That is a very well reasoned post. Of course it may seem like worship to some other sorts of Christians.
But not one Catholic Freeper has said they worship Mary in this thread. Very much the opposite has happened. And there are Catholics on FR who openly don’t recognize the current Pope as valid!! If there were millions of Catholics who worship Mary we would surely have one or two on FR. Catholics have no reason not to admit worshipping Mary if they really did so, especially on an anonymous message board (because worshipping Mary gets you kicked out of the Church). The only folks who seem to think that Catholics worship Mary are some other types of Christians, despite the simple fact that Catholics say they don’t and would have no reason not to admit to it if they did.
Freegards, God bless
I wonder how many Buddhists admit to worshipping statues of Buddha.
Denial is a very handy psychological defense in all RELIGIONS.
I was born into a Jewish home and raised by my Orthodox Grandparents until the age of 12. My mother who is married to a Methodist did not keep her home religious, we had a Christmas tree and a Menorah, I was given presents at Easter and for Passover. I grew up in a neighborhood that was split Jewish and Catholic, my best friends in High School were Catholic and I was at Mass more then at Temple for most of those years. My college roommate for my Freshman and Sophomore years was Hindu.
I married a Baptist whose mother was (I mean no offense by this description) what I knew as a bible “thumper” faith healing, speaking in tongues, tent revivals, etc. After spending a good portion of my life with the belief I was being called to the Catholic Church, I converted four years ago.
I actually have a point to my “unusual” religious background -
The only people I have ever met that believe or claim Catholics pray to Mary are non-Catholics.