Anonymous asked: Which is more attractive in a man, being spontaneous or being respectful? Often the two clash.
Hello Anon!
Being respectful is definitely more attractive. No question.
That being said, I think it’s absolutely possible to be both. A man who is respectful will be spontaneous in respectful ways. If he comes up with a random activity but know it will compromise her in any way, whether it be related to other conflicts or amount of time or anything, he won’t suggest it. Easy enough. (:
innerchrist-deactivated20120826 asked: I do not insult you, personally. I insult lies and hypocrisy. If you feel offended, that is your own conscience, perhaps, not any insult from me. What I will not stand for is the supreme arrogance that conservative Tumblr Catholics have in rejecting the miracles that I have experienced as manifestations of Satan (maybe not you, but others have). What I will not stand for is the supreme ignorance that only Roman Catholic priests celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Perhaps you have more to learn. Peace.
There is a time when you need to take responsibility for your own attitude and behavior.
It is not my “conscience” causing me to feel insulted by you. When you say “hey, everyone who believes in the catechism or follows the Pope is shoved into a little box that I like to label ‘conservative Tumblr Catholics’ and I have a right to constantly make posts demeaning them because they go against my own personal belief system,” I am going to feel insulted. I have not seen any behavior toward you that did not mirror the way you behaved toward them. Whoever started it, it doesn’t matter.
You find “conservative Tumblr Catholics” hypocritical for pointing out your words that they think are incorrect, while you “won’t stand” for their beliefs that you find incorrect. Do you see how little sense that makes? Essentially, you are saying, “I cannot stand by and watch while they go against my beliefs.” And they are saying, “I cannot stand by and watch while he goes against my beliefs.” Somehow it’s hypocritical when they do it, but justified when you do it.
Your comment to me is condescending. Can you not see that? Your words make it extremely clear that you are belittling me rather than trying to make any sort of unity. Even ending your comment with, “perhaps you have more to learn.” Do you not want to guide me in understanding your point of view? If you truly believe that you are right, you should want to. Where are you extending your hand to educate me? Where are you showing that you love me despite our differences? In my last post, I did not question any of your beliefs. I simply asked that you respect mine, and tried to show you why I believe what I believe. I never put any blame on your knowledge on you, but tried to provide it myself.
Here, you are entirely blaming me for my reaction. It’s my own conscience and I have more to learn. And even when you say what you do not like about conservative Tumblr Catholics, you cannot manage to get through it without insulting them. They’re supremely arrogant and supremely ignorant. You want us to be united, as everyone should, and yet you are drawing such a thick line in the sand, none of us feel invited to start a peaceful dialogue with you because you’re too busy with your put downs and insults. You should be able to say, “What I will not stand for is this view that Tumblr Catholics have in rejecting the miracles that I have experienced.” That is justified. That is not insulting.
I don’t know when you first showed up on Tumblr, so I don’t know how it started, but after having gone back a while on your posts, I’m almost positive that you never had a “let’s talk about this,” attitude in your writing. Yet you are surprised and call us hypocritical when we try to defend our belief system that we love.
Please notice that no where in this am I trying to change your beliefs or say that you are wrong for what you believe. I’m pointing out ways that you are failing in creating this unity that you particularly preach about wanting.
May God bless you.
“Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees!”
Tumblr Catholics do have a problem when someone presents as a Catholic priest who is not one. I realize this blogger changed his website to clear some of that up (and am glad for it) but when he walks into a Catholic church wearing a collar and allows himself to be called “father” without making a correction, he is still misrepresenting. That’s dishonest.
The problem is that it isn’t up to you to decide how valid I am anymore than it was up to the Pharisees to decide how valid Jesus was. You can’t say, “Oh, well God didn’t really call you. You’re not a priest.” How do you know? Did you ask him? Did you sit down and say, “You know, God, I really don’t like that InnerChrist guy. You didn’t really call him to do this, did you?” If you did, did he say anything? I’m betting he didn’t. I am a priest because God made me one, not because people on Tumblr believe it or not.
Further, I have explained to many a Roman Catholic that I am not Roman Catholic, and I am sorry, but they just don’t care. You might. Your little band of conservative Tumblr Catholics might. But most of the Roman Catholics I have personally met don’t care. They know I am from God. They know I know his Word. They know I teach his truth. And they appreciate it. As I’ve said before, many of my followers are Roman Catholics. What’s the difference? They learned how to think for themselves, outside of the catechism.
So no, there is nothing dishonest in what I do. The only way I would become dishonest in my vocation is if I betrayed my calling and pleased you.
Nobody is questioning your vocation. Nobody is calling you out and saying “God did not call you to be a priest.” Or if they are, they should not be.
But by calling yourself a “Catholic priest” you are allowing one to believe that you have been ordained and regularly celebrate Mass, and do all of the other things that come along with being a Catholic priest.
