tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18369530.post215144038271694723..comments2023-06-29T13:25:30.567+02:00Comments on The Editrix' Roncesvalles: We’ll do God, and you can do Baal!The_Editrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07529769143608862966noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18369530.post-51143722834645749252007-09-22T22:00:00.000+02:002007-09-22T22:00:00.000+02:00"Interesting... It never occurred to me that as a ...<I>"Interesting... It never occurred to me that as a Protestant, I count as gentile and worship Baal, as long as there's a Catholic next to me that "does God". I was raised by parents of different Christian denominations in the belief that it was Jesus Christ who died for all of our sins and thus set us free. But if the pope says it, and Rabbi Yerachmiel Seplowitz says it, and the Editrix says it, ...maybe I'm wrong."</I><BR/><BR/>That is not at all how I understood it, Cornelius. I may be wrong, though. He took up the pope's words to clarify the distance that ought to be between religions and denominations. At no point I was under the impression that he considered Protestants as an inferior sort of Christians or -- heaven's forbid -- as an equivalent to Baal-worshippers while Catholics "do God". I did not understand it to be about inner-Christian matters at all, or better: I can't see that he said anything that in any way identified one Christian denomination as superior. He just said that Protestants ought not to be amazed that the pope said what he said and with that I concur.<BR/><BR/>As I said in the blog entry, I don't understand people who want to break away from a majority and to stress their differentness and are, after they did, miffed if they are regarded as such. I have the same respect for Protestants as people regardless of the theological clarifications of the pope and what I see are Catholics who feel likewise and can't be much bothered otherwise.<BR/><BR/>I grew up in the Fifties and Sixties in a Protestant environment that was full of anti-Catholic clichés, from colourful to downright nasty. My parents were Protestants turned agnostics. That was in a Protestant part of Westphalia with a strongish Catholic minority and the arch-Catholic, deeply "black" Münsterland next door, which caused a climate of distrust and even hostility. Others may have reacted differently to that, however, we can never dismiss personal idiosyncrasies. I ended up as a non-believer in ecumenism and I seriously think that both denominations would buckle under the pressure. Distance and respect are the answers or so I think.<BR/><BR/>I never understood Protestants and what I perceive as their inferiority complex. I always wanted to shout: "You broke away 500 years ago, you've been a huge success, you've become, for better or worse, the predominantly formative religion in Germany. Why can't you just leave the Catholics be!"<BR/><BR/>Hat off to your parents who were strong and loving enough to bring you up successfully in spite of all that. It's only for the very strong.<BR/><BR/>I think that the rabbi's thoughts should be best applied to the insufferable "dialogue" with Islam. (Another thing where the Protestants lose me.)The_Editrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07529769143608862966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18369530.post-2601131407957684292007-09-22T20:05:00.000+02:002007-09-22T20:05:00.000+02:00Interesting... It never occurred to me that as a P...Interesting... It never occurred to me that as a Protestant, I count as gentile and worship Baal, as long as there's a Catholic next to me that "does God". I was raised by parents of different Christian denominations in the belief that it was Jesus Christ who died for all of our sins and thus set us free. But if the pope says it, and Rabbi Yerachmiel Seplowitz says it, and the Editrix says it, ...maybe I'm wrong.<BR/> <BR/>However, although for the latter "[t]he rabbi's views are like a fresh breeze cleaning up the minds clogged by relativism", there is not a single argument in his rant that is theologically relevant to the discussion about the pope denying Protestant denominations the status of church. The rabbi's article is just plain stupid as long as he compares "gentiles" with Protestants and uses "[Roman] Catholic" and "Christian" as synonyms. He can ramble as much as he likes about Jewish-Catholic relations, but next time he wants to contribute to an inner-Christian debate on things Ecumenical, he should better think twice before making a fool of himself. <BR/><BR/>I am a tad disappointed, Editrix: I did not expect you to react like that.<BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/>CorneliusCorneliushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07901375637824956708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18369530.post-60437734516154593222007-09-20T13:02:00.000+02:002007-09-20T13:02:00.000+02:00Editrix,On the subject of outspoken Catholics, I f...Editrix,<BR/><BR/>On the subject of outspoken Catholics, I feel bad for the Archbishop of Cologne who is under fire who called art "entartete Kunst".<BR/><BR/>All the man did was tell the truth. It's unfortunate that he's being pilloried for his choice of words.<BR/><BR/>Nobody else in Europe is trying to preserve European culture except the Catholic Church these days.Pandayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11103853686978003169noreply@blogger.com