15 Comments

  1. d. knapp on October 13, 2016 at 7:28 pm

    I agree with this sentiment. Today people want religion to fit neatly into a single day per week. Specifically, they want it to not interfere w/ the sports programs in the afternoon. I am afraid that even after the DNC talking about “fomenting a revolution within the American Catholic Church”, many Catholics will continue to give their support to that bunch. I don’t understand how the religious sect that makes the most noise against ending pregnancies still gives them so much support. The Jewish people do the same. i haven’t seen any great love for the Jewish state in this president or Hilary. They are apposed to what should be dearest to the Jewish Americans, but they still vote D.One can talk about social justice all one wants until it’s being paid for with the blood of innocents. Last I heard, the poor got poorer under the last 8 yrs of democrat “leadership”. Is the American Catholic church going to stand for a governmental infiltration and revolutionizing of its beliefs? I tell ya’, if we heard they were planning this for the Baptists, we would go nuts. There would be old school tent revivals happening all over the place. There would be an all out onslaught of people being dunked down into rivers, regardless of temps.The fact that the Catholic church doesn’t go along w/ every new idea for modernizing The Bible is why my catholic husband and I can see eye to eye on so much. I really think a change lier that would freak my poor husband out.



    • quinersdiner on October 14, 2016 at 2:27 pm

      To be clear, the Catholic Church is not a sect. They are the universal Church, the one founded by Christ. They are the largest Church in the U.S and the world, unless you want to call Islam a church. Their teachings have been consistent for 2000 years. The Catholic Church doesn’t follow the culture and normalize human abortion, contraception (which EVERY Christian denomination opposed until recently in history), human euthanasia, so-called same-sex marriage, transgenderism, or any other trendy social perversion which most of Protestantism has embraced … or will embrace. Protestantism has splintered into some 40,000 flavors because they do not have an infallible teaching authority. Sure, there are dissident Catholics, such as Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden or Tim Kaine who label themselves Catholic. But you are what you believe. These so-called Catholics publicly oppose Church teachings in the public square. In other words, they don’t believe Catholic teachings. Perhaps they’re cultural Catholics, but if someone rejects foundational teachings of the Church, they are dissidents at best and heretics at worst.



  2. d. knapp on October 15, 2016 at 5:22 pm

    Pardon my use of the word sect. I use it to refer to Catholicism as on of many Christian churches. Even The Vatican considers the protestant churches as Christian. Unless you advocate that somehow the Catholics have the only claim on Christianity, you know that all members of the body of Christ are equal in his sight. You may want to check some facts on the Southern Baptists. We have not been quick to evolve our churches to be more pleasing to society at large. Yes, many of the other protestant sects have adopted popular ideologies to “pack the pews” but not the Southern Baptists.The fact is that Christ was dead quite a while before the Catholic Church as a unified body was founded. The earliest churches in hiding in peoples’ homes had very little resemblance to the Catholic Church you know or even the one of 1000 years ago. Please do keep in mind that some very large portion of the Christian world (as defined by The Vatican) do not believe in the infallibility of any mere human…even the Pope. A study of the history of the catholic Church would show that there were, at times, practices and teachings of the catholic Church no longer accepted. I am married to a Catholic and dated many. I have attended mass w/ Catholic friends. There is no need to get overly offended or offensive. If a man raised by old world eastern European Catholics can attend a Southern Baptist Church with his wife, you can agree that there are valid Christian churches outside the Catholic Church. Sect was just a faster way to say “segment of the Christian Church”. If you can’t view other Christ believing peoples as Christian, you might want to talk to the Pope. I am w/ you on the likes of Pelosi. I can’t have much respect for a person claiming a church and then breaking many or most of its rules. I have always said one should know what one is, why and follow the teachings as closely as humanly possibly. I think you will find the Baptists are very similar to the Catholics in Biblical teachings if not dogma. I feel the same about ANYONE practicing habits frequently and unapologetic that are against the teachings of their supposed faith. I meant no harm in the word sect. I just considered all Christians as Christians divided only by their choice of church. I think you might find we are more in agreement on The Bible than many Catholics you may know.



