# Ask A Catholic **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 10, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897 "2011-02-10T15:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/161 "2011-02-10T21:46:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The bread is white. Well, after consecration, it’s still white. > The bread is hard. Well, after consecration, it’s still hard. > The bread is present on the altar. Well, after consecration, it’s still on the altar. > > But… the bread’s substance is bread. Well, after consecration, it’s the Body of Christ. Even though all its accidental properties remain the same. **Bricker** , can you explain to me why only wheat bread and wine from grapes can have, by consecration as part of the sacrament of the Eucharist, their substance transformed into the flesh and blood of Christ? Is there a theological answer why these two products are special in this regard? ---
**Author:** ![terryobrien80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@terryobrien80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terryobrien80)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/162 "2011-02-10T21:47:37Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > …Yes, but let’s observe the log in our own eye before we comment upon the motes found elsewhere… My opinion was asked for and I gave it. I was not trying to say I am better than anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![terryobrien80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@terryobrien80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terryobrien80)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/163 "2011-02-10T21:49:51Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > **Bricker** , can you explain to me why only wheat bread and wine from grapes can have, by consecration as part of the sacrament of the Eucharist, their substance transformed into the flesh and blood of Christ? Is there a theological answer why these two products are special in this regard? It is called “matter” in theology. For a Sacrament to be valid, it must use proper form and proper matter. There is no way this can be explained fully in a forum like this. Thousands of books have been written on Sacramental Theology spanning centuries. I can give you links and book titles if you like ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/164 "2011-02-10T21:51:54Z")
> [@terryobrien80](#): > > Really? Then I take it that you have some inside information about the feelings he has towards his father & the faith of his father that we have no access to? Sure don’t. Do you? My experience with the religion of my parents is that I have absolutely no warm sympathetic feelings towards either of them. None. Zero. I find your belief that a grown person is unavoidably sympathetic to the religion of their parents to be laughable, and easily disproved by asking…oh, let’s say any of the _extremely large_ number of atheists that were raised by religious families. (Edit: That is, no sympathetic feelings towards either of their religions. I have a few warm feelings about my actual parents. :p) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/165 "2011-02-10T21:56:28Z")
> [@terryobrien80](#): > > There is no way this can be explained fully in a forum like this. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/166 "2011-02-10T22:00:39Z")
> [@terryobrien80](#): > > Really? Then I take it that you have some inside information about the feelings he has towards his father & the faith of his father that we have no access to? Well, I’ve got this: > [@Barack Obama](#): > > My father was almost entirely absent from my childhood, having been divorced from my mother when I was 2 years old; in any event, although my father had been raised a Muslim, by the time he met my mother he was a confirmed atheist, thinking religion to be so much superstition.[Obama, Barack (16 October 2006). “My spiritual journey”. _Time_] Voila - no mind reading involved at all. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/167 "2011-02-10T22:20:06Z")
I’m not sure what **tomndebb** thought was going to happen in MPSIMS, but moving it to MPSIMS didn’t prevent a debate from breaking out. I’m moving the thread back to GD – if he really doesn’t want it there, he can move it to the Pit. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![terryobrien80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@terryobrien80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terryobrien80)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/168 "2011-02-10T22:57:25Z")
(deleted by terry) ---
**Author:** ![terryobrien80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@terryobrien80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terryobrien80)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/169 "2011-02-10T23:00:25Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I’m not sure what **tomndebb** thought was going to happen in MPSIMS, but moving it to MPSIMS didn’t prevent a debate from breaking out. I’m moving the thread back to GD – if he really doesn’t want it there, he can move it to the Pit. > > **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator Actually, I really would like to go back to the original intent of the thread. I guess I will ignore other posts that go off=track. Is that what you mean? That’s okay by me, seriously. REPEAT OF FIRST POST: **Ask A Catholic** Hello there. I am a Conservative and a Catholic. I am real about my conservatism and I am real about my Catholicism. If you have a question about Catholicism that you feel you have never gotten a straight answer to, ask me and you’ll get it. I have taught classes in “Apologetics” (Defending The Faith) so I can either give you a correct answer, or at least I can link you to the correct information. Believe me, there are plenty of websites that have crappy information and _some_ websites that have good information, and I know the difference. If anyone is REALLY intersted in this, here is a bit of a primer; the best **condensed** explanation of Catholicism online (about a 5 to 10 minute read): [http://www.catholic.com/library/pillar.asp](http://www.catholic.com/library/pillar.asp) (Please be respectful. Thank you) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/170 "2011-02-10T23:15:00Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Can a person born to Buddhist parents genuinely convert to Christianity, or must they always “…have some sympathies for the religion of [their parents?]” False dichotomy, assuming that anyone with some sympathy for the religion of his father is not a genuine convert. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/171 "2011-02-11T00:48:16Z")
> [@terryobrien80](#): > > War is an ugly business. No one can deny that. But you cannot vote for a politician who you KNOW will support the evil of abortion just because you THINK MAYBE the other guy may or may not start a war. > > And you cannot justify murdering babies because of the doctrine of “original sin”. Come on man, you’re way out there on that one. You are using different criteria for abortion and war You say that simply knowing a polician will support abortion is argument enough to not vote for him. You ignore whether or not his beliefs will manifest into any tangible difference in the levels of abortion Yet for war, you qualify your answer with whether or not they will eventually start a war. Nothing you said mentions whether simply knowing if they support a war, which is evident enough in their public platforms, is argument enough to not vote for them So in effect, knowing a politican supports abortion, regardless of whether their election leads to more abortions, is reason not to vote for him. But knowing if a politician supports war is fine. Only if it actually leads to a war, then your vote will have been in error. But then, that vote is already cast, isn’t it? Would you vote for a politician who is pro-choice, yet will implement policies resulting in less abortions overall, or would you support the pro-life candidate, knowing that it’s likely their policies will lead to more abortions? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/172 "2011-02-11T02:13:30Z")
