Do you think there is a more unpopular religion than Roman Catholicism today in the US?
IMO maybe Muslim, or possibly Jewish? But I can’t see 73% of Americans copping to believing jews do what Israel tells them to do or 52% admitting they think Muslims can’t think for themselves … but I DK … it may be they wouldn’t ADMIT that s readily but still hates jews more?
Anti-Catholic Views Common, Poll Shows
Study Planned Before Sex Abuse Scandal
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 24, 2002; Page A13
Anti-Catholic attitudes, including a belief that Roman Catholics are not permitted to think for themselves, are common in the United States, according to a survey released today by the Rev. Andrew Greeley, a priest, sociologist and bestselling author.
You know, I’m not sure what to think about the view of Catholics anymore.
I will say this - for SOME reason, Catholicism is the only religion that it is seemingly OK to belittle. People will flat out make comments about how stupid they think the church is and how they THANK GOD they aren’t Catholic in front of me! I am Catholic, folks! Do you somehow think this is less offensive than it would be were I Jewish or Hindu or Muslim? It’s RUDE.
(Also, I’m an attorney and that’s the only profession that people seem to think it completely ok to ridicule in front of people in that profession! Christ, that’s rude.)
You know, I’m not sure what to think about the view of Catholics anymore.
I will say this - for SOME reason, Catholicism is the only religion that it is seemingly OK to belittle. People will flat out make comments about how stupid they think the church is and how they THANK GOD they aren’t Catholic in front of me! I am Catholic, folks! Do you somehow think this is less offensive than it would be were I Jewish or Hindu or Muslim? It’s RUDE.
(Also, I’m an attorney and that’s the only profession that people seem to think it completely ok to ridicule in front of people in that profession! Christ, that’s rude.)
I think it depends where you live. For example, Catholicism is more prevalent here than any of the other major religions combined, whereas in parts of the southern US, fundamentalism/Pentacostalism reign…
OTOH, I can understand why, in light of what’s recently happened, why some people would say that the Church’s popularity has plummeted…
But to become vastly unpopular? I can’t picture it. There’s too many of us (by birth and/or by choice) around!
jimmmy, we take intellectual property rights seriously around here. Quoting a copyrighted article in its entirety is not fair use. Generally, more than a paragraph or two is too much. I deleted most of your quote. The remainder of the article can be read at the link.
(Yeah, I know, it’s not a religion, but anyone trying to paint a picture of Catholics as being at the bottom of the ladder should IMO consider looking outside the box.)
My knowledge of IP law is limited, but why wouldn’t this constitute fair use? Title 17 lists four factors to be balanced in determining fair use, and this post easily passes under three of the four.
Regarding the topic, I’ve always been bothered by how freely people bash Catholics. It comes from all sides - ignorant Protestants and educated liberals both feel free in expressing prejudiced views.
Hello? Have you been squatting in a cave stuffing berries up your ass for the past couple of decades? Islam is most certainly more reviled considering the kind of media attention it has received, deserved or not, than Catholicism.
I’d rather put up with a few furtive moments in a confessional that leave me sticky rather than smeared on the wall of a pool hall.
Where the Jehova Witnesses (Jehova’s Witnesses?) aren’t hated they’re at least made out to be jokes by a lot of people most everywhere I’ve been in the United States.
An individual here in Arkansas has opened up a couple establishments that cater to, among other groups, Wiccans, and he’s had at least one business vandalized, I believe he’s had death threats made against him, and on at least one occasion there was a large demonstration against him. This degree of hatred (and in many cases it was actual hatred) surpasses that directed against Muslims, JWs, and other less-than-popular religions. So I’m gonna say that in parts of Arkansas it’s the Wiccans who are the most hated (of course, if you’re a Wiccan around here it is assumed you’re a Devil-worshipper).
Mormons seem to be pretty disliked in a lot of places.
Where I’ve seen/heard prejudice against Muslims and Hindus it seems to be more a matter of racism than anything else.
Bibliophage you wouldn’t have chided me like that if I was posting about a “popular” minority… Just joking. Your site-your rules, I dk if it meets Fair Use or not, but I certainly didn’t mean to break any rules. Sorry.
Heptapod … I really don’t know what to say.
Chula, I agree how it seems OK to sections of the Left and 700 Club section of right … funny how they have commmon ground in that they both hate Playboy & RC’s.
good point about racism vs. the religion itsefl Mephisto
Tiburon, BobT, kiz and rjung points well made that I can’t argue with (hey I’d named names this far can’t stop now).
