here are my complaints about your comaplints:
“1. the whole idea of praying to “saints” instead of to God directly.”
There’s no “instead”. We pray to God. We also ask the saints to pray to God for us.
“2. the just flat out creepy way they are obsessed with Mary”
Your complaint is flat out creepy and nonsensical.
“3. the apparent primacy of church tradition over biblical teachings.”
You apparently have no clue about how scripture IS tradition in written form or how tradition and scripture work together. There is no primacy of Church tradition over Biblical teachings.
“4. the apparent disdain for the intelligence of their congregation to discern truth on their own through a study of the scriptures.”
There is no such disdain and there are plenty of opportunities for scripture study in the Catholic Church.
I think you should learn more before you complain again.
Great post. You put out exactly what I would have said, but in a much better way!
You may not be bothered by the whole Mary worship thing... but you wanted to know what bothered protestants, so I told you. I am sure Mary was a nice lady, but point me to where in the scriptures it says that good Christians are imbued after death with magical God like powers to hear the prayers of literally billions of people. I am not buying it. Only God is Omnipotent.
oh, and please don’t think I am picking on the Catholic Church.
I have been going to a Baptist church for 20+ years and I don’t buy for one second that dancing or drinking in moderation is sinful.