RE: What IS good, and how do we determine it?
June 20, 2015 at 10:43 am
(This post was last modified: June 20, 2015 at 10:44 am by Randy Carson.)
(June 20, 2015 at 9:03 am)Cato Wrote:(June 20, 2015 at 3:22 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I think telling kids about the Catholic teaching of Hell hardly qualifies as "torture".
Only if they believe it.
Seriously though, I grew up in a Catholic household and don't remember any specific emphasis placed on the idea of hell. In fact, I'm struggling to remember a specific instance of it ever being discussed. It certainly wasn't used as a psychological tool to influence behavior or belief. As far as premarital sex, I got a heavy dose of 'don't dare get anyone pregnant' and one believable threat that if I did my junk would be doused in kerosene and set ablaze, but no religious based prohibition was ever touted.
There was certainly discussion about Christ's promised return, but my Catholic experience never approached anything resembling the end times/armageddon that is now synonymous with Christianity in the USA. I think Mainline Protestants are similar. This lunacy is reserved for the Evangelical crowd, which is unfortunate since they are a sizable and very loud faction here.
Thank you, Cato. I know we disagree about many things, but your testimony exemplifies what most Catholics experienced.
To NEIMENOVIC and others:
I'm sure there are exceptions, but preaching "fire and brimstone" is not part and parcel of the typical Catholic experience.
