Quote:
Originally Posted by christiangirl
"You sound frustrated" does not equal "Nobody in the entire thread sounds frustrated but you." That's not what I said.
To an extent, the bolded is true. I did not say I was an expert on the RCC, I was stating that I'm not as ignorant of the basic facets of the faith (including the "Catholic definition" of grace) as Irish assumed I was.
I am angry at this priest's actions. To see a person in the position to draw others to the faith instead choose to push them away by imposing such limitations is both wrong and unfair.
As far as the grace issue: I am of the opinion that grace, actual grace, is a gift from God extended to everyone. It has some limitations, but voting for a pro-life candidate is not one of them. That is a man-made imposition. So, if the term in question is something that one may only acquire via certain requirements that were set forth by religious authorities (and I admit that it is within a Church's right to do it even if I don't agree), then that should not be called "grace" because it's not. Using that particular word in any other context is to misuse it and I don't like the purposes for which it is being misused. That is ALL I said and I have already stated that this is my opinion on the matter and not an infallible fact to which the entire religion must be held. By no stretch of the imagination is that "attacking Roman Catholicism with vehemence." (Nor is it being "unchristian" IMO but I'll leave that one up to Jesus.)
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You are splitting semantic hairs, and the point which has been made over and over is that
YOUR OPINION about a policy of the RC church isn't really germane to the discussion. You are narrowly defining "grace", which is certainly your right, but then criticizing the RC church because their definition is not yours. It's not about you - heck, I don't agree with the RC church, but I haven't inserted my opinion because it doesn't matter.
A Roman Catholic priest applied Roman Catholic principles to a Roman Catholic parish. His beliefs aren't mine, but he's not trying to make me (or anyone who isn't a parishioner) fall under his authority. The question is, were his actions justified (within the context of his postion and responsiblities - including his duties to warn his parishoners of endangering their immortal souls) ? Did they possibly break current tax law? As I asked before, how do his parishoners and higher up think of his actions? When it is all said and done, he answers to a higher authority. You will leave judgement of your actions up to Jesus, but will not extend the same courtesy to this priest.