Introduction
All through my life, I was born and lived in a Muslim family and neighborhood. I had never thought of associating with people from other religions, especially the Christians, who I had heard many misconceptions about them. I attended a Muslim-sponsored school, where all my peers shared the same religion. Our teachers were also from the Islamic religion, with an exception of one female teacher, whom I realized had a difficult time with her colleagues.
After my parents moved to the United States, the new neighborhood was full of people of different religions: Mormons, Christians, Protestants, Hindus, Buddhists, and even fellow Muslims. There were many places of worship accommodating every faith. I attended a school that was composed of mixed religion, both in the students and teachers. In my previous neighborhood and school, I had developed an interest in the Christian religion and gathered some information about their practices and belief. I had spent time with my peers discussing about the Christian faith. I also spent some time with my teacher who was a Christian, and shared a lot about religion.
Specifically, I had developed a keen interest on the Catholic Church since my father had a Catholic friend who visited us occasionally. Unluckily, my teacher was not a catholic and she had limited knowledge about the catholic faith. Coincidentally, we even shared some misconceptions with her about the catholic faith. In this paper, I will conduct an analysis of the misconceptions that I had about the Christian religion, specifically the Catholic faith. Additionally, I will provide a recommendation for other people who have misconceptions about other religions on how they could reduce these misconceptions.
My Misconceptions about the Catholic Church
Misconception 1: the Catholic Church discourages reading of the Bible
After arriving at the church on that day, the parish priest was my first respondent to this misconception. He showed me literature that showed that the first Christian Bible was produced by the Catholic Church, compiled by Catholic Scholars of the 2nd and 3rd centuries and approved for general Christian use by the Catholic Councils of Hippo and Carthage (Graham 1997). During the mass, I noticed that many church members had bibles with them and they co-read them as the priest led in the three reading, which my host confirmed to me that was done at every Mass in the world on a daily basis. One of the respondents after the service, a catechist, confirmed to me that the myth came about since Bibles were locked up in church. He explained to me that the church did this in order to protect the Bibles from thieves.
Misconception 2: idolatry; Catholics worship Mary
Most of my friends made me believe that Catholics worship the mother of Jesus and not God. When I attended the church service, I heard her name mentioned a number of times. This made me believe that this was true; they worshiped Mary. When I inquired from my host, he told me that Catholics have three types of worship: Latria, which is an adoration give to God alone; Hyperdulia, which is a special worship given to Mary; and Dulia, which is a special worship given to the saints and angels (Council of Nicaea 1850). He also told me that kneeling or bowing to images of saints and the mother of Jesus does not imply they are worshiping the images. He said these images only served as reminders to the believers. One of the church members while responding to this question, said that even when protestants kneels down with Bibles in their hands does not imply they are worshipping the Bible.
Misconception 3: Catholics are not Christians
I have believed for a long time that Catholic is a cult and that they are not Christians. However, as I attended the service, I notice several similarities between the Catholics and the early Christians according to my previous readings. The day that I visited the church coincided with the baptism of ten infants, which was a practice of the early Christians. I also noticed other consistent practices such as penance and confessions, and partaking of the Holy Communion, which were also practiced in the ancient times by the early Christians.
Misconception 4: the Pope is perfect and very infallible
The parish priest informed me that the Catholic Church believes that the pope is only infallibly in three circumstances, which include the declaration binding the whole church; when making a decree on matters of faith or morals; and speaking with full authority of the Papacy, and not a personal capacity (Hasler 1982). He also confirmed to me that the fallibility of the pope occurs when he makes statements on this not related to the Catholic faith such as science, or if he makes statements against any previous declaration, and that these new declarations are not generally accepted by the Catholic Church.
Misconception 5: the Catholic Church opposes science and rejects evolution
My host responded to this concern. He informed me that the Catholic Church has in the past and currently sponsored and educated scientific advancements. He gave me the most recent example of Monsignor Georges Lemaitre, A Belgian priest, who proposed the Big Bang theory (Fox 2002), and his response to Einstein’s rejection of the theory, which changed the latter’s opinion. Finally, he informed me that as opposed to other religions, the Catholic Church does not oppose the theory of evolution.
After the church visit
After I left the church, I felt very different about the Catholic religion. I realized that all the ideas that I had about the church were just misconceptions and that they were untrue. I found out that, the Catholics are Christians, who adore God alone, initially produced, reads and supports reading of the Bible, supports science and that the pope is fallible.
Recommendation
After my encounter with the parish priest, my host and the Catholic Christians, and after attending the Sunday Mass at the local Catholic Church, I recommend that any person with misconceptions about other religions that are not their own should take their time and interact with the people from these religions. Attending the services of these religions, where they could gather the information they consider true about these religions is a critical step in eliminating misconceptions about other religions.
Conclusion
Several people have pre-conceived misconceptions about other religions that are not their own and perceive their religions as the best. However, most of the things that most people believe about other religions are not usually true. While others contradict the reality in these religions, some of these misconceptions are close to the reality though there are some limitations that a person might not discover if he /she do not take time to find out the truth about the religions that they might have probably read or heard about.
Reference:
Graham G. H. (1997). Where We Got The Bible: Our Debt To The Catholic Church. Quezon City: Catholic Answers, Incorporated.
Council of Nicaea. (1850). The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicaea, Held A.D. 787, in which the Worship of Images was established: With Copious Notes from the "Caroline Books", Compiled by Order of Charlemagne for Its Confutation. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: W.E. Painter.
Hasler B. A. (1982). How the Pope Became Infallible: Pius IX and the Politics of Persuasion. London: Sheldon Press.
Fox C. K. (2002). The Big Bang Theory: What It Is, Where It Came From, and Why It Works. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
