Originally Posted by Pureboy
I would probably still enter churches, but I don't think I would be comfortable attending a religious ceremony in a church, especially Catholic. There are arguments in Jewish law about Protestant churches and mosques not being considered "idol worship," but Catholicism would be a harder sell. I don't mean that out of any disrespect, its just how my belief system views others.
Now, all that being said, it would be even a harder sell to say Shinto shrines and certainly Buddhist temples aren't "idol worship," But I guess given that the histories of those religions and mine aren't as intertwined, I'm more comfortable wandering in to one of those when ceremonies are going on.
I hope this wasn't offensive, just trying to inform.
Fascinating perspective. I am curious about what exactly it is about the history of Catholicism (which is, after all, also a major part of the history of Protestantism...heck, even the Lutherans keep a saint or two around for good measure
) that makes you so much less comfortable than in Protestant, Shinto or Buddhist ceremonies.
As to whether Catholics engage in idol worship is, of course, a matter of perspective, but I strongly encourage you to extend your comparisons of religions and religious ceremonies by attending a Catholic Mass.
Hopefully you will discover that the idea that Catholics worship idols is little more than an ignorant stereotype. But even if you don't, you'll still be exposed to ancient (well, not quite so ancient as yours) traditions, customs and what I consider to be an empirically beautiful ceremony. ^