Is it just me or is every 'Traditional Catholic' a jerk?

[AtroposHeart]

I know this is an over generalization,,,,but I have to say it.

Every Traditiona catholic I ahve ever meet is extremely stuck up and views other religious/spirtual traditions as 'inferior'

not to mention the heavy amount of racism,sexism, and homophobia I have witness from them.

[Guest Anonymous]

Since you know that this is an over generalization, can we assume that there is a specific rant behind this? If so, are you going to share?

[AtroposHeart]

I just have ran into more sexist/racist/homphobes that have goen by Traditional catholic label than I can count.

There are too many incidents for me to rant about

[Guest Anonymous]

BTW, how do you define 'Traditional Catholic'? Is this just a Catholic who is religious (rather than a cultural Catholic) or have I lost something in translation?

[AtroposHeart]

The people I have run into define themselves as 'Tradtional Catholic.' from what I have researched they believe they want the trastions of the pre second Vatican.

Most of them seem to be converts to trastional catholicsm than those raised in it...I have not ran into.

Defiantally, not Cultural Catholic..it is what we saw from the Fish eaters post on the net. I have has several fights with them over the years...but they vame out of the wood work during the virth control controversy and Fluke/Limbaugh

[PennySycamore]

To answer the original question, they sure seem to be.

[emmyfair]

I was Tridentine/Opus Dei freaky deaky Catholic. Yes, they are all very stuck up, and they openly (when in a group) chit chat about how superior they are to the rest of the world. They are god's elect, and we are all going to hell in a handbasket.

I can't think of a single one that I knew really well that didn't have this attitude, but who knows, there is an exception to every rule - I'd love to hear about it.

[Loveday]

I only know a few 'traditional' Catholics, but I live with one of them, and while I won't say he's a jerk (he is my son, after all!), he can be fairly insufferable at times. No matter how often I point out that the Church does NOT require extreme devotion to Mary, or praying the Rosary a hundred times a day, or reciting the prayers of the Divine Office as if one is a Benedictine monk living in a cloister, he comes back with 'but you'd be a much better Catholic if you did all that.' I try to explain that what's in your heart matters far more to God than what's on your piety checklist, but he doesn't get it. :doh:

[MonkeyMomma]

I only know a few 'traditional' Catholics, but I live with one of them, and while I won't say he's a jerk (he is my son, after all!), he can be fairly insufferable at times. No matter how often I point out that the Church does NOT require extreme devotion to Mary, or praying the Rosary a hundred times a day, or reciting the prayers of the Divine Office as if one is a Benedictine monk living in a cloister, he comes back with 'but you'd be a much better Catholic if you did all that.' I try to explain that what's in your heart matters far more to God than what's on your piety checklist, but he doesn't get it. :doh:

Excuse me, are you my mom living with my younger brother? ;)

[Loveday]

Excuse me, are you my mom living with my younger brother? ;)

:lol: No, but my sympathies for having a similar situation in your family! ;)

[Librul]

I know a lot of Catholics...from progressive to traditional. ALL of the trads I know are supreme asses. Arrogant, intolerant, judgmental and having a desire to control others. why should you think, when Holy Mother Church can think for you?

[TrishaMiki]

Both my parents take Catholicism very serious, specially my mom. Everytime I try to explain to her that the Bible is just a collection of books put together by some crazy psycho in the Vatican (or something like that), she gets really mad. She truly believes EVERYTHING the priest says and she doesn't even bother to look if it makes sense or not.

I don't identify myself AT ALL with Catholicism. I think it has nothing to do with the message of Jesus. For me he was a regular man, just like me and you, that brought a message of love and that was very modern at that time.

I'm a Cathechist for 4 years now. I've tried to quit severall times but my mom always gets sad and says that I don't respect her and then I eventually stay year after year teaching kids things that I don't believe in.

My dad is also very religious, but he doesn't mind that I have a different view about religion. I think he feels the same pressure to be religious that I do, because of my mom.

My mom is a really great person and I really love her. I just wish she was not so much freaky about religion.

