(July 6, 2015 at 11:27 am)Pyrrho Wrote:(July 6, 2015 at 10:48 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: No, no conspiracy theories up my sleeves... yet. ;-)
Haha, I'm actually just curious, really. I like knowing the thoughts of people who have views that are so different from my own, and I believe everyone has something to offer and is someone I can learn from. It's nice to be able to openly talk with all of you here. The atheists I'm friends with in real life don't feel very comfortable talking about this sort of thing with a devout Catholic like myself, which I think is unfortunate.
There are likely several different reasons for this. For one thing, there is the whole history of the Catholic church, with the Inquisition and so forth, that really does not make one wish to open up to a Catholic about things that Catholics have tortured and murdered people over.
Eh, sorry but I really don't think this has anything to do with it. :

These are incidents that happened centuries ago by people who are long dead. The Catholic Church is a huge promoter of life, even taking a stand against the death penalty for all criminals world wide. I don't think any of my atheist friends fear that I would either a. torture/kill them, or b. support the torture/killing of them. Lol.
I think they just don't feel comfortable talking about these things with a strong theist (whether Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, or whatever), for fear of getting into arguments, offending each other, getting in awkward situations, etc. Friends generally like to get along and don't like to get into deep topics with very opposing views. I can understand that, but still find it unfortunate.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh