Catholicism: Correcting the Misconceptions

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Catholicism: Correcting the Misconceptions In Montgomery Gentry’s hit song “Where I Come From”, he sings about his small town southern pride. In this country tune, the line “That little white church is gonna have a crowd,” is accompanied by lyrics about a town that could easily be located in East Tennessee. One thing that can be assumed from Gentry’s song is that the, “Little white church” he sings about is probably not a Catholic cathedral. In southern towns, like the one Gentry sings about, Protestant churches drastically outrank Catholic churches. In Kingsport Tennessee, Catholic churches are outnumbered forty two to one by Baptist churches alone. This statistic makes it easy to see why, as a whole, Protestants are uneducated and overly critical about the Catholic faith, the very religion that Protestantism is derived. It is this lack of knowledge that gives rise to inaccurate claims about Catholicism. Catholicism is viewed as an impersonal relationship between God and man. This misguided assumption stems from the 16th century belief that only the religious officials had the right and ability to interpret the Word of God, the Bible. In the past, Catholics gained their knowledge of the Lord during mass on Sundays. Priests and other officials studied the Bible and communicated with God through prayer then relayed the message to the people of the church. This way of interaction with God was like going to a foreign country and not being able to speak the national language. Priests acted as a translator, speaking directly to both God and man. Just as with a translator, the personal connection made between God and man is limited. Some of the emotion is lost in translation; nevertheless, the message gets through. This tradition was... ... middle of paper ... ... actions, the misguided stereotypes will be laid to rest. Those stereotypes can only be stopped by those who spread, believe, or allow them to be considered true, so my final challenge is to all Christians. Stop the stereotypes! No matter what you believe in or how you go about showing it, be devoted. Dive into the teachings of your faith and be able to rebut the stereotypes when they come your way. Once you decide upon a denomination, devote yourself to the opposing side. Explore with passion the principles, motivations, and guidelines of a viewpoint besides your own. Every belief and way of life has merit; it is just up to us to discover it. Finally, when you have considered all sides, celebrate the similarities; do not harp on the differences. If we all serve the God who we believe that we do, isn’t that what He would want? Isn’t that what He sent His Son to do?

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