Have to agree with my fellow midwesterner Tib on this one. Catholics and fat people are still easy pickin’s.
To answer heptapod: I don’t think that you can say that American muslims are receiving the same kind of backlash and scorn that might be directed towards muslim extremists. (Didn’t Dubya and a whole buncha politicians go out of there way to differentiate between them?)
The OP asked about U.S. religions…and at this point in time, Catholics are the ones that it’s “okay” to pick on.
From some of the circles I run in, I see Catholics and Mormons being about the same on most of mainstream* Protestant radar. For a while, something will happen that raises awareness of Mormons…and they’ll be “bashed” in the media. Then Catholicism gets it again. Eventually it swings back the other way. But they both get about the same amount of bad press - when it’s deserved or when it isn’t.
As a pretty serious Catholic myself, I’ve run into the vehement anti-Catholics in the past, especially since I live in the Bible belt. I’ve never had one tell me that I’m not allowed to think for myself, but then, I usually prove that I can long before that concept would come up.
*Mormons have never really been a major force in any of the areas I’ve lived in. I know in other areas of the country they are more prevelant, but I don’t know how, say, a Baptist in Utah would view a Mormon.
Well, It’s not very “mainstream”, but I’m willing to bet that, be it right or wrong, the Church of Satan isn’t thought of too highly by Middle America.
Not only does Scientology initimidate opponents with fraud and violence, thse activities are directed by its leadership. Most religions cannot be fairly painted by the actions of extremists-- for example, it’s easy to see that there are many Muslims who do not support flying planes into buildings, because there is no single authority that every Muslim answers to, and only some of the many authorities out there support such things --however, Scientology pursues a copyright on its name and doctrines and has exactly one denomination. An individually peaceful Scientologist who does not repudiate the organization’s terror campagin is responsible for the actions of the leadership to the extent that a Muslim who does not fly planes into buildings but professes support for those who do is responsible for those actions.
By percentage, I think Scientology has Islam and every other widespread religion beat by far on the violent nutcase front.
I think that which religion is bashed the most depends on who you hang out with, interact with, and live near.
For instance, among my friends at home, being anything but Christian is generally considered to be cool. Being an atheist or a Wiccan (or any other kind of Pagan) is considered especially cool. Being a Christian is considered uncool, and a lot of my friends will make jokes in that vein. Though they don’t do it around me, because I tell 'em not to.
Among some of the people at my school, being an atheist is uncool, though people won’t make jokes about it. They’re just obnoxious about conversion. Being any sort of Pagan is grounds for weird stares.
My home area, surprisingly, seems pretty tolerant in that there are no hate crimes under ordinary circumstances (though a man from some middle-eastern country had his car torched right after 9/11–I don’t consider that ordinary circumstances). People will look at you funny, though, if you’re not one of the Big Four and make it known (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism). Or if you have a rainbow ribbon and an AIDS ribbon on your bag, as I learned yesterday at the mall.
I am quite frankly astonished by the “tunnel view” of the OP and those that support it. Virtually every religion in this country of any size gets lambasted regularly. In addition to Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. already mentioned, there’s Baptists (evil fundies), Amish (obv. target), Quakers (un-American for not taking up arms+“quaking”), Pentacostals (talking in tongues), etc. The denominations that don’t get hit are ones like Anglicans** that are so white bread (Aha! Here I go) that they fly under the radar. But note that Lutherans suffer from that stereotype more due to their larger concentrations in some areas. And that’s just mainstream Christians. There’s Santaria, Native American religions, etc. who are having a hard time getting recognized as valid religions.
Let’s face it, religious prejudice is an equal opportunity employer.
If you think Roman Catholics are getting hit too hard, it’s because you aren’t paying attention to who else gets slammed. Wait a month a Leno will have another easy target.
**But note that there was a recent thread where the OP asked the incredibly naive question about why Anglicans don’t merge back with the Roman Catholics. That really shocked me.
What’s ‘unpopular’? Last time I checked, Roman Catholicism was still the largest religious denomination in the U.S., and I doubt that will change as a result of this.
I think most people can differentiate between the religion and the actions of a number of the religion’s present leaders. Especially when it’s clear that many of the practitioners of that faith are very upset about what their leaders are and have been doing.