrelated to the scandals."

The link author found this to be a curious answer. He points out that the traditional Catholic argument is that their branch is "the true Church." In fact, they capitalize "Church". They refer to issues of theology as coming from "The Church", not Jesus.

Making this argument even more ridiculous is that Jesus is what Protestant churches also claim to be about, making no difference between Catholics and Protestants. This takes away any justification to stay in the Catholic scandal-filled denomination.

In the end, most Catholics are Catholics because their parents were Catholics. Their social and sometimes professional circles are made up of Catholics. It is important to them to justify their faith using some theological reason when the real reason is mostly ethnic background and sociology.

Classes in the Sociology of Religion explain the historical and ethnic origins of religions. Most of us can understand elements of this field by looking at what influenced own views about religion.

Classes in theology try to differentiate different branches of Christianity. This is where the problem for Catholics begins. If the Catholic branch now claims it is a faith "about Christ" instead of "the Church" it becomes just one branch in the parade of similar denominations.


Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2018 at 8:32 PM

    The indoctrination effect of the family religion is a powerful thing and discourages any questions. The author of this linked article is struggling to find a cut off point where religion becomes cult-like. He is too close to the problem to see the whole church is past the line and fails the warning signs he lists.
    https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/other-topics/4-danger-signs-of-cult-like-behavior-and-4-antidotes.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matt NoahSeptember 28, 2018 at 2:41 PM

    I just finished watching the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Brett Kavanaugh. The mentally deranged, criminally insane and morally corrupt have taken up residence in American politics in far greater numbers than in any Christian denomination.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2018 at 9:56 PM

    The numbers appear to be much closer to the sum of those Christian denominations.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more