Comments for Freedom from Catholicism at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 34 out of 20 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Fri, 24 May 2013 12:43:57 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-13713 We have simply lost the ability to differentiate between freedom and license. License to do what one wills is not the same as freedom. Freedom is bound up with responsibility. All people want today is license, while calling it freedom. - Bekah Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:33:50 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12996 That poor girl!! I wonder what her thoughts are! Does she agree with her boyfriend or her mother? His girl friend needs to realize what is at stake! - Victress Jenkins Sun, 19 Aug 2012 11:14:48 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12966 So many good comments to a great article. KM was closest to noting that the entire exchange was undermined by the fact that a successfully contracepting woman wouldn't even be having that conversation. I received the same diatribe upon conversion, and there was the subsequent veiled horror of the grandchildren who followed--although once born, they were certainly loved. That's one of the ironies--in the abstract, they say no, but then the little person arrives... @Mack: I can only pray for your outcome to come to pass. No sight of such a miracle yet. - gsk Sat, 18 Aug 2012 06:28:30 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12950 Great article! My wife and I (health care workers) went through this twice: first when I had to discuss in detail why she was not to have the trisomy testing and second, when she had to tell the Ob she was not using contraception. (FYI: the Ob has 8 children. You would think he would be enthusiastic.) Pax tecum. - Craig Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:46:28 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12949 Here's my question: The MOTHER is Catholic and is ordering her daughter to contracept? What went wrong in Mom's catechesis? - KM Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:44:54 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12926 Author Smith, I admire you and it is wonderful that you chose the Catholic Faith! Many Catholics were born Catholic but have not found the strength to stand up for it the way you do. Let us continue to pray together and transform the world in His love. - Charles Florendo Tue, 14 Aug 2012 23:56:53 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12923 I LOVE this paragraph - its truth and simplicity make my heart sing! "I was tempted to hang up on them with self-righteous indignation and say: “Who are they to question my decision?” But there was that pesky commandment about honoring one’s father and mother. Ironic, isn’t it, that it was their values regarding freedom and autonomy that made me want to hang up on them, and it was the Catholic faith they despised that kept me on the phone." - Theresa Tue, 14 Aug 2012 11:44:13 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12919 I've waited 40 yrs to hear someone say this - gtb Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:50:17 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12915 There is very little tolerance left in the world outside of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ! Not that there has been a lot in prior history! After all, Cain, whom Eve thought she had received from God, turned out to be the world's first murderer. As a husband and father of three cherished and loved childen, I find this woman's hatred of our FAITH an insult. It ranks along with the lovely Henry the VIII's concept of Christianity (his wives: divorced, beheded and otherwise abused)!!!!They all start their own "churches"!Proof of the Church's (Jerusalem - Antioch & Greek and Roman) is that they have survived and grown to the ends of the Earth today. To me "contraception" is the quickest way to kill oneself! As one of my Jewish friends calls it: "It's like taking a shower with your raincoat on!" It is probably the most frustrating act on the face of the earth! Witness the tragedy of our culture today with abortion and addictions of all kinds etc etc resulting in every wicked thing under the sun! And our world is crumbling due to the lack of millions of children that never had a chance to live. I thank God every day that MY MOTHER chose not to believe the BIG LIE of contraception!!!! - Truth Serum 1 Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:14:18 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12901 Millions and millions of American "Catholics" operate their lives in deliberate and systematic alienation from The Pope, the Magisterium, and tradition. These millions may style themselves "liberal" or "conservative," but they live in such a state of "busy-ness" and contempt for things "non-American" that they won't lift a finger to read, for instance, the letters Jos. Ratzinger has written to them out of loving concern. But they make sure they read "The NY Times" and/or "The Da Vinci Code," and think they have done well by doing so. Fr. Bevil Bramwell recently pointed out the very interesting fact that out American Bishops and Priests largely function to completely filter out the communication by the Pope. I can tell you that at age 56, I have heard never heard a word of Pope Benedict's letters or encyclicals cited and urged upon the faithful...but I have heard direct open criticism of him at Mass...which forced us to move to another