why dont we like this?

[EllenMoran]

Who said Catholic are the only group . . .

Lots of Christians seem to be something else first

I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood your original post:

The problem is people walk around calling themselves Catholic while other people walk around calling themselves Christians. The "impression" non-catholics have of Catholics is they see themselves as more complete. Also Catholics seem to never refer themselves as Christians, only as Catholics.

Consistently calling out Catholics as the problem here did nothing to display the position you now claim of all Christians having this problem. Why not mention that in your first post?

 

[ps139]

Guys - lets remain civil here, please.

 

[ps139]

If someone came up to you and asked what your belief in God was, what would be your first word; answer? Catholic or Christian. This same question would be interesting to ask any Christian.

Anthony if you are saying that more Catholics would identify themselves as "Catholic" first, as opposed to Protestants who might say "just Christian," "Protestant" or "insert denomination here," then I agree with you.
I think Catholics have more loyalty to the "Mother Church." We are more tradition based, and have strong central authority and I think thats part of the reason. Many Protestants do not seem to have a loyalty as it were to particular denominations, thus the more frequent "Christian" or "Protestant" answer. I think the Orthodox would probably say "Orthodox."

 

[Anthony]

I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood your original post:



Consistently calling out Catholics as the problem here did nothing to display the position you now claim of all Christians having this problem. Why not mention that in your first post?

The orginal post:
being called Roman Catholic...why is it basically like being slapped in the face?

My reply was to this post, the answer applies to this post. It asked about Catholics. The later discussion opened up the discussion, applyining to all Christians. Since the orignal post was asked why Catholics, that is why the first post was made. It wasn't an attack on Catholics, it wasn't some hidden discussion, or some veiled scheme.

 

[Miss Shelby]

The problem is people walk around calling themselves Catholic while other people walk around calling themselves Christians. The "impression" non-catholics have of Catholics is they see themselves as more complete. Also Catholics seem to never refer themselves as Christians, only as Catholics.

This is false. The Catholics that I know always refer to themselves as Christians.

You have convinced yourself to believe a fallacy. You think that because we call ourselves Catholic and Christian interchanably that we somehow put ourselves on a pedestal that others don't belong on. This is untrue. When people convince themselves that fairy tale fantasies are actually true, that person by definition, can be said to be delusional. You are making false charges Anthony, ones that you perhaps believe, but false none the less.

Michelle

 

[Anthony]

Anthony if you are saying that more Catholics would identify themselves as "Catholic" first, as opposed to Protestants who might say "just Christian," "Protestant" or "insert denomination here," then I agree with you.
I think Catholics have more loyalty to the "Mother Church." We are more tradition based, and have strong central authority and I think thats part of the reason. Many Protestants do not seem to have a loyalty as it were to particular denominations, thus the more frequent "Christian" or "Protestant" answer. I think the Orthodox would probably say "Orthodox."

Very good points and observations. I agree with your assessment. I also appreciated your open discussion of the topic as well, without getting on the defensive.

I think any time a Christian adds the extra label of xyz to their faith labeling, it is an indication that they are different, sometimes that implies better depending on the person talking and how it is picked up from the person who is listening.

 

[Anthony]

This is false. The Catholics that I know always refer to themselves as Christians.

You have convinced yourself to believe a fallacy. You think that because we call ourselves Catholic and Christian interchanably that we somehow put ourselves on a pedestal that others don't belong on. This is untrue. When people convince themselves that fairy tale fantasies are actually true, that person by definition, can be said to be delusional. You are making false charges Anthony, ones that you perhaps believe, but false none the less.

Michelle

Call it what you want, it is what I saw growing up, true that was a long long time ago. I always wonder growing up why we called ourselves Catholics while the others were called Christains with an extra discriptor.

I socialize with a lot of Protestants and they have a lot of misconceptions of Catholics, but again they seem to always refer to Catholics as Catholics and and to themselves they use the label Christian, in casual conversation. PS139 hit this topic right on the head.

 

[Lifesaver]

I, on the contrary, prefer to be called Roman Apostolic Catholic (Well, I don't know if that is the usual order of the names in English), and that's what I answer if someone asks for my religion.
Roman Catholic is also good, since it shows that the person is obedient to Rome.

But sure, no problem in being just Catholic either.
It does avoid confusion using the precise name, though, in our times when every single sect is taking the use of calling itself part of the "Catholic Church", when they actually mean something invisible and non-hierarchical.

 

[bigsierra]

I socialize with a lot of Protestants and they have a lot of misconceptions of Catholics, but again they seem to always refer to Catholics as Catholics and and to themselves they use the label Christian, in casual conversation. PS139 hit this topic right on the head.

This thread is about the term "Roman" Catholic. It got off-base somewhere along the way when someone started discussing whether or not Catholics call themselves Christians.