By Monte Wilson III
10. Trinity Broadcasting Network
9. Thousands of self-appointed mini-popes in Protestant pulpits every Sunday morning.
8. Reformed theologians whose entire careers are spent straining out gnats in the teachings of others while ignoring the camels in their own character.
7. Evangelical leaders who would never dare refuse communion to a pro-abortion politician.
6. Worship services modeled after Rock Concerts.
5. Churches whose architecture reminds me of Sam’s.
4. Grape-juice in communion.
3. Evangelists in white-suits and sprayed down hair.
2. Christianity as a means for self-actualization.
1. The Christian fiction series, Left Behind. (“Another cleanup on aisle five!”)
6 comments:
That just brought a tear to my eye. The Sam's Club architecture item is awesome, although there are plenty of Catholic dioceses that are just as guilty... (sigh)
there's no reason to become Catholic in this list - it's all about quitting evangelism.
Coming from a Protestant perspective, these kind of bombs are thrown both ways, and neither seem very effective in moving toward understanding one another nor cultivating unity. I'm sure this post was merely for fun and humour, but I'm not sure it was sensitive enough to all the Protestants I know who are looking at this site and learning a lot from it. I'm a bit confused as to why David would publish this. Maybe I'm being too much a product of my culture and its oversensitivity to anything "offensive." At the same time, I don't think this kind of post will help the current situation between Prot and Cath anymore than a post on the top ten reasons it is better to be white than black (which I would never even think to develop) would help racial relations. The situation at hand demands more respect from both sides, and I'm not sure respect toward evangelicalism is being offered here. I'm even less sure this is the kind of "vibe" that this blog wants to give out, for this, indeed, is NOT the spirit of ressourcement.
Would David reconsider this post, please?
Fred - valid point.
Chad - this actually came off a Protestant website. Appreciate what humor you find in it but don't take it so seriously.
Paul - have you been in the new LA Cathedral? Its ugliness is overwhelming. It assaults every sensibility I have as a Catholic.
David -
Maybe you're right in that I am being oversensitive, as I stated earlier. Understand my perspective: this is not really a Protestant site. So whether or not a Protestant originally posted it, it is now being displayed on a Catholic site, and the impression one gets as a Protestant who comes to this site is not very positive (nor, again, does it in my mind reflect the spirit of ressourcement). Remember the old playground rule: I can talk about my mama, but if you do, I'll kick you butt (you get the point). This is especially true with the many recent coversions from Protestantism to Catholicism; many Protestants are a bit edgy and feeling defensive. I trust your wisdom on this, David, and so I apologize if I was too strong. The post just surprised me; this is the first time reading your site that I did not sense the welcoming ecumenism I usually do (that could have been my misreading of things). I trust, however, that I will continue to do so in the future.
(p.s. I did get a laugh at some of the points)
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