Oh, and another thing. After I became a Cathechist, I realized that people that are vollunters in church (no, I don't receive any money for teaching the kids) almost "kill" each other just to be the most organized or most perfect. It's really crazy :shifty: I see cathechist speaking bad things about other collegues...it's crazy, just crazy.

[pomology]

Everytime I try to explain to her that the Bible is just a collection of books put together by some crazy psycho in the Vatican (or something like that), she gets really mad.

I imagine she would. Outright telling people that a book they hold sacred is put together by a crazy psycho is kinda obnoxious. There are gentler ways to explain that the Bible might not be literal history or some such thing that would not make her mad and would actually get her to listen to you. I'm not saying the Bible isn't a collection of books put together by some crazy psycho. I don't know that much Biblical history and there are a lot of crazy psychos at there, so it might well be. I'm just saying that telling people that what they believe is absolute bullshit is not the best way to get them to listen to you.

[TrishaMiki]

I imagine she would. Outright telling people that a book they hold sacred is put together by a crazy psycho is kinda obnoxious. There are gentler ways to explain that the Bible might not be literal history or some such thing that would not make her mad and would actually get her to listen to you. I'm not saying the Bible isn't a collection of books put together by some crazy psycho. I don't know that much Biblical history and there are a lot of crazy psychos at there, so it might well be. I'm just saying that telling people that what they believe is absolute bullshit is not the best way to get them to listen to you.

Obviously I don't speak to her like that. It was just an expression.

I tried several times to talk to her so that she can understand my point of view, but she can't.

[fundiefan]

I don't have a large enough sample size to judge. I do, however, know 'coffee Catholics' and 'Traditional/Fundamental Catholics'.

What I know, from my experience, is that is't not 'every'. It's that I notice those who are big mouthed, judgmental asshats.

My aunt is an extremely 'traditional' Catholic. Yet, she doesn't force it on anyone or degrade anyone who isn't the same.

Like any religion or obsession, there are those that do for themselves and those that have some need to convince everyone else.

Obsessive Catholics are fundie. Your average Catholic, or any other religion, are not.

[Coconut Flan]

I am blessed. From that description I don't know any traditional Catholics.

[FakePigtails]

That fits with my experience, although the sample size is pretty small, more if you count blogs though. It's maddening. They're right, everyone else not only wrong but immoral and unGodly. Claims of respecting other beliefs while throwing around judgments (that aren't judgments of course :roll: ). Other claims that fly in the face of logic, but they match with their beliefs so their claims are the only valid ones. Not just valid though, the only moral ones.

I suppose that can happen in any religious movement, but this one just has so much more structure than your typical Protestant fundie since they can point to Papal writings and the Catechism for support of their views. And there's the more Catholic than the Pope element you just don't get with Gothardites. Case in point: CAF.

[GenerationCedarchip]

I was Tridentine/Opus Dei freaky deaky Catholic. Yes, they are all very stuck up, and they openly (when in a group) chit chat about how superior they are to the rest of the world. They are god's elect, and we are all going to hell in a handbasket.

I can't think of a single one that I knew really well that didn't have this attitude, but who knows, there is an exception to every rule - I'd love to hear about it.

My experience with fundie Catholics is very limited, but that's what I encountered, too. One of my good friends has a sibling who converted and then married into what would qualify as fundie Catholic royalty (don't want to name them, but they have blogs and ties to what looks like a Catholic VF world). When I met the future in-laws, they seemed very sweet until most of my friend's family left. With just us around in a less formal setting, the fundie-ness started to roll out. It was a very strange experience because I do basically like them, but there's definitely a superiority thing that irked me.

[Rosa]

It seems like, to be a Catholic who believes that you know better than an actual Pope what language to say the Mass in, you kind of have to be an arrogant jerkface. You know? Not to mention really wanting to roll back other people's rights.

