this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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I'm basically a secular humanist, and I've heard the statement that Catholics aren't Christians, in person, a few times. The two times that come to mind were from very different people (a Chinese Christian that lives in Beijing, and a Canadian Christian that lives on an apple orchard in southern Ontario). Both of whom were coworkers I spent some time with while travelling for work (different jobs, about 10 years apart).
I've always shut it down as a wildly offensive thing to say, and not worthy of discussing. So I've never gotten a real explantion for why some Christians believe it. Is it a common opinion?
Evangelicals sometimes hold to it - basically, there's a whole 'thing' about nuda scriptura amongst certain protestant sects, especially those which gained prominence in the modern US in the 19th century. In the minds of these sects, by nuda scriptura - 'bare scripture' - there's only one authority on theology, and that is the Bible, interpreted literally. To them, then, the entire Old World church hierarchies and traditions are some bizarre Satanist plot to lead Christians astray by NOT following ONLY the Bible and nothing but the Bible.
Catholics tend to emphasize things like Church tradition, and even reason (gasp), as means of constructing theology, while Old World-originated protestants sects, like Lutherans, tend to view the Bible as the highest but not only source of theology (sola scriptura). To New World sect evangelicals, the latter is misguided but essentially harmless; the former is (though they would never use this term, instead preferring to denigrate their enemies as not Christians at all) heresy.
I've heard it coming from hardcore Mormons, which I found hilariously ironic - seeing as how pretty much every other Christian Church/denomination doesn't see them as Christians.
Mormonism rejects the Trinity and you get your own magical planet/become like God when you die. I think most Christians would find that profoundly heretical.
The church has mostly been doing a propaganda campaign to present themselves as just another denomination of Christianity, but Adam-God and the spirit wives is just gross and weird.
“Hey ladies! The best afterlife you get is pumping out babies with all of your husbands other wives for all of eternity!”
Yeah, that pivot they are attempting is wild. They are trying to cozy up to all the evangelicals and think they can pull some Jeff mind truck to make them forget all the crazy shit they taught from bygone years.
Do they really think the other churches will forget about the golden tablets, Adam-God, moon quakers, sun people, 'elders' becoming gods of their own planet/Galaxy/universe, rocks in hats, weird salamanders, etc etc. Because they won't. (I didn't mention polygamy or the underage girl hoarding because I'm pretty sure that's an objective quite a few evangelical leaders hope to achieve eventually.)
The other churches are at best using them in the short term and will ditch them as soon as the LDS Church serves no further purpose. But the church leaders are so high on their own farts that they can comprehend that fact.
My parents' church went at it from a 'the saints are demons' angle. Something about how praying to the saints for intercession was somehow in violation of the 'no gods before me' commandment. But this was the NAR, which is just fuckin weird to begin with.
I grew up catholic in the Midwest. Yeah it's a thing some protestants believe. They think catholics worship Mary, the saints, and/or the devil. It's the sort of thing you see from the sorts of protestants who are fucking insane.
My great grandma's funeral was hijacked by the preacher to tell the catholic side of the family that we were all going to hell. She didn't even believe in that sect, my great aunt just abused her into it when she had dementia. It was the sort of sect where there's no drinking or dancing at weddings and women aren't allowed to wear panted garments.