So, What's the Stigma on Catholics? - Comments

I agree with you on never seeing those stereotypes in Catholics.
I am an atheist but I was raised Roman Catholic.
I was actually suppose to be confirmed a couple weeks ago but sine the whole don't-believe-in-god thing I choose not to be.
All of my family and a lot of people I know are Catholic.
They are really laid-back.
My dad was actually going to be a priest before he met my mom.
His take on the bible is that it's the principle of it that counts, and you shouldn't take it word by word because it has been translated so many times over the centuries.
The Catholics I know are very open-minded.
I can see how people might get the stereotypes but I haven't seen it very much in the Catholics I know.

metamorfosis: That's more how it is for me. Most of my friend's families aren't over the top like the stereotype that I described.

And the whole Catholic thing for me is from almost every Filipino person being Catholic.

And that was a good take on the whole rural versus city view.

Omg... Mexico's main religion is Catholicism, but this stereotype is rarely seen in the city in which I live. My family is catholic, but nothing of the above stereotype described fits my family at all, nor my boyfriend's family, nor my friends' families, nor even my acquaintances families.

Actually, in Mexico, the "strict" religion belongs to Christians.

I do not know why this stereotype; the catholic families that are strict normally come from a rural environment, in which abortion, homosexuality, and in some extreme cases women's rights, are not even discussed.

However, the Catholic families from the city tend to be more open minded, like my family and the family of my friends, and do not take whatever the bible says to be a complete truth.

Im Catholic was baptized as such but Im not very stringent cause I also consider myself a Neo-Pagan

I think I can understand for all those people who are regular church goers and what not more often than not the secretly see themselves above people, and my mom says to me more often than not the people who need to go to church constantly are the people who need the most forgiveness. Im not saying all are like that this is from my experience.

I'm catholic, but i'm more of a 'Jack Catholic' I'm not exactly very true to the religion, and I've never been to church, but I was raised reading the bible, and hearing stories about what Catholicism is all about.

BananaPancakes.: I totally get what you're coming from. Christianity is all about conversion, and as history shows, a lot of times it's taken too far.

Question: So do you call yourself an agnostic?

I think Catholics get singled out because they're usually only seen for the bad things they do and they make it appear that god is their whole entire life. You hear about how they are against gays, how if you don't follow them they tell you you'll go to hell. For some people that is true, and for others it's not. I choose not to believe in god and Christianity or Jesus personally, because I don't agree with everything and for me to believe something I want proof that it exists and isn't just made up from some story teller and put into a book. However, I think that anyone is entitled to believe in what they want. It seems a lot of the times that Christians are shoving Jesus down our throats - not all but I have had people do it. If we don't want to believe in it we don't want to, ya know?

Purple.Rose.Garden: You're history is right. Church corruption was a big problem at that time, with Pope's being benefactors and all this other problem with people paying money to have their sins forgiven and what not. But to be honest, I don't think most people know their European History very well for that to be the reason.

And mm, good point. I forgot about the different branches of Catholicism. I'm a Roman Catholic. But I haven't really been taught about other types of Catholicism.

Tom Delonge: I guess I can see that. It's probably because Catholics believe that the Bible is written by God, not man, so it's ultimate word. And Catholics study it a lot in religion class and it's a big part of the mass.

well thats how I view most catholics...I know a few families that are catholic and that bassically sums them up pretty well. I know that thats not how all catholics are so don't think I'm insulting ur religion its just from what I've seen.

I think alot of it comes from the history of the Catholic Church. Way back in the 1500s, Catholics ruled Europe. The pope had most of the power (even over kings), and corrupted politics. Alot of people might have residual feelings from this. (anyone, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't had history class since January).

And trust me, I totally see where you're coming from. I'm a Byzatine Catholic, a branch that comes from the Slovak states (Czech, Slovakia, Ukraine, some Russia). I don't know about the Romans, but I know that we have some of the really extreme people that are uber strict and uptight.

I think people single out Catholics as Bible-huggers is because they're the strictest branch of Christianity.
I've learned about Christianity and the three branches of it and I know that Catholics are very strict as they go by the Bible and repsect God greatly.

YO YO YO!!!!

QUIT STEALIN MY NAME !

I'm catholic, I guess. I picked to go to a catholic church, and that is where I've been baptized and confirmed. But there's a lot of things I don't believe in the catholic religion.