I was involved in a debate on FaceBook (if debate is even the right word) wherein a Biblical Fundamentalist spent a great deal of time explaining to me what the Catholic Church “really” teaches. Lets just say that I very quickly became annoyed. I wasn’t annoyed because he had misconceptions about the Church. It is understandable, even expected for a non-Catholic to not have an accurate picture of what is taught by the Church. It is rare enough for Catholics to have an accurate understanding of Church teaching (I include myself in this, as I find the more I learn, the more I need to learn). I don’t even find it annoying when they criticize the idea that the “Fullness of Truth subsists in the Catholic Church alone.” I would not expect a non-Catholic to accept this. In fact, I would expect them to hold that the Fullness of Truth is in their own faith community. What annoys me is when they make a false statement about the Church, and upon being corrected, contradict the Catholic attempting to explain the truth. To explain this phenomenon I will use this (entirely fictional) conversation between Fred the Fundamentalist and Cathy the Catholic:
Fred: Did you know that Catholics place Mary above Jesus?
Cathy: Actually, we don’t. We do honor her as the Mother of God, and we ask for her intercession, but we don’t make any claims that she is divine.
Fred: Yes, you do! You pray to her with the Hail Mary, which is derived from pagan worship!
Cathy: Fred, if you look at the Hail Mary, you will see that the majority of the text comes from the first chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel.
Fred: But my pastor said you do worship Mary. Why should I not trust him?
Cathy: Is he Catholic?
Fred: No. But he went to seminary.
Cathy: A Catholic seminary?
Fred: No. Bur he had a class on Catholicism called “Modern Cults and False Religions”
Cathy: (Rolls eyes). That isn’t biased at all. Don’t you think that if you want to know what Catholics believe, you should ask a Catholic?
Fred: I trust my pastor, and if he says Catholics worship Mary, it has to be true, because he wouldn’t lie.
Cathy: So basically, even though I told you what the Church really teaches, you will take the word of your non-Catholic pastor over a practicing Catholic?
Fred: Sure.
Cathy: So why did you even start this conversation if you weren’t actually interested in what I have to say?
Fred: To rescue you from the Whore of Babylon.
Cathy: (sigh) Good-bye Fred.
Granted, this is somewhat satirical of Fundamentalist “Evangelism” but it gets the point across. All too often, people who “ask questions” about the Catholic Church are actually uninterested in the truth, and are only making thinly veiled accusations. So how is the best way to deal with this? I would suggest using the Socratic method, particularly if you focus on source reliability and motives of the questioner. This is all I really feel like writing for now, so until the next time, God Bless!
Catholic Ramblings 