ask a former catholic

[Psycho4Bud]

saints are very important in that we belive as all people in heaven look out for us that is why its common to hear catholics praying to saints like saint anthony, michael the archangel, raphael the healer and such

It was always a big deal about naming boys with Saints names. My dad didn't have one until he was taken in for his baptism.......the way the story was told to me from my grandfather the priest looked at my dad and said that his name is now Patrick! LOL...so now the ol' man has two middle names.

Have a good one!:jointsmile:

[jdmarcus59]

I had sereval issues with my local priests and after a convorsation with the arch-bishop I decided that the catholic church had long ago lost sight of the purpose behind religion and allowed it to take a backseat into world polotics

now I am an undecided person i'm giving myself time to think and learn about many different religions and see which one would be the best for me, or if I even want to be religous

jesus never called any man to be religous.

[Quincyboy]

I meant fundamentalists.

The Church's own website addresses these issues, and of course denies that any of their teachings are "pagan".
Is Catholicism Pagan?

Glorification of "Mother Mary" is a type of idolatry. Treating a woman as something worthwhile is actually a better idea than many of their other teachings on the subject. Their involvement in funding the arts during the Renaissance was a good thing as well, despite the religious aspects of the works they commissioned.

sorry for the misunderstanding

and the glorification of mary is NOT idolatry, praying to mary is the same thing as praying to the saint we dont ask them for divine help we ask them to pray for divine help for us

and i've yet to find any belief or practice that can be considered pagan

[PureEvil760]

Heres a question, why do catholics follow pre-set doctrines when Jesus himself followed nothing accept his own inner guidance? Why don't cathlics recognize that anyone can be like Jesus and such talk would probably looked upon as completely wrong? He said it himself, "You can be just like me."

[Quincyboy]

Heres a question, why do catholics follow pre-set doctrines when Jesus himself followed nothing accept his own inner guidance? Why don't cathlics recognize that anyone can be like Jesus and such talk would probably looked upon as completely wrong? He said it himself, "You can be just like me."

because we can't be like him, he is the son of God fully human fully divine we can only learn from his teachings and follow his word and what passage from the new testament are you quoting?

[SeaWeed005]

where are the twelve tribes ?
and who are they now?

[medmj<3er]

Has anybody ever read any Joseph Campbell? I'm thinking specifically of you, Quincy, because you seem like you'd enjoy him. Try Hero With a Thousand Faces or especially The Power of Myth. He does a wonderful job of showing how the stories that are important to us as humans show up again and again and again, in religion and folklore and mythology, and Catholicism (as I'm sure you know) both consciously subsumed elements of popular pagan religions and organically, unconsciously mirrored much older elements in the development of its canon. If you don't like reading, he did The Power of Myth as a PBS miniseries too! Fun for all! :O)