SOME Protestants are anti-Catholic, just as SOME Catholics are anti-Protestant. But America is not anti-Catholic per se.
A more accurate way to put it would be: A lot of Americans, particularly in the major media, are anti-Christian.
One merely needs to read the state constitutions of the late 1700's and early 1800's and other laws. This was not at all anti-Christian - but instead was anti-Catholic (anti-Semitic for that matter). In many states non-Catholic Christian churches wer supported by taxes (by the way, no one considered tax support to be "establishment"). In many states, by law Catholics could not have certain jobs.
In the late 1800's there is strong evidence of a lingering anti-catholicsm - as Catholic immigrants arrived, much was made of the need to preserve the protestant hegemony of the USA. This is what drove Catholics to establish so many schools (because public schools included religious activity and by law used purely protestant materials - such as the protestant bible).
In the 1900's we saw, amonf other things, how Kennedy had to go to great lengths to distance himself from his Catholicism in order to get elected. (He had to prove he would not obey the Pope.)
But we also began during the 1900's to see the general anti-Christian sentiment creep into the media and academia.
Anti-Catholicism has always been part and parcel of the USA's heritage. But as secular world views became the norm, we have seen all Christians suffer from the bigotry of secularists. Sadly for Catholics, we find that bigotry of two types still exists against us: the traditional anti-catholicism of protestants AND the newer anti-Catholic bigotry of secularists.
Surely as an ancient world-wide body of one billion people the pro-life, pro-chastity, pro-traditional marriage official doctrines and lobbying of the Catholic Church is seen as enemy number one by the secularists. And some protestants can't help piling on when they see their traditional adversary (the Catholics) being attacked.
I AM GRATEFUL TO KNOW SO MANY PROTESTANT FREEPERS WHO REFUSE TO PILE ON AND WHO REALIZE WE ARE ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE CULTURAL WAR FOR TRADITIONAL BIBLICAL VALUES. I
A more accurate way to put it would be: A lot of Americans, particularly in the major media, are anti-Christian.
4 posted on 4/13/02 9:22 AM Pacific by EternalHope
Perhaps you should read more on this matter.
A good primer on the problem, written by a Protestant university professor, is:
"The Protestant Crusade; 1800-1860", by Ray Allen Billington.
Sursum Corda
Christians, as a group, are persecuted; Catholics, as the largest and older Christian church is particularly singled out.
God bless.