Reply #73: An observation [View All]

[Az]

It seems to me the Catholic church relies on authority of the Papacy to promote their position while the protestant's seem to rely on interpretation and sermonizing of those interps to bring about compliance.

In the case of the vatican they simply state that this is what the church stands for. Its official and cannot be questioned. Whether you live up to it or accept it is up to you. Hence the extreme variety of positions found within the US catholics.

The protestants meanwhile relying on the interpretation have to press their views into the services more consistantly than the catholics do.

This seems to give rise to the conditions we have today. We seem to be able to closely tie a protestant's positions stronly to the particular sect or denomination they belong to. But a Catholic may vary wildly. But because so many experience the vocal outburst of the religious right and their common ties to protestant methodologies the expectation is that the words and teachings of the church hiarchy do not fall far from the congregation.

Thus when the Pope speaks out on issues we may see as destructive to society we immediately attribute them to all Catholics as we presume they are supposed to be in lock step with the Church they associate with. This may not be the case and frequently isn't.

The problem of course is that the Catholic is caught in a bind. They call themself Catholic for tradition reasons and family ties often which they cannot or are not able to break easily. It is as much a part of their life as a blood relative. Thus while they may not share the views of the patriarch of the church they cannot so easily voice their rejection of the position. Thus when amongst those that they are closer to philosophically they find themself caught between a rock and a hard place.