I am not complaining here but I have a pet peeve

[JohnKleeb]

I get kind of pissed off when people who don't understand how diverse the whole christian religion really say "Well go take back your religion from the fundies." Lord only knows I'd want to but Christianity is as diverse as the United States itself. Fundamentalists look down upon Catholicism, I am unsure as to their feelings on Eastern Orthodoxy, and they probably aren't fans of the Uniterans, and they probably don't liberal mainline sects. So yeah someonea asking me a Catholic "Go take back your religion" is like telline me a Virginian to go fix the problems with South Carolina. It's not something in my power, we are a diverse religion. One last thing, just respect my beliefs for what they are and I will easily do the same for you, sigh I wish more people on all sides, the religious and non religious alike understood this. Well rant over, flame away if you feel like it.

[DemBones DemBones]

1. Tell them to go straighten out all the other nonbelievers

and then they'll have room to talk!

[JohnKleeb]

2. I decided to leave the discussion

It just gets too personal for me. I know this isn't the best analogy ever but a majority can be discriminated against, it's not a total absurd idea that the majority can be persecuted, I am sure we all remember aparteid and most of the colonization. It really drives me nuts.

[elshiva]

8. LOL! Great retort!

[Cuban_Liberal]

3. Amen, John!

I completely agree with you! Don't you also hate the snide dismissal of being called a 'cafeteria Catholic', jus because you don't agree 110% with every single thing the Church teaches? I'm often tempted to fire back and call people 'cafeteria Democrats', using the same logic (sic).

:pals:

[JohnKleeb]

4. I used to get that a lot

I was never called that word but my friends and their families who are right wing Catholics gave me hell for being pro choice, pro gay rights, etc. Thanks, its just the thing is they ask us to back back our faith, god I would love to but you really think a fundie will listen to someone whose faith they consider not real Christian, they're wrong. That's not their fault I guess because they don't know that Catholics are loathed by the fundies as well. Anyhow I am just so frustrated with it all.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Yes, it's odd

I'm a Lutheran/Episcopalian, but I have a lot of respect for many aspects of the Catholic Church, and yet another example of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" that I see on DU is the disparagement of both Catholics who DO follow the official doctrines ("brainwashed, delusional, bigoted") and those who DON'T ("cafeteria Catholics, why do you stick with the Church if you disagree with it"?)

Ya just can't win!

[JohnKleeb]

13. Thanks

and yes indeed. Ive gotten shit on both sides from non believers and some protestants alike, I am sure DBDB will remember a poster whose name I will not mention but the dude was just about one of the most anti catholic people out there, and I guess fortunely for me and some of the other Catholics, he alienated a lot of people but it was mostly because he loved to pimp his site out.

[demosincebirth]

5. Many of these fundie sects are less than 100yrs old, and they

think they have a lock on Christianity? To me, they are nothing but Johnie's-come-lately, still trying to legitimize themselves with the main stream Christian Churches.

[AngryOldDem]

6. No flames here, John

Been saying what you said for years. How does it feel to be another voice in the wilderness?

:-) :hi:

[JohnKleeb]

7. Thanks

[elshiva]

9. Amen, amen.

Certainly the most of the Fundies look at Episcopalians as liberal elitists because we use the historical critical method and don't take the bible literally. We Episcopalians try, but a lot of them don't want to listen to darn libruls.

[JohnKleeb]

10. My English teacher last year was Espicolian I believe

Great lady, I used her as a reference and even though I know she wasn't that political, she had a lot of liberal things to say about society, like her observations of how we treat the Native Americans.

[elshiva]

11. My Philosophy prof is an Episcopalian

who always liked to make fun of Bush during class. One time there was a lull and he said, "I better get cracking or you'll all vote for Bush again." He is a reference too.

[CBHagman]

14. My favorite observation is that Christians can't even agree on...

...communion, which you'd think would be one of the unalterable practices of our faith. However, it is simply not that simple. I recall someone in my university days asking, "Why have it every Sunday?" To which I replied, "Why have it quarterly? Yearly?" Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." He didn't say, "But only every few months."

We Christians can't necessarily agree on what to call holy communion (The Lord's Supper? The Eucharist?), how often to celebrate it, who should receive it, and what sort of bread and wine to use, or whether wine should be taken at all.

Therefore, it's insane to tar us all with the same brush. Just bring up the Reformation, for starters, and see how long they can keep up their claims that they can succinctly describe what each Christian believes or practices.

This is actually one of the strengths of America. We are a messy, diverse bunch, supposedly free to believe or not to believe. We wear head scarves, turbans, yarmulkes, habits, Roman collars, the Mormon garment, and, in certain Wiccan practices, nothing at all! That's what we do. I prefer it this way.