Well, I want to give a little bit of back story.
A lot of people assume protestants are Catholic-haters, especially if they are against the teachings of the Catholic church. Maybe some feel they were raised or taught that way by protestant churches/family. Well, that's not me. My whole family is atheist and I was atheist most of my life growing up.
When I was 19, I started to have a crisis of faith. God spoke to me in a way that sent me in a panic. I knew I was mortal and went out on a journey to find the truth. I dabbled into paganism a little bit, followed psychics, but none of it gave me any satisfaction. It was as if God was leading me in the right direction and there was a void that needed to be filled by him.
My friend invited me to church and the moment I walked in, I knew I was in the right place. The word had meaning to me. I then worked the next few years to fight against everything I had learned and thought was true as an atheist. I became a new man in Christ.
I continued my education. Over the years I went to bible college, was a minister in that church for seven years. After my dad was killed in a work accident, I lost everything and had to drop out of college and my faith has struggled off and on for quite awhile. I never gave up on God or my faith, but I was upset with Him. We have been rekindling things for several years now.
Anyway, that thirst for the truth has never left me. My church did teach me that the bible is God's holy word. It is the truth about what He wanted us to know. God's moral law, man's sinfulness, His plan of salvation, the Good News, it was all finished by Christ on the cross who said, "it is finished!"
So not too long ago, I moved into a house and found that my roommate was Catholic. We would end up discussing biblical matters because he is new to the faith and he would have questions. Before we knew it, we were butting heads (in a respectful manner) because he would tell me something and I would say, "that's not in the bible. I don't know where you got that from." So he would be sharing all these things that really contradicted what I believed.
I knew the Catholics believed a little differently from me, but never paid attention to it. Being non-denominational, I focused solely on the word and not all the different denominations that separate us.
He would tell me about Mary being the queen of Heaven and we must pray through her to gain salvation, that we can lose grace, that I cannot even take communion in their church! So I went to his church a few weeks ago and they wouldn't let me take it! They treated me like I was a dirty heathen!
So basically my complaints are why the Catholic church separates themselves. I saw Byzintine's post about Catholics being every bit as Christian as the Protestants, but really it seems like it's the Catholics who believe they are superior and have a higher calling than Protestants. We are all brothers and sister, so why can't we share communion in the name of our Lord?
So these things started to fester in me more and more and it has created some animosity in my heart. I've always worked to try and unite us all under the same banner. So to be treated like this, really doesn't sit well. The past month or so I've really been studying the Catholic-specific faith and I just don't see why it's done. Like dipping your fingers and crossing yourselves. What is that about? Where is that in the bible? Does it give you a special advantage over us who don't do it? If not, then why do you do it?