Driving through Wisconsin today I caught a plain old conservative Catholic talk show, exhorting followers (especially if you are a PHARMACIST or an EMPLOYER and you might have to dole out these contraceptive ABORTIFACIENT DRUGS - it was straight out of the fundie lie book) to vote against marriage equality and against Obama this fall. It was really awful. And those are the folks who are too modern for the Trad Caths.

[NurseNell]

I am Catholic, not traditional. I have many friends who are traditional Catholics. Only a few think they are superior to other Catholics. The majority are nonjudgmental. The scary thing though is it's the younger traditional Catholics who have this attitude of superiority. One is a priest who was my son's best friend in school.

I was seated once at an ordination dinner with the publisher of The Wanderer, which is the very conservative newspaper that Traditional Catholics subscribe to. I had nothing in common with anyone at my table (they were all part of The Wanderer), I was the only non traditional there. And yes, those people definitely had an attitude of superiority.

[Burris]

That fetid boil on the ass of humanity, also known as Alte, and the Shrieking Fishwife are both traditional Catholics, as far as I know. They don't even bother to hide their prejudices. The others I've come across, almost to an individual, try to hide their ridiculous ideas beneath flowery language. They try to emulate the 'voice' of papal encyclicals when they talk.

And here is their queen.

I wish I were a bit less prejudiced, but I have yet to meet anyone in that category who isn't a self-righteous nutcase.

[homeschoolmomma1]

Just my 2 cents-

I am Catholic and define 3 types of Catholics I have seen. The "older generation" who grew up going to Mass every week, praying the rosary etc. They will not change, mostly because it is what they have always known/done

Cafeteria/regular Catholic- may not believe everything, but still enjoys the Catholic Religion or has not decided to leave

What I like to call the born-again Catholic or like you said traditional. These Catholics usually were what they consider 'bad' in their youth and or left the church for awhile and now Jesus has saved them and they are now super Catholic and they need to prove it and make anyone who is not like them feel bad.

There is a fourth group I guess- the fallen away Catholic who doesn't say they are Catholic anymore, however many say you never really lose the Catholic idenity even after changing or leaving church.

This is just what I have noticed

[Arielkay]

Generally speaking, I don't have a lot of problems with the actual Catholics I know around here. At least they don't try to convert me anyway. But my boss has a daughter my age (almost 36) and she has six sons aged 13 down to a baby. She supposedly only "planned" for four, but of course they don't use birth control because they "leave it up to God". :roll:

Anyway, this woman calls her mom, my boss, a few times a day while her mother is AT WORK to whine about how bad she has it. Then my boss feels so sorry for her. The daughter's husband is in the miltary, fairly high up, and brings home a good salary. They are about to move and buy a 600,000 house. Her mother makes about 50,000 a year, yet she has to pay to fly all the way out to her daughter's to sit on all but the baby (who is nursing) while poor fertile daughter goes off house searching. Seriously? This woman is totally clueless about reality.

I imagine she will keep having babies until she can't anymore. She's getting older, though, and soon her chances of having a child with problems will increase. Yet her mother always makes excuses for her. It drives me nuts. Look, if you want that many kids, fine, but don't whine to your mother while she's trying to do her job. But the thing is, these people DON'T want that many kids, they just have them because they don't use b.c. Then they are miserable, but it's like they can't help it. They have to follow "God's word." This woman I'm referring to is an educated woman who converted to her husband's strict Catholicism. She's never worked outside the home. If anything happens to him, then what? I imagine she'll get her mother to help support her then. Just pisses me off.

Sorry, rant over. Carry on.

[NurseNell]

Just my 2 cents-

I am Catholic and define 3 types of Catholics I have seen. The "older generation" who grew up going to Mass every week, praying the rosary etc. They will not change, mostly because it is what they have always known/done

I am 67, grew up pre Vatican II, daily Mass, loved being Catholic. I've changed. The most conservative, traditional Catholics I know are under age 40, pretty evenly decided between converts and cradle Catholics.

[AtroposHeart]

I would like to say I say nothing against Catholics in general. The cast majority I have known are pretty awesome people, I am just talking about the traditionalist sects.