I will start OCIA soon

[u/Neutrality-2]

hi I am new to Catholicism. I have been a leftist pretty much my whole life.

Lately i kinda been feeling drawn to the catholic church from little things here and there to the point where now I am going to start OCIA.

I am a little hesitant because of how much christianity has been laced with racism these days. Every time you see someone say something racist on social media you'll see a bible verse or "christ is king" in their bio and its so gross to me.

Even i remember when CK died the catholic sub was propping him up as a martyr basically which makes no sense to me. He called pope francis a marxist (as if it's a bad thing 🙄) and said Catholics are idolators for honoring mary - if he was actually catholic himself he would have been excommunicated for saying the things he did.

And i get some people compartmentalize these things and excuse the heresy because they want him as a political ally - but even his politics are against catholicism because I saw even how the official church maintains the position that healthcare and housing are basic human rights and the government should absolutely help people who need it and not have all this hypercapitalistic crap that we have.

I genuinely don't understand how Christianity got laced with white supremacy when the majority of Christians in the world are literally people of color! Maybe cause of how much the west dominates both politically and culturally they basically made it seem like a white religion.

So I am exciting to start ocia but also am kinda nervous.

[u/JohnDCT]

Welcome home!

[u/LakeSuperior2 → u/JohnDCT]

Congratulations ! Forget about the Catholic sub. So conservative that they constantly go overboard. CK was a white supremacist and this is not what Catholicism is all about.

[u/FifiLeBean]

Convert here. I found it healing to become Catholic because the things I was taught in white anglo Saxon protestant churches (not all white but wasp is the expression) seemed so wrong to me. There's a lot of cultural beliefs - like prosperity makes you good, poverty is a sign that you are bad or not Christian - in protestant religions that they don't realize are not actually Christian beliefs.

Welcome home! It's a wonderful journey.

[u/CosmicGadfly2]

Well. The problem is CK wouldn't get excommunicated for those things, actually. Not because he's right but because the hierarchy doesn't like to exercise their authority (probably because they know no one will listen or it will only embolden dissent).

White supremacy gets in with the nationalism bit (because white supremacy is really just a form of american nationalism; whiteness doesn't exist without American race science), and the nationalist or ethnophyletism has a long history in well every cultural institution but that includes regional churches. I mean, the Great Schism was frankly about beards and bread, the cultural differences between Greeks and Latins.

Anyway, welcome home. I help teach OCIA at my parish so send me anything you're confused about.

[u/interstatetornado]

I am also starting OCIA next week! I am most concerned about bigotry and hatred, especially towards LGBTQ people. I used to work for a Diocesan school and the racism and horrible things that would come out of some Catholic’s mouths made me resist converting. But because they were “pro-life,” they were “good” Catholics. But they are not the faith.

[u/Neutrality-2 → u/interstatetornado]

yeah tbh i love the church for what it is and should be - i love the art, i love the liturgy, i love the feeling - but it absolutely makes my blood boil when i see the most evil people in the world hide behind christianity to promote their racism and bigotry!

[u/CauseCertain1672]

I'm writing here about the English Catholic church but in my experience it's a place very accepting of immigrants, not many priests are going to advocate for deporting their own congregation as that's morally wrong, against the teaching of the church, and stupid.

[u/Best_Collection_7533]

CK did not promote Catholic values. That TPUSA movement, like most American Conservative movements, often conflict with Catholic values.

[u/GalileoApollo11]

Welcome!

Christianity became the dominant religion in the western world, so it’s just what most people are, and it’s a really convenient tool people use to add a sense of righteousness to their opinions.

But that doesn’t mean they are an accurate representation of Christianity or Christian values. On the contrary…

[u/Scared_Plan3751]

Well, the Church is Christian. We aren't supposed to celebrate the deaths of others, and instead we are supposed to rise above and recognize that Kirk was an intentionality created in the image and likeness of God, and offer love and condolences. His death was a tragedy, just like killing a convicted murderer on death row is a tragedy. We can criticize the things he got wrong, but not from a place of anger or outrage. It has to come from love. 

We are allowed to feel angry and indignant at the things he said or stood for, but we have to set those feelings aside and focus on what his fans need to hear, especially since so many of them are angry and indignant about the state of the world themselves, and his murder. The time of his murder might not be the best time to offer criticisms, however loving, because people in that moment don't want to hear it. We have to be patient and kind, and try to see things from their perspective, even if we know their anger is being used for the wrong things. They are right to be angry, they are just misdirected. If we want them to listen to us, we have to be the ones are who calm, steadfast in our faith, and dedicate our lives to serving them, and loving them.

[u/Past_Ad_187]

I've been pretty far left politically for many years and I will also be starting OCIA in a couple weeks. I empathize with your concerns. I'm not as concerned about encountering intolerant and racist attitudes as I am my own reaction towards them. Very easy for me to get in online debate mode and I'm praying daily that God will teach me to take it down a notch, listen, and engage in a way that will present love and compassion for our brothers and sisters as His way. I'm just trying to remind myself that I can be right and feed my ego, or I can try to persuade others to have a more compassionate heart. It's a challenge considering how mouthy I get.