I believe that Jehovah's Witnesses are a "cult". To be a "good Roman Catholic" you have to be "cultic", that's for sure! Their beliefs and practices, rites and ceremonies are simply weird! To be fair, JWs aren't the only cults around.
If JWs Are A Cult, I Believe Roman Catholicism Is Too
by minimus 45 Replies latest jw friends
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mkr32208
I'm gonna file this in my "Ummm, duh, no sh*t folder...."
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Satanus
Prove it.
S
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minimus
Read the dictionary definition.
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Satanus
Why not put the definition here, and correlate each point w examples? Then, start on the nt, since the catholics put it together. Then do the ot chosen people. Heh heh.
S
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minimus
The Roman Catholics (the diehards) have the craziest beliefs. If you don't accept them, you're put to death on a stake......Ooops, that's what the cult used to do.
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franklin J
Interesting observation, Min
as we all know, Catholicism has had its share of murder and mayhem. The history of THAT Church reads like an ABC movie of the week soap opera.
But from my vantage from sharing in both of these religions ( JW and Catholicism); I can say that Catholicism is ; today a different religion than it was 500 years ago ( or even 40 years ago) and light years different from our old JW alma mater.
Just for a brief starter:
1) The Catholic Church runs Catholic Charities; not for profit and distributes food and supplies to ANYONE; irregardless of religion. This is an international charity.
2) The Catholics do not routinely come after you and "excommunicate" ( contrary to popular belief).
3) The local Catholic Church I attend with my family is more of a "social" gathering. No one kneels; crosses themselves, or believes that the Pope is infallible. And they openly discuss and are free to disagree with the Vatican. Heck, the Priest also speaks his mind. But in their hearts they have a faith in their religion. Despite the bad press with the Pedophile issues ( which they all condemn the church for not taking a harder stand against their priests), they are Catholics.
4) The Catholic faith promotes secular education. The Jesuit Order of priests have some of the best secular education that the American Culture has to offer. Fairfield University in Fairfield Connecticut is one clear example.
I could go on and on....no excuses though, the history of the Catholic church is ugly; but the contemporary church, in my experiece and opinion is bearable. I do not believe any of its teachings and tolerate it simply because my wife was raised and still is Catholic.
Frank
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minimus
You're not describing true Roman Catholicism, Frank.
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jaffacake
As someone brought up a catholic, I agree with franklin. I believe they were a cult in history, but don't even qualify for high control group status these days. My sis-in-law is terminally ill and her priest has been out to see her. He told her how important it is to believe in God and his son Jesus, and then said no one, not even the pope really knows for sure what happens to us when we die...Having chatted to this guy, modern catholicism struggles to even qualify as dogmatic.
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Satanus
While the church did kill, it showed flexibility, which cults do not. The church made many adaptations in order to accomodate pagan celebrations and wild natures of it's target people. For instance the order of knights was started as a place for renegades and debtors in order to tame and use their wild natures for the benefit of the church and/or the king. You already know about the pagan stuff overlayed w christian stories to make them christian.
S