Top Ten Reasons Not To Be Catholic

[dUSt]

Attention non-Catholics, and Catholics who'd like to play devil's advocate.

 

What are the top ten reasons not to be Catholic?

[Fidei Defensor]

There isn't a god.

[Anastasia13]

Only 10?

[Nihil Obstat]

Annibale Bugnini.

[Luigi]

1. It costs too much - I don't want to contribute.

2. There's too much to learn - and most of it's in Latin.

3. I never did like fish.

4. I never win at Bingo.

5. I don't look good in a school uniform.

6. Too much ceremony - I'm an informal kind of a guy.

7. I prefer to sleep late on Sunday morning.

8. It's just so old - nothing that old can be any good.

9. Who can keep up with all those saints?

10. All the really good Catholic stuff is in other countries, and I hate to fly.

 

[cmaD2006]

7. I prefer to sleep late on Sunday morning.

 

 

Nope.  There's Mass somewhere on Sat. night.  Even early Sat. afternoon ... and guess what?  Most cities have a late Sunday Night (6pm or later) Mass.

 

:)

 

Next....

[Era Might]

Catholicism is a remarkably social and historical phenomenon, not the unchanging institution it has imagined itself to be since the Council of Trent.

[homeschoolmom]

Too hard.

[Apotheoun]

Catholicism is a remarkably social and historical phenomenon, not the unchanging institution it has imagined itself to be since the Council of Trent.

 

Some people might say that that is a reason to be Catholic.

[Era Might]

Some people might say that that is a reason to be Catholic.

 

Well it kind of undermines the whole foundation when the official narrative is discarded. I know somehow you've managed to reject the Council of Trent and all it represents and still maintain some faith in the communion of churches, but I don't see how that's anything more than wishful thinking.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Era Might

[Tony]

all he good girls end up being nuns :P

[PhuturePriest]

My Priest is ancient.

[Anastasia13]

1. I don't believe the Pope should have more authority than other bishops. (Prooftexting Matt. 16:18 is not enough, plus all pre-schism churches do not have one bishop higher than the others.)

 

2. The Orthodox view of the filoque makes more sense, that the Father is the one that the Spirit comes from, and not Father and Son.

 

3. Services are too short.

 

4. The Rosary is too long and complicated with all of the different mysteries to keep track of.

 

5. There are not many ethnic or Eastern parishes near me.

 

6. If I ever am pregnant and had a predicted to be terminal ailment where no longer being pregnant would save my life, and I terminate my fetus to be there for my other future kid, there will be plenty of condemnation from people who say you should pray and trust God and accept whatever happens when the other treatments fail.

 

7. I've read enough of the Western views and the rules that it seems too rule-filled for someone who cannot just relax and be still and know while trusting God and who needs principles but less formal procedures.

 

8. The new stark church insides are really creepy. (Yes, not all agree.)

 

9. Focusing on mortal sins and the urgent need to confess them takes away from the forgiveness freely offered to us when we repent.

 

10. The formal confession that is required came from people who too afraid to admit their faith in Christ during times of persecution confessing this to those who were not afraid to admit their faith.

 

11. I find the arguments against birth control weak in there basis, the perspectives of the religious who discuss such things too easily dogmatic, and the use of NFP to do anything other than conceive to be immensely hypocritical.

 

12. The Eucharist is for consuming, not sitting around adoring. Take and eat He said, not take and worship nor take and adore.

 

13. Being baptized or even confirmed Catholic does not make you a Catholic for real, only on paper, and baptism does not save either.

 

14. You have to agree with everything they teach to join, and I do not honestly, thus I cannot join.

 

15. Going to church is about more than just receiving the Eucharist.

 

16. The church would rather a validly married, beaten, abused, cheated on and divorced (but not eligible for annulment) 20-something who was called to a life of marriage spend the next X decades struggling with the temptation to fornicate than to get married to another God-loving person to spend the rest of his/her life with.

 

17. The Eucharist as it is practiced now is not the way we were taught in in the scriptures where context shows that it was Passover seder.

 

18. Jesus was a good Jew who respected God’s commandments, and thus kept Torah. He would not cause another to sin. Thus, He would not have literally given his body and blood to his disciples as that is not Kosher even by mere Biblical rather than Talmudic standards.  If He is really the living word, then it is more reasonable to believe that He was referring to Himself as the living Torah, and we have life from it just as the woman at the well was not thirsty again in a spiritual sense rather than a literal sense from the water that He gave that was not literal water.

 

19. If you really followed the traditions of Christ’s apostles, then you would say Kiddish and celebrate Jewish holidays, not just “Christian” ones.

 

20. You can acknowledge that people have a connection to the church and believe that others follow the same God, but you still cannot pray anything with them.

 

21. Muslims do not follow the same God. Muslims deny the trinity (Sura 5:73, Sura 4:171), the deity of Christ our prophesied of savior(Sura 4, Sura 5:72, Sura  5:116, Sura 5:17), and His sonship (Sura 9:29-30, Sura 19:35), yet: Muslims (841) God's plan of salvation includes those who acknowledge the Creator. Among these, in the first place, are the Muslims who profess the faith of Abraham and believe in one merciful God as mankind's judge on the Last Day.  Apparently God was suddenly not a strictly monotheistic deity only after His Son was incarnated, thus several Trinitarian arguments based on Old Testament scripture must suddenly be null and void regardless of the linguistic accuracy of the translations.