parish...a "nice, middle-of-the-road" parish...where we still NEVER hear a priest give us access to anything Pope Benedict is trying to teach us. How ironic that the Pontiff, our bridge to The Lord, is the one way never taken. NEVER taken...in a Church that declares itself Catholic. What fools we mortals be... - Chris in Maryland Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:14:48 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12898 Professor Smith touches on one of the most frustrating issues of my life. My wife and I met relatively late in life. I had been widowed, and she had pursued a teaching career. Our first daughter was born 8 years ago, and our youngest daughter was born in May, 2008. At that time my wife was 42. Still exhausted and recovering from the delivery she was visited by the ob/gyn doctor who had been on call from our practice (he got to the hospital about 20 minutes after the birth), the first words out of his mouth were a recommendation that she be sterilized... this at St. Mary's hospital. He seemed to have no sense of how hurtful and offensive his laguage was, and he made no effort to ascertain what my wife's concerns were before he started lecturing her on percentages. - Paul Cornish Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:47:58 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12897 One thing about the push for contraceptives, etc. that I have noticed is that the most vocal proponents seem to be older, now infertile women who are really really interested that fertile younger women obtain 'equality.' I suspect the equality the old gals are really after is equality with them. Take it for what it's worth. - Ben Horvath Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:37:39 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12895 A well written piece, sir. I am reminded of G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown chastising others for only being willing to forgive sins they don't view as sinful. That's the kind of tolerance pushed nowadays, to only tolerate those things already prejudged to be tolerable. - Mark Mon, 13 Aug 2012 02:39:42 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12889 Ella, every time I come across disrespecful medical personnel re saying "no" to contraception, I am tempted to snap, "my body, my choice!" The curious thing about those who womble on about the primacy of choice is that the know darn well that some choices are wrong -- namely yours and everyone else who doesn't agree with them. What they choose is necessarily good for their having chosen it. But your choosing something different means that you "hate" them. - WSquared Sun, 12 Aug 2012 09:20:14 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12888 Seanachie, spot on. I would like to add that since Mom doesn't see the blatant hypocrisy, self-contradiction, and double standard in what she means by "thinking for yourself" (namely, "'thinking for yourself' means that you'd better agree with ME if you know what's good for you") she sure as heck isn't "smart enough," either. In so far as a married couple leaves their parents' home and clings to each other, if I were that young woman, I'd note that the smartest wedding gift I could ever ask for from a mother such as this one would be to invite her to just stay home. Because I'm supposedly "smart enough" to have control over both my fertility and my body by handing both over to Mommy Dearest without question. Riiiiiiiight... - WSquared Sun, 12 Aug 2012 09:08:56 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12884 My wife and I were without insurance - due to the economy - and when she was pregnant - we flat out told our doctor that, unless mandated by law, any extra testing for defects was out of the question; not only for monetary reasons, but because no matter what we were going to love the child. God has blessed us with a healthy daugher - 5 weeks old, but I understand the struggles that some people face now-a-days on this issue. I've always said that a child is not some piece of property, nor a right, he or she is a blessing from God, made in the Image of God, and to be treated as such. - Joel Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:18:25 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12881 Such a refreshing article Professor! Deep and intelligent yet very funny at the same time! I was able to email it to a lot of family members and friends. Thank you. - Suzanne Sat, 11 Aug 2012 22:10:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12877 In vino veritas. That woman should give her head a shake and take a drink. - Charles Lutz Sat, 11 Aug 2012 19:28:18 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12875 Teresa, it's difficult for reverts, too. Most of my family have left the church I returned to (with relief and gratitude) four years ago. Those who remain, like my 80 year-old mother, are given to ranting about 'silly old men' at the Vatican. - Billiamo Sat, 11 Aug 2012 12:52:59 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/freedom-from-catholicism.html#comment-12874 Mom "raised an intelligent, independent daughter,” “smart enough to get into a prominent Ivy League School"? Seems to me that if daughter allows Mom to lead daughter's life re contraception, daughter is neither "independent" nor "smart" regardless of where she attends school. Future son-in-law is in trouble with this potential marriage even before it commences...what will Mom attempt to influence/control next? - Seanachie Sat, 11 Aug 2012 12:21:27 +0100