    • quinersdiner on October 16, 2016 at 8:46 am

      Thanks for the follow up and for the clarification. No, I don’t claim Catholics have the only claim on Christianity. I would suggest we have the fullness of the Truth. As you may have discerned from this blog, I have great respect for my Protestant brothers and sisters and appreciate their Christian outreach at home and abroad. Regarding Papal infallibility, that refers to exposition of Church doctrine and has been rarely used. Interestingly, I moderated an event yesterday called a “Catholic Apologetics ‘Boot Camp'” that was led by a renown former Southern Baptist, Tim Staples. Check him out: http://timstaples.com. Thanks for writing.



      • d. knapp on October 16, 2016 at 11:21 am

        So glad to hear back from you. I checked out the referenced site. Thank you for sharing, but I don’t think my mind has been changed. I grew up in a S.B. church where the pastor was the man that half raised my mom. My Dad was an ordained SB. minister. Even still I questioned the The Bible’s truth,Christ and the existence of God. I came to my faith as very sick veteran fighting for my life from tuberculosis. Having, on my own as an adult, come to my faith in The Bible, Christ and God, I feel I better understand my faith to defend it than some who got baptised at some very young ages (4 &5). The practice of conferring such an important ritual on one that probably does not understand what it means to follow Christ on a daily basis, to me, is sort of defeating the purpose of the ritual. My daughter attends the children’s activities at church w/ a family of kids who did this. Everyone of them has been extraordinarily mean to my child and others on several on several occasions. My point is that I fully understand the significance of the The Bible and God’s will in my life, b/c I didn’t b/c Christian as a result of some ritual done to please my parents. I don’t believe in most Catholic dogma. The rituals, to me, seam to replace a one on one w/ God for many. My Husband tried to explain the meanings and significance of them, but I can’t get past certain fundamental teachings of Christ…the way to pray for instance. He was very direct in his teaching on the proper way to approach The Father. What happened when he died pretty much signaled the end of the need to use a priest to intermediate. My hubby gets me and I get him. we can be together 20 yrs b/c there is more similar than different. I won’t ever see the point of rituals not specifically mentioned by Christ or even the first 12 in The Bible. What other Baptist churches will do in the future, I don’t know. As of now I don’t know any that allow for practicing gay ministers, gay marriages, abortion or advocate for tran-bathroom rights. I believe that eventually all the major sects will mislead the followers. Unfortunately, it looks like the dems are planning on using the desires of (what my hubby calls “cafeteria Catholics”) to foment a revolution in the American Catholic Church which will also effect the non-Catholic Christians. I know many of my church have some pretty ignorant thoughts on Catholicism, but this Baptist has been reading and following the activities of the popes since I was about 14. I truly admired John-Paul II. He left big red shoes to fill. I have lived around a lot bible scholars and feel that reading and hearing the Bible is the way to go about it. I figure I may one day have to see to my own spiritual development as the churches go the way of the world. I still feel there is wisdom in “Put not your faith in your fellow man and you shall not know disappointment.”



        • quinersdiner on October 17, 2016 at 10:06 am

          A few thoughts on your comments: what unites Catholics, Southern Baptists, and most (but I don’t think all) Protestants is the belief in the Holy Trinity. That’s a strong building block for common ground. Regarding Baptism: Since Baptism releases us from the taint of original sin and allows us to be reborn again in the Spirit, Catholics believe totally in infant Baptism. Discernment is involved in the Sacrament of Confirmation, but irrelevant to baptism. You made a comment that you don’t believe in Catholic dogma. Fair enough. Here’s what’s interesting: the early Church fathers did. They worshipped and believed just like the Catholics because they WERE Catholics. They learned directly from the original disciples. In fact, they’re the ones who gave us the Bible as we know it (excepting that Martin Luther deleted books with which he disagreed). Here’s a post I wrote on the subject: http://quinersdiner.com/2016/05/26/ever-wonder-why-catholics-worship-differently-than-protestants-2/ This raises a provocative question for Protestants: why were the early Church Fathers wrong?



  3. d. knapp on October 15, 2016 at 5:46 pm

    Also my previous main point was that I am shocked how many every day Catholics vote Democrat every chance they get even knowing the Democrat platform on certain topics. I personally don’t know any Baptists talking about voting for Hilary or any other national position to be held by democrats. I don’t mention those that claim a church w/o attendance ever or practicing the tenants of the faith. They are misled and away from the wisdom of God. I was strictly talking about the devout that would vote for advocates of abortion to keep alive some dream that only the dems care about the poor, old or any other needy group.