 

22. The historic selling of indulgences.

 

23. On a personal level, insufficient support yet for me to believe in purgatory exactly as taught by the Catholic Church.

 

24. The Crusades.

 

Catholicism is a remarkably social and historical phenomenon, not the unchanging institution it has imagined itself to be since the Council of Trent.

 

 

 

25. Real truth remains true. True doctrine does not change. Principles behind actions remain the same, and if something thus can change, it should never have been dogmatic in the first place.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Light and Truth

[PhuturePriest]

1. I don't believe the Pope should have more authority than other bishops. (Prooftexting Matt. 16:18 is not enough, plus all pre-schism churches do not have one bishop higher than the others.)

 

2. The Orthodox view of the filoque makes more sense, that the Father is the one that the Spirit comes from, and not Father and Son.

 

3. Services are too short.

 

4. The Rosary is too long and complicated with all of the different mysteries to keep track of.

 

5. There are not many ethnic or Eastern parishes near me.

 

6. If I ever am pregnant and had a predicted to be terminal ailment where no longer being pregnant would save my life, and I terminate my fetus to be there for my other future kid, there will be plenty of condemnation from people who say you should pray and trust God and accept whatever happens when the other treatments fail.

 

7. I've read enough of the Western views and the rules that it seems too rule-filled for someone who cannot just relax and be still and know while trusting God and who needs principles but less formal procedures.

 

8. The new stark church insides are really creepy. (Yes, not all agree.)

 

9. Focusing on mortal sins and the urgent need to confess them takes away from the forgiveness freely offered to us when we repent.

 

10. The formal confession that is required came from people who too afraid to admit their faith in Christ during times of persecution confessing this to those who were not afraid to admit their faith.

 

11. I find the arguments against birth control weak in there basis, the perspectives of the religious who discuss such things too easily dogmatic, and the use of NFP to do anything other than conceive to be immensely hypocritical.

 

12. The Eucharist is for consuming, not sitting around adoring. Take and eat He said, not take and worship nor take and adore.

 

13. Being baptized or even confirmed Catholic does not make you a Catholic for real, only on paper, and baptism does not save either.

 

14. You have to agree with everything they teach to join, and I do not honestly, thus I cannot join.

 

15. Going to church is about more than just receiving the Eucharist.

 

16. The church would rather a validly married, beaten, abused, cheated on and divorced (but not eligible for annulment) 20-something who was called to a life of marriage spend the next X decades struggling with the temptation to fornicate than to get married to another God-loving person to spend the rest of his/her life with.

 

17. The Eucharist as it is practiced now is not the way we were taught in in the scriptures where context shows that it was Passover seder.

 

18. Jesus was a good Jew who respected God’s commandments, and thus kept Torah. He would not cause another to sin. Thus, He would not have literally given his body and blood to his disciples as that is not Kosher even by mere Biblical rather than Talmudic standards.  If He is really the living word, then it is more reasonable to believe that He was referring to Himself as the living Torah, and we have life from it just as the woman at the well was not thirsty again in a spiritual sense rather than a literal sense from the water that He gave that was not literal water.

 

19. If you really followed the traditions of Christ’s apostles, then you would say Kiddish and celebrate Jewish holidays, not just “Christian” ones.

 

20. You can acknowledge that people have a connection to the church and believe that others follow the same God, but you still cannot pray anything with them.

 

21. Muslims do not follow the same God. Muslims deny the trinity (Sura 5:73, Sura 4:171), the deity of Christ our prophesied of savior(Sura 4, Sura 5:72, Sura  5:116, Sura 5:17), and His sonship (Sura 9:29-30, Sura 19:35), yet: Muslims (841) God's plan of salvation includes those who acknowledge the Creator. Among these, in the first place, are the Muslims who profess the faith of Abraham and believe in one merciful God as mankind's judge on the Last Day.  Apparently God was suddenly not a strictly monotheistic deity only after His Son was incarnated, thus several Trinitarian arguments based on Old Testament scripture must suddenly be null and void regardless of the linguistic accuracy of the translations.

 

22. The historic selling of indulgences.

 

23. On a personal level, insufficient support yet for me to believe in purgatory exactly as taught by the Catholic Church.

 

25. Real truth remains true. True doctrine does not change. Principles remain the same, and if something thus can change, it should never have been dogmatic in the first place.

 

I believe you may have went over the ten items or less limit, but I would like to correct #20. I can pray with Protestants and Jews if I like. I don't know where you heard that we can't. Also, Catholics are allowed to observe Jewish holidays and go to Jewish festivities (Hence being able to pray with Jews). We could even technically wear yamakas , but that offends Jews so we normally do not.

Edited January 10, 2013 by FuturePriest387

[Anastasia13]

I was going to edit my post, but I could not.

 

My answer depends on what sort of top 10 reasons you are going for. The list includes the majority of reasons, personal, theological, and social. I was not sure how serious this was about which kind of reasons, particularly given the contrast between Nihil's answer (which could be very serious) and Luigi's (which was clearly not good reasons).

 

26. Real presence was emphasized after the first couple of centuries, after Christianity and Judaism split more, and with the significance of the priest's role, is considered by some to be merely a tool of those powerful in the church to exert or maintain power over the laypeople, particularly also as the Church gained more social acceptance and connection with those in political power.

 

FP, thank you for the correction. Can you point me in the direction of some support for that statement should it come up a second time with someone?

Edited January 10, 2013 by Light and Truth