Theological questions: -Who do you think are saved? Only Catholics or all Christians or good human beings or all human beings in general? -Do you believe the earth to be young or old? Do you believe God used evolution to create Man? -Do you believe in papal infallibility? -What are your opinion of the Protestant Reformers? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/173 "2011-02-11T02:45:01Z")
> [@terryobrien80](#): > > SECOND: The VAST mojority of these cases involved boys around the age of 14 or so. That means the issue is homosexuality, not pedophelia. This is a CRUCIAL point that the media TOTALLY ignored. Why? Because the media PROMOTES the homosexual lifestyle, and they can hardly say that it caused the problem. But framing it as “pedophelia” was sure to arouse anger because people hate those who harm children (and the media hates the church I might add) and that was the spin the media gave it. Piffle. The claim that it is homosexuality that is causing the problem, (with the subtext that recent changes in seminaries either allowing or promoting homosexuality), has been a serious claim by a number of far right bishops and a few similar lay groups–and it is hogwash. There have been substantial numbers of girls who have been abused, just as there have been abuses of boys. (If anything, the press has played up the attacks on boys more than on girls.) Beyond that, the stories that have been coming to light have involved kids going back well into the 1950s. (There would probably be more cases from the 1940s and earlier, but the people who would be in those age groups are now well into their 60s or older and probably do not want to bring forth such claims at this point in their lives.) The most serious accusations have been made against people like John Geoghan who was actually ordained before the Second Vatican Council was convened. Now, I do not claim that you support the deliberate attempts to misdirect people regarding the issues nor that you are one of the people who falsely claim that changes in seminary practices have created the problem, but your claims do echo the more generalized comments made by people such as Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone–comments that are without basis in fact. Your remarks concerning the distributed nature of church authority are correct, although people who wish to see the church as monolithic will never be persuaded of that fact, but your efforts to shift the discussion into one of homosexuality is simply wrong. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/174 "2011-02-11T02:59:54Z")
> [@terryobrien80](#): > > Who, me? I honestly don’t know. > > I do know this: His dad was a Muslim, no child ever sheds things that intilled upon them by their father. He may not be a Muslim, but he must have some sympathies for the religion of his father. > > I do know this: The Liberation Theology spewed out at the church Obama attended is not authentic Christianity. Even protestants would agree with that. It has all to do with politics and racial power (the race depending on which race is preaching it) and very little to do with the Gospel. > > One time when John Paul II visted Nicaragua he publically chastised a priest that was espousing their Nicaraguan form of Liberation Theology. This is the sort of answer that got this thread off the rails. Instead of sticking to answering questions about Catholicism and simply declining to answer off-topic questions, you chose to insert your personal views, (views that appear to be based at least partly on factual errors), into the discussion. President Obama was never a Muslim and never lived in a Muslim household, so you need to find out what you are talking about on that topic. Any claims regarding “authentic Christianity” are seriously out of scope, both for this thread and, frankly, for your competence to answer. (You may hold whatever personal opinion you might choose, but if you are asserting that you are providing “Catholic” answers, you are out of your element.) The Liberation Theology endorsed by Reverend Wright shared only a name with the Liberation Theology that was advanced in Latin America twenty years earlier and the pope’s remarks had as much to do with the political nature of the priest’s actions as it did with his philosophical expression. (Besides which, the pope deciding to condemn one thought as alien to Catholicism simply fails as an effort to place such though outside Christianity.) I had hoped that you would stick to answers regarding actual Catholic beliefs. I am not going to play ping pong with this thread, so it is now here for the duration. However, if you really wish to simply answer questions regarding Catholicism, (even conservative Catholicism), you might wish to limit your answers to factual assertions, expressing your opinions in separate threads. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/175 "2011-02-11T03:06:14Z")
Terry, [have a minute?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13451846&postcount=30) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/176 "2011-02-11T03:15:27Z")
Here, rather. > **[terryobrien80, get fucked](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=596712)** > > Quickest pitting ever? Hah, they didn’t rape children, then raped 14 year olds, so we’re cool right? And no, just because you said you’re not excusing it doesn’t mean that you didn’t do just that. Also, quit it with the youtube links. This isn’t... ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/177 "2011-02-11T03:18:43Z")
How many Catholics does it take to change a light bulb? Three . . . but they’re really only one. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/178 "2011-02-11T04:03:39Z")
Can we get a mod to retitle the thread, “ask the link the Catholic guy posts”? For what it’s worth, he’s sort of correct about the paedophilia thing: it’s generally defined as paraphilic attraction to _pre-pubescent_ children, which would exclude the 14-17 year olds. Of course, his attempt to shift the focus to homosexuality is rather sad. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/179 "2011-02-11T04:06:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Can we get a mod to retitle the thread, “ask the link the Catholic guy posts”? > > For what it’s worth, he’s sort of correct about the paedophilia thing: it’s generally defined as paraphilic attraction to _pre-pubescent_ children, which would exclude the 14-17 year olds. Of course, his attempt to shift the focus to homosexuality is rather sad. Yeah, only 49% of the rapes involved pedophilia. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897/180 "2011-02-11T04:11:19Z")
Closer to 73%. But hey, that’s better than all of them, I suppose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-catholic/570897.md?page=10)