    • quinersdiner on October 16, 2016 at 8:50 am

      I’m more than shocked, I’m deeply embarrassed. There’s been some research that boils down to this: Catholics that attend Mass weekly (as we are called to do) are more pro life, more conservative and much, much more likely to vote Republican. The less a Catholic attends Mass, the more likely they are tainted by Secular Humanism and Neo Paganism. My use of words is politically incorrect, but accurate



      • d. knapp on October 17, 2016 at 4:58 pm

        I was rereading a comment. Is there some statistic about regularly church going Catholics and their tendencies to vote differently than the nonattender? I was under the assumption that the majority of Catholics regardless tended to vote Dem. Is this untrue? The dems have tended to feel the Catholic vote belonged to them for a long time…decades. Certain groups just seam to heavily support the dems generation after generation. I know that Baptists are kind of all over the place in voting habits.



        • quinersdiner on October 20, 2016 at 10:40 am

          Yes, and I’d have to look for it. The bottom line is that the Life issue affects how Catholics vote. Here’s the rub: a substantial number of self-proclaimed Catholics are not particularly pro life. The less they attend Mass, the more pro abortion they are. Conversely, the more they attend Mass, the more pro life they are.



  4. d. knapp on October 15, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    I know what you mean about he ever changing trend accepting churches. I think i lost a long time very good friend lately, and i think it was b/c of my unchanging views on certain recently trendy topics. She belongs to church that has been quick to accept all the new stuff happily. It hurts, but i can’t advocate for perversion to get along in society…even w/ a long time very close friend. I hav kid I want to know what she believes and WHY. I want her to have the strength to go it alone if it comes to choosing people or Christ.



    • quinersdiner on October 16, 2016 at 8:53 am

      I hear you. I navigate carefully with certain friends. As the great G.K. Chesterton said, arguments can be good … as long as you have some sort of common ground to build upon. Sadly, common ground is quickly eroding away. It’s hard to engage in the issues of the day if someone has more faith in Obama than the Pope, except when the Pope agrees with Obama.



      • d. knapp on October 16, 2016 at 3:35 pm

        I have to say, I would be very worried if my religious leader agreed w/ any DNC candidate often but especially Obama or Clinton. If the great Billy Graham were to agree w/ any Washington democrat on about anything I would have to reevaluate his quality as a religious instructor. As a fundamentalist, I just about expect to be let down in spectacular fashion by about any leader of any sort. As a fundamentalist evangelical, I can’t help but see signs of the prophesied end times of Revelation and Daniel. If my suspicions of the times aren’t literally true, then it’s certainly the end of an era of good American people doing good in their lives and in the world.



  5. d. knapp on October 17, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    I certainly have no problem with anyone going at Christianity as they see fit. I just cant get past the fundamentals. I haven’t read anything in The Bible about praying to anyone but The Father. It was what Christ commanded just before his imprisonment while in the garden.I don’t think the first 12 were sitting folks in confessionals or telling folks to say so many “Hail Mary’s”. I think a lot of the practices and rituals of the church were created by the priesthood that came later…several generations later. My husband once explained the practice of praying to the saints was a way to help the less learned to know what was appropriate to pray for…to ensure people did not pray for sinful things. I can see how that can be a great tool to help less educated people with little time to think on philosophical matters of theology. I can also see how that gets misunderstood and misunderstood, bringing about criminals(the mafia, Latin gangs etc,) praying for and expecting help in some of the awful things they are involved in. I know Baptists that think that one can’t lose salvation…the idea of once saved then always saved regardless of ones lifestyle thereafter. There is plenty of opportunity for the non-introspective to try to wiggle the worst of ways into Glory. I just prefer to keep it simple. I even recall that the 1st to be promised entry into God’s kingdom was a man who had not performed a single religious ritual…not even baptism. I speak of the criminal on the cross at Christ’s side. “Today will you be in paradise.” His saying Christ was the son of God and asking to be remembered were enough. Yes, the belief in the trinity and that Christ was fully man and fully God are the important issues at hand. This is the foundation of a Catholic/baptist couple’s religious agreement. I wont stop him from any ritual he performs and he understands why I feel they’re not needed. Our daughter will grow to understand all she owes the The Father and His risen Son. THAT is what is killing Christianity. People (even Christians) dont really understand that they only exist b/c an all knowing God created them and they owe Him ALL. I’m really enjoying this with you. The opportunity to discuss The Father is always a blessing.I doubt we’ll ever see completely eye to eye but I don’t think we Have to.