Sunday, September 30, 2007

Anti-Catholic Propaganda


Catholic Answers is asking for money to save the US Troops in Iraq from the real enemy: Anti-Catholic Propagandists:

"Imagine yourself in this situation...

You’re a young American soldier, born and raised Catholic, and you’re deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan or some other hot spot in the world today.

You risk your life on a daily basis. You’re fighting an increasingly unpopular war. Death and despair are all around you—and there’s little you can do about it.

This is a time when you need your Catholic faith and the soul-sustaining grace of the sacraments the most.

Yet, at the same time that you’re in harm’s way, you’re also “under fire” from zealous anti-Catholics who want you to go AWOL from the Catholic faith.

At night in your barracks, they ply you with tracts and booklets that show how unbiblical the Catholic religion is. They recite their version of the history of the Church and try to convince you that Catholicism is essentially pagan or blasphemous—and guilty of outright idolatry.

Now, bear in mind, you’re young—and you weren’t well-schooled in the catechism and Catholic apologetics when you were growing up. So you listen to the seemingly plausible arguments of the anti-Catholics . . . you stare blankly at your MRE . . . and you wonder if there are any answers to these attacks on your faith.

Out of loyalty, you try your best to defend the beliefs, practices, and traditions that the Fundamentalists are targeting. But to no avail—because you’re not equipped to defend the faith against such attacks.

Then, before you know it, you start to doubt the Catholic faith. You start reading the tracts and books that your buddy in the foxhole gave you. You even begin attending Protestant Bible studies. And then their church services. You discover that they’re really nice people, and they truly love the Lord.

Before you know it, you’re renouncing your Catholic faith and saying, “I used to be Catholic, but then I studied the Bible, and now I’m Christian!”

This happens every day among our armed forces.

The anti-Catholic zealots “target” the poorly-catechized Catholic troops they’re stationed with—and “save” them for the Lord by getting them to abandon Catholicism...

...You see, a high proportion (over 25%) of our troops are Catholics. Most are young and not well educated in the faith, so they are easy targets for the propaganda of anti-Catholic zealots.

Whether on a ship, on base, or in a foxhole, these troops are a captive audience for the Fundamentalists, who are encouraged by their own chaplains to evangelize Catholics and recruit them for Protestant Bible studies. Protestant chaplains have even been known to hand out Jack Chick publications—the worst anti-Catholic propaganda of all.

Well, a few years ago, we decided to do something about this problem..."

It's funny how easily "separated brethern" becomes "zealous anti-Catholics" when not in mixed company. Be sure to read the whole letter through.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think that the "worst anti-Catholic propaganda," (Jack Chick tracts) is good for evangelism given some of his weird views (e.g. KJV-Onlyism)

Thank for the post.:)

Ric said...

Oh my goodness, we are hurting our troops with the Gospel of Christ!

Oh forbid!

{action} Rolls Eyes! {/action}

kmerian said...

Carrie, you are really reaching with this one. Of course CA is not referring to ALL protestants when they refer to "anti-catholic zealots". They are referring to that small minority of protestants that harbor an irrational fear and/or hatred of the Catholic Church. But notice, NEVER does CA state that they are not Christians. WE (Catholics) are told constantly we are not Christians. Who is being more charitable here?

Carrie said...

Carrie, you are really reaching with this one.

Yes, I know. I am always reaching when I simply post a rather large excerpt from a Catholic source (with a link to the full context) and let the quote speak for itself.

Of course CA is not referring to ALL protestants when they refer to "anti-catholic zealots". They are referring to that small minority of protestants that harbor an irrational fear and/or hatred of the Catholic Church.

These?:

"You even begin attending Protestant Bible studies. And then their church services. You discover that they’re really nice people, and they truly love the Lord."

Yeah, they sound quite irrational and hateful.

kmerian said...

Again Carrie, you know they are not referring to all protestants. Besides, how is it insulting to call Protestants nice people? Mormons are some of the nicest people you could ever meet. But, that does not back their beliefs any less invalid.

Do you want me to list the anti-catholic sites that call us "assassins", brainwashed, unchristian, anti-christian, satanists, liars, decievers, and all these come from sites claiming to be "Christian". And the worse thing you can find is a Catholic site that calls Protestants "nice people"? Nice people can be wrong, that is the point.

Carrie said...

Kmerian,

As usual you seem to have completely missed my point.

How do you (or CA for that matter) know whether these Protestants witnessing to the Catholic soldiers “harbor an irrational fear and/or hatred of the Catholic Church”? Aren’t all Protestants who oppose the teachings of the RCC basically “anti-Catholic”??

It seems contradictory to call these people “anti-Catholic zealots” and then say they are “nice people who love the Lord” (as CA has done). It is also presumptuous for you to label these anti-Catholic zealots as Prots who “harbor an irrational fear and/or hatred of the Catholic Church”. How do you know what they believe or think? You’re assumption seems to be made simply on the fact that anyone who disagrees with the RCC must have either an “irrational fear or hatred” for the RCC – what is your proof of that?

And the worse thing you can find is a Catholic site that calls Protestants "nice people"?

This makes no sense in light of your previous comment. Previously you categorized the “anti-Catholic zealots” as a subset of Prots who hate the RCC, now you are acknowledging that CA called this same group “nice people”.

This is what happens when you have one sole mission (to defend Holy Mother Church no matter what she or her members say) – you can’t even acknowledge the contradictions in your own arguments.

kmerian said...

Carrie, The article is clear in that all Protestants are not "anti-catholic zealots". The zealots are those encouraging the others (the nice quiet ones) to witness to us "lost" Catholics.

If you were familiar with CA you would know that they do not label every non-catholic as a "anti-catholic". Nor do I nor did I claim that everyone who disagrees with Catholicism has an irrational fear or hatred of Catholicism, you are reading way too much into this.

Most people who "witness" to Catholics are simply misinformed and feel that they are doing the right thing. Often when I am approached by these people a short conversation reveals to them they they are misinformed. CA is merely asking for help to inform Catholic soldiers on their faith.

Anonymous said...

Kmerian said:
“Again Carrie, you know they are not referring to all protestants….”


Kmerian:

Actually, Carrie is exactly the sort of Protestant the article she cited describes. It would be silly to pretend otherwise. No doubt she imagines herself an "ideal" Protestant. You should not be surprised that she presents the article as an attack on Protestantism in general as “anti-Catholic zealotry.” From her perspective, it is!

Damnation of others is the zealot's gospel. Propaganda is its language. Vilification is its modus. Distortion is its life blood. Scandal is its food. The anti-Catholic zealot is always going to take anything “Catholic” and slant it to mean whatever it wants it to mean. Why are you tiring to reason with it? Reason is not its method; neither is it its goal.

E i E

Rhology said...

E i E left out the possibility that Carrie or someone like her is someone who knows the Gospel and, this is very important, understands WHY the Gospel is essential for a person. E i E either forgot, ignored, or never knew the Bad News that undergirds the very Good News of Jesus.

Rhology said...

I'd add that E i E talked a lot about "reason" and yet never made an argument beyond naked assertion in his/her comment.

Anonymous said...

"I'd add that E i E talked a lot about "reason" and yet never made an argument beyond naked assertion in his/her comment."

My comment is an observation. It falls under the "Blue skies are blue," category. It's direct observation. Carrie is an anti-Catholic zealot. Why deny it?

E i E

Anonymous said...

I wrote:
"The anti-Catholic zealot is always going to take anything “Catholic” and slant it to mean whatever it wants it to mean."

I should also have noted that te anti-Protestant zealot is always going to take anything “Protestant” and slant it to mean whatever it wants it to mean.

E i E