Just wondering...

[gaelic cowboy]

You want it sugar coated, or think that Ireland should be massively important to the UK?

No do you think I get up every morning mad about the Brits.

[Don Corleone]

This isn't an English/Irish phenomenon, though I'm sure there's an aspect of that there.

Quite frankly, it's not really about England itself very much at all anymore. By all appearances, the English people themselves have 'moved on', and are quite open and tolerant of differing viewpoints. Nobody called for Tony's head on the Tower gate when he converted after leