Survey Finds More Hispanic Americans Becoming Protestant (% of Hispanic Catholics has dropped)

Christian Post ^ | 7/6/2009 | Jennifer Riley

[GinaLolaB]

And many of those roots were as a result of old-world religious persecution of Protestant faithful

Excuse me, are you kidding. The so called protestant faithful came running over to this land discovered by Catholics because they were being persecuted by that fat King Henry the VIII and his nasty looking daughter Elizabeth I. Henry VIII took over all of our Catholic Cathedrals and Colleges in England. They couldn't even build their own stuff. Give us our stuff back!

[BillyBoy]

>> all the Protestants that I’ve known who have gone “Catholic” are liberals or “moderates” in their political thinking. <<

One wonders why they'd go through so much effort to join a church that teaches abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell use, human cloning and homosexual relations are all "intrinsically evil actions" and opposes artifical birth control, divorce, ordaining woman, etc., etc. Doesn't sound to me like anyone who is liberal or moderate in their political thinking would be too happy in a church like that. Assuming what you say is true, the only possible reason they switched denominations might be because the married a Catholic and did so to please him/her. Perhaps you could introduce me to some these political "liberal/moderates" who switched from Protestant to Catholic, they seem to be confused. Whenever I hear about someone well known switching from protestant to Catholic (Jane Roe, Clarence Thomas, Sam Brownback, etc.), it's because they've moved right-ward politically and are not happy with their protestant churches "values"

[RFEngineer]

“Excuse me, are you kidding. The so called protestant faithful came running over to this land discovered by Catholics because they were being persecuted by that fat King Henry the VIII and his nasty looking daughter Elizabeth I. Henry VIII took over all of our Catholic Cathedrals and Colleges in England. They couldn’t even build their own stuff. Give us our stuff back!”

Here I thought that WASP’s had something to do with America - now come to find out it was everybody ELSE who built it, and WASP’s are the interlopers.

Boy, I almost feel guilty now.

[ConservativeMind]

Because the Catholic church has no actual power over making any parishioner not get an abortion, etc.

I've known of more Catholics (albeit, bad ones) that have had abortions than I do of Protestants, and I know many more Protestants.

Divorce is allowed in the Catholic church, you just have to get it annulled or simply get it done outside of the Catholic church. Also, money buys a divorce pass, as with the current leader of Italy or the Kennedy family.

How you can be married for over a dozen years and have it “annulled” is beyond me, but it isn't beyond the Catholic church. Besides, “annulment” is not a concept ever mentioned in the Bible—even the Catholic Bible.

[BillyBoy]

The delicious irony of the British government declaring an official religion and persecuting Catholics is that 500 years later, their "national church" is falling apart (half the U.S. branch broke away with the ordaining of the openly gay bishop), and hardly any baptized members of the "church of England" attend mass anymore. There are more Catholics going to church every week in England than Anglicans, even though Anglicans outnumber Catholics 6-to-1 in raw membership thanks to 500 years of oppressing the Catholic church.

I guess starting a new Christian denomination for the sole purpose of getting a new wife didn't work out that well over the centuries.

And again, most of the founding fathers of the U.S. were Anglican/Episcopalian, due to the influence of the "mother country" of England at that time. Since Anglicianism is 90% similar to Catholicism (same doctrines, sacraments, understanding of Christ, etc.), the religious culture of the U.S. has always maintained Catholic traditions much more than most of western Europe. (today Anglicians are only 1.5% of the population, due to their members defecting in droves) Protestants as a whole might be 50% of the population in the U.S., but the only thing they agree on is Catholics suck. As a result, the largest Christian faith in the United States, Catholicism, dominates religious thought in the U.S., aided by protestant churches that agree with Catholic doctrines (Lutherans, Episcopalians) or Catholic moral values (baptists).

[ConservativeMind]

Well, pedophilia is rampant among the many US Dioceses and, apparently, Communism and the New World Order is being prescribed by Mr. pope as of this week:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287409/posts?page=143#143

[BillyBoy]

>> “Excuse me, are you kidding. The so called protestant faithful came running over to this land discovered by Catholics because they were being persecuted by that fat King Henry the VIII and his nasty looking daughter Elizabeth I. Henry VIII took over all of our Catholic Cathedrals and Colleges in England. They couldn’t even build their own stuff. Give us our stuff back!” <<

>> Here I thought that WASP’s had something to do with America - now come to find out it was everybody ELSE who built it, and WASP’s are the interlopers.Boy, I almost feel guilty now. <<

I don't see what Gina's post about Catholics building up England and then being overthrown by Protestant insurgents has to do with WASPs founding America (of course WASPs founded America, since the formally Catholic England became Protestant in the 1600s, and England was the one that colonized the U.S.) Catholicism really was a small, marginalized religion in the U.S., back in 1776.

Of course for over 100 years, including since the industrial revolution, this is not the case. The U.S. has been dominated by Catholic thought during its rise to become a world superpower.

[BillyBoy]

Yes, the liberal media loves to report on those pedophile priests, and conveniently ignore every time a minister in another Christian denomination gets caught messing with kids. I see the liberal media has brainwashed you well. Sorta like how the media loves to report gun violence in the U.S., but would have us believe there are no gun murders anywhere else in the world. Not sure how it's "rampant" in the Catholic church when less than 1% of priests have been accused of pedophilia. By those standards, pedophilia must be "rampant" in the U.S. adult male population as a whole.

Since you seem to like hurling stones at the Catholic church so much, why don't you tell us what Christian denomination you are? Probably cuz the vast majority of Americans wouldn't agree with your denomination, I bet. Michael Moore loved to hurl stones at George W. Bush for losing the "popular vote", while being strangely silent on the fact that the guy he wanted for President (Ralph Nader), lost the "popular vote" of 98% of Americans.

Alot of you protest ants come from a denomination that only 0.5% of Americans agree with, and then knock Catholicism as a marginal branch of Christianity when 25% of Americans agree with it.

[ConservativeMind]

Well, let’s try this. How many multi-million dollar judgments have been thrown at Protestant churches?

I rest my case.

[ConservativeMind]

I am part of a non-denominational, fundamentalist church.

[BillyBoy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/659629/posts

"There are no real scientific data" on Protestants, he said. Since 1974, his Walk-In Counseling Center has been consulted on more than 2,000 cases of clergy sexual misconduct of all types, two-thirds of them with Protestants.

He finds that sex with adult women or teen-age girls is the most frequent Protestant problem.

In a typical Protestant case, a jury awarded $10 million in February to relatives of the late Deborah Yardley of Columbus, Ohio.

The suit charged that the Rev. Steven Colliflower, a United Methodist, had an affair with Yardley when she sought his help with alcohol and emotional problems. He left the ministry shortly after she made the allegation. She later died of liver disease.

The conservative World magazine says Protestantism faces a "severe problem" of clergy involvement with people the ministers are counseling, calling this "an egregious abuse of power."

Schoener said that clergy having sex with prepubescent victims is "very rare" in all Christian denominations.

A study of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), covering eight states over six years, found 17 cases filed against clergy with 31 victims, all female, with one case involving a minor.

[SeattleBruce]

“A lot of you protestants come from a denomination that only 0.5% of Americans agree with, and then knock Catholicism as a marginal branch of Christianity when 25% of Americans agree with it.”
+++++++++

How many Catholics or Protestants actually go to their local church? How many support their local church? Supposedly 90% of Americans believe in God - yet look at our moral state...I think for people that are devoted believers in Jesus Christ, we need to unite along the essentials - that Jesus Christ was given by the Father as a sacrifice for our sins and that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

[The Toll]

They are just becoming BOTH. More free stuff.

[ConservativeMind]

The Catholic church has paid out nearly $2 billion dollars for their sex abuse cases, mostly with little boys being raped by men:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paedophile_priests#Compensation_payouts

How much have Protestant churches paid out in sex abuse cases, in total, remembering that there are 100% more Protestants in the US than Catholics?

[married21]

Well, I’ll suggest all you historical debaters wind down the religious war the way I do after my Baptist nephew and I go at it about religion:
pray for me and I’ll pray for you. And may the Holy Spirit move all of us ever closer to the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

[BillyBoy]

>> I am part of a non-denominational, fundamentalist church. <<

So in real world terms, that's like the maker of generic ALDI brand Cola knocking the Coca-Cola corporation for not having as many sales as Pepsi in the U.S., even though Coca-Cola enjoys far more name recognition world wide... and while everyone notices the Pepsi vs. Coke dispute, nobody has ever heard of ALDI's generic labeled version except people who shop there.

[ConservativeMind]

Christ wasn’t a “name-brand,” nor was His message.

I have no problems with this. There were no denominations in the Bible, and, in fact, when there was a person who said they followed on Apostle, they were chastised and corrected.

[armydoc]

One wonders why they'd go through so much effort to join a church that teaches abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell use, human cloning and homosexual relations are all "intrinsically evil actions" and opposes artifical birth control, divorce, ordaining woman, etc., etc. Doesn't sound to me like anyone who is liberal or moderate in their political thinking would be too happy in a church like that.

Liberals are comfortable in US Catholic churches because the hierarchy does litle to make them uncomfortable. They are not "called out" on their beliefs. They are not refused the Eucharist. The liberals see these teachings as quaint antiquities that can be ignored for the most part. In contrast, my experience in (conservative) protestant churches is that the congregation is homogenously conservative. Liberals truly do not feel comfortable there; they leave and find a liberal protestant denomination. That's fine with us.

[BillyBoy]

You seem to be confusing "sexual misconduct" with pedophilia. 1.7% of priests were accused of "sexual misconduct" of some kind. That doesn't mean they were caught "raping little boys". Your posts are about as truthful as using Mark Sanford, John Ensign, and David Vitter being caught in sex scandals mean their is "rampant pedophilia in the Republican Party".

In any case here's the answer to your question:

"Among 2,252 priests serving over four decades, only one abuser could be termed a pedophile under the strict, clinical definition of the word - meaning the victim was prepubescent."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/659629/posts

So there's your answer. 1 priest out of 2,252 committed an act on par with "raping little boys"

Unfortunately we don't have data of all 3,000 or so protestant denominations in the U.S., but I have no doubt you could find plenty of "Sexual misconduct" among their ministers, and probably at least 1 person that actually fits the correct definition of a "pedophile"

[RFEngineer]

“Of course for over 100 years, including since the industrial revolution, this is not the case. The U.S. has been dominated by Catholic thought during its rise to become a world superpower.”

Funny. This part probably can’t be credited solely to Protestants or Catholics.

Still I’d like some honest Catholics to show up on this thread, like all the Catholics I know. I don’t know where some of the crazies come from.