Letters to the Editor
Juliebird
Published Letters: 2096 Editor's Choice: 107
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trudy b
[Read the article: Bless me, Mother ...]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Protestant sects do not believe in the forgiveness of sins hthrough confession. For me, that ritual is suprmely important. (Not because I wqant a "get out of Hell free card" but because I believe that the act of confession and penance is good for the soul of the confessee and confessor).
Protestant sects do not believe in transubstantiaion. Call me foolish, but I like that belief. (It resonates with the tragedian in me. It feels "right" even if to most it is pure drivel).
Protestants sects (in simplest terms, knowing the various churches have more sophisticated dogma and belief structures) believe in salvation through faith alone. Simply accepting Jesus as my savior is not enough for me. I like the Catholic idea of salvation through doing good works. Yeah, I could do good works in a Protesaant church (as many protestants do), but it wouldn't be the same.
I digress, but ... One thing people forget when bashing the Catholic Church through the centuries is that, the Catholic Church was so entwined with the secular, political Europe, that separating the two is silly. The "princes of the church" were often directly related to the secular princes of the European states. Whatever one lays at the feet of "the Catholic Church" prior to Martin Luther, should also lay at the feet of "The Medieval Europeans." (And, early protestants commited plenty of atrocities as well). When you put into that context, the medieval Catholic Church becomes less an Evil Empire enslaving a separate populace, and more a stage of human development. We were all stupid a millenium ago.
So I can't join your church, any more than I would expect you to comfortably join mine (nor belittle you for not willingly dropping your faith and converting to something easier. But I accept the spirit in which you make your offer.)
The stuff I don't agree with in the Catholic Church? Seems trifling by comparison. Even if the American Catholic church does break away, it will still be fundamentally different from current Protestant sects.
But that's my journey. Others will find their own paths.
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Leave Hal out of it
[Read the article: Bless me, Mother ...]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"After the split of the Church of England from the Catholic church by Henry VIII I understand the day to day ritual and belief were unchanged."
Henry VIII was interested only in his own happiness and power, and really could care less about the souls of his people. Some rituals stayed, but many others changed on a regular basis, according to whim, or that of is mistress/Queen du jour. Not keeping up with his religious fads was to risk beheading or burning. He was as bloody as Stalin (funny how if eldest daughter earned the epithet, while her dear old dad raped, plundered and murdered like a Satyr and still got called "Good King Hal").
Episcopalianism doesn't work for me, as he Episcopalian church does not believe in reconciliation or transubstantiation, which I have already mentioned are important articles of my faith.
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@calcareous
[Read the article: Bless me, Mother ...]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church."
A fair point, and a separate American Catholic church would, I suppose by definition, be a new Protestant sect.
But, the Catholic church has survived schism before: the Great Schism of the 11th century (in part over disputed phrases in the Nivene Creed!) that led to the evolution of the Roman Catholic Chuch and Eastern Orthodx Church; and the Western Schism of the late 14th century, which involved some 40 years of dual popes in Rome and Avignon.
I predict a third "American schism" more like the 10th century split, unless the Mother Church evolves.
BTW, the whole "Good for you" bit (and the Catholic as uncomfortable hypocrites) seems a little condescending on your part, no? (Dare I say paternalistic?) But, yeah, good for me. For a whole lotta reasons.
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more Henry thoughts
[Read the article: Bless me, Mother ...]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There was a bit more to it than "I want to nail who I want."
I agree! The fact that Anne Boleyn had Lutheran leanings was helpful, but not the whole picture.
Yes, there was also "I want church lands at my disposal" and "I want church treasure for myself" which resulted in a lot of gold melting and other government-sanctioned plunder. And "I want to give positions of power to my lacke- I mean supporters! - without approval from Rome."
To be fair, there was also the "I want to be the sole leader of my people, and not be beholden to a higher authority." Which dovetailed nicely with "I want to kick some French and Spanish a$$ without the cHurch meddling."
But, had Katherine of Aragon produced a healthy son or 2, or conveniently fied when Henry was desperately trying to get into Anne's .... farthingale, I doubt very much Henry, the "Defender of the Faith," would have seceeded from the established Church.
As it stands, I think the Anglican church has evolved nicely *despite* the meddlings of the Tudors and the Stewarts. Ultimately, I think Henry VIII was disastrous for both kingship and established religion. By making himself his own personal pope, he plunged his people into his own paranoid fantasyworld for some twenty years, and no one could say "No sire" without risking the block. It wasn't until Elizabeth I ascended and said "Just go to *a* church, pray, and stay out of trouble!" (yes, I'm simplifying again, but bear with me) that the English public enjoyed a modicum of religious freedom.
And then came the Stewarts who kinda screwed the pooch all over gain with their "divine right of kings" crapola, and the reactionary (and 100% Protestant) Puritans who burned, dunked, hanged or otherwise offed yet more "witches." No one gets out of the Reformation without a share of the blame.
Trudy B, thanks for the thoughts about confession. Do Episcopalians have a ritual attached, or do they simply have conversations? (I'm a sucker for ritual).
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@ Joe Satyr
[Read the article: Bless me, Mother ...]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/319796/satyrs_in_art_a_look_at_one_of_mythologys.html
for satyrs. I mean, for starters.
Present company excepted, I presume.