Just like I am a sister in the spiritual sense, but if someone asked me, “Do you have brothers and sisters?” while my earthly mother only produced me, it would be a lie for me to say “Yes.” I would allowing them to believe something that is not true, because they would be meaning “Did your earthly mother produce more than just you as her offspring?” It is as much of a lie to spread a false truth as it is to knowingly allow someone to believe something that is not true.
I truly don’t understand why you cannot get through commenting on things that we say without insulting us. It is disheartening. Even if others insult you, you are supposed to be better than that and not insult them back.
Also, in response to your saying that your followers think outside of the catechism… it saddens me that you would use that as a slam to traditional Catholics. I recently went to Adoration where this wonderful Dominican Sister spoke about her former doubts with the Catholic Church. She asked one of her teachers, while she was in high school, “Why is it that Catholics never think for themselves?”
Her teacher responded by saying that traditional (or, as you would say “conservative”) Catholics believe that the Church is run and led by the Holy Spirit. Official statements, such as those in the catechism, are led by the Holy Spirit, and if that is true, why would you want to think for yourself? We all desire our minds and hearts to be one with the Lord, so why would we try to think beyond his own thoughts?
If you don’t believe that the Church is led by the Holy Spirit, I completely understand and find no insult in it. That being said, we conservative Tumblr Catholics do. Please do not think it to be so ridiculous that this is our way of trying to unite with the mind of the Lord.
Generally speaking, Pentecostals believe that one must have the gift of speaking in tongues in order to go to Heaven. I personally do not believe this, but I do not insult them or lose respect for them because our beliefs differ. You yourself constantly preach that we should respect the differences in our beliefs. This is a very important instance where our differences show through.
I hope what I’m saying makes sense. For us, who truly and entirely believe that the catechism and Church teachings are from the Holy Spirit, to “think for ourselves” and go outside of that would be to think against the Holy Spirit. I wish instead of thinking of us as mindless, you would think of us as obedient, and respect us for that, regardless of if you think we are being improperly obedient. You do not have to agree with someone in order to respect their decisions, and you do not have to be treated properly in order to treat others properly.
I was sitting in my creative writing class today, taking some notes during work time while most of the class was screwing around. One girl was teasing a friend of hers and told him he was “gay” in a derogatory manner.
A girl near her got her attention and said (in probably the most non-confrontational and forgiving voice I’ve ever heard), “Don’t say that. It’s not nice.”
The conversation went something like this (I’m going to use fake names because some of my followers may know these people):
“I was just picking on him because he’s Fred.”
“I know, but it sounded like you were using gay negatively, as though it’s bad to be gay.”
“Sure, everyone pick on Nora today. Everyone just hates me.”
“No, Nora, it’s not like that. It’s just really hurtful when you say something like that because it makes it sound like there’s something wrong with being gay when there isn’t.”
It continued on, like a mother telling her five- or six-year-old child why she shouldn’t use her middle finger for the first time, trying to explain without scolding.
Now, I don’t use phrases like “that’s gay” or “that’s retarded” because I know how upset I’d be if someone said “that’s Catholic” or “that’s white” as a slang phrase for “that’s stupid.” But what got to me was this is a girl who says both Jesus and God’s name as swear words.
I don’t like how sensitive our society is about some people but not about others. I constantly have to hear people use my Savior and His Father’s names as cuss words. I know that if I were like, “Hey! That’s not cool,” the majority of them would roll their eyes and deem me forever as a pushy Christian or Bible thumper.
But they’re talking about my Father, y’know? It’s absolutely no different at all than if I were to use one of their parents’ names as a swear word. I wish people would realize that.
If you don’t believe that He was the Son of God, or that God exists at all, why are you using His name at all? What if I went around exclaiming, “Tooth fairy!” every time I was angry? And if you do call yourself a follower of Christ, that gives you double reason for not saying it. Don’t represent the rest of us that way! Whether you like it or not, once you call yourself a Christian, people you know, especially if they don’t know many Christians, are going to use you and your actions to make generalizations about the rest of us.
A little bit of mutual respect would be really swell. That’s all I really want. I don’t know many Christians who say “that’s gay” or “that’s retarded,” but if you do, stop. Stop saying anything that’s making a reference to a kind of person. People aren’t stupid or dumb. People are intellectually strong and weak in their own ways. Go ahead and say, “that’s really stupid!” It’s vague. It doesn’t leave people feeling defensive. And in return, non-Christians and Christians alike, stop saying the Lord and His Son’s name in vain. Find your own cuss words. There are plenty to go around.
Respect the name of my Father as I respect the name of yours.
Unrelated note: Am I the only one who was super irritated when people started “ritard” instead of “retard” because of the Hangover? Musical term! Seriously.
