> I think a lot of the "Catholics are dangerous" rhetoric comes out of the large doses of ritual found within the Church, and the role of priests in the faith. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure why that would matter a whole lot, so long as one has faith in Christ. I know it's often thought that we participate in idol worship with the veneration of the saints (uh, we don't), and that none of us bother to form personal relationships with God (uh, we do), instead relying on priests. I'm not entirely certain that that is what the Roman Catholic Church actually stands for.

I think you've mostly nailed it there. There are large numbers of Catholics who live and think just like you do, and I don't think there is any problem with that. There are, however, other Catholics who DO venerate saints, and who put a lot of other things before Jesus Christ -- and these are the people that Christians are worried about. Of course, people like that exist in every denomination, and I have no idea what proportion of the total these folks comprise, but it just seems sometimes that the most vocal examples tend to be Catholic (probably just because there are so many Catholics in the world) and they give a bad reputation to the rest of you. Some of us do know the difference, though, so try not to take it too personally when you encounter someone who doesn't. :-)

> The Other "Can't be bothered too much to be looking up actual quotes and stuff from the Catechism. Is finals season." Matthew

Don Monkey