Catholics Aren't Christians?

[vorlon13]

Someone who attempts to poison the Pope but fails and yet remains undetected, and who still persists in presenting himself as a true catholic nevertheless isn't, as he would discover on judgement day upon being consigned to hell, despite his avoiding excommunication while on earth.

[dyresand]

Catholics are christian the end.
if you believe that jesus christ ever existed and pray to him and god your christian.
Catholics are super christians the end that's it no more.

[vorlon13]

The poisoner in my example too ??

Despite a (failed) attempt on the pope's life ?

[Minimalist]

Tell me about it.

[fr0d0]

Is this the confessional?

You can't be born a Christian. You can be born a Catholic. You don't have to believe in God or Jesus to be a Catholic. You don't have to have anything to do with any church, including any Catholic church to be a Catholic. It's like saying no atheists believe in ghosts. Being a member of the Catholic church means you're on someone list somewhere, depending on which vagina you popped out of.

[Regina]

The clue is in the name Jesus CHRIST

"Christianity" is just an umbrella term for any religion which has Jesus as the central prophet and/or cites the Bible as it's Holy scripture, so Catholics, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, etc etc. I was raised Catholic and I've always thought of Catholics as Christians.

It's comparable to in Islam where you have Shia and Sunni Muslims. They're different forms of Islam but they are both still Islamic forms of religion.

[vorlon13]

The clue is in the name Jesus CHRIST

"Christianity" is just an umbrella term for any religion which has Jesus as the central prophet and/or cites the Bible as it's Holy scripture, so Catholics, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, etc etc. I was raised Catholic and I've always thought of Catholics as Christians.

It's comparable to in Islam where you have Shia and Sunni Muslims. They're different forms of Islam but they are both still Islamic forms of religion.

I've read the Tanner's book on the Mormon's and you are nominally correct about the Mormons today, but they were rather more Christian in the past, and at some vaguely definable time in the future, they will be so much less as to not be christian at all. It will be hard to tell, and it is safe to assume their standard befuddlement on everything will continue to assert itself, most likely to a degree that they won't realize it happened, won't admit it did happen if it is pointed out to them, and then will maintain their church has always been non christian, and they will hold all those views simultaneously.

[robvalue]

The thing is, just because someone "says" you are a catholic when you're born, what does that even mean? Personally I don't care what someone labels me as, it doesn't mean it's true.

[fr0d0]

There are Catholic atheists, as we've seen here recently. How can they be atheists and Christians at the same time? "Christian" here, by these definitions, does not involve belief on God.

[Whateverist]

Right, arguably we are mostly cultural Christians in the U.S. .. whether I like that or not. Not putting any stock in the bible or the (deceased) person of Jesus doesn't prevent my having been raised in the land where the countries of Europe sent their religious extremists for so many years.

---

The thing is, just because someone "says" you are a catholic when you're born, what does that even mean? Personally I don't care what someone labels me as, it doesn't mean it's true.

Apparently the Mormons are busy making everyone Mormon after they die.

Makes for an amusing gravestone:

Born a Catholic
Lived an atheist
Became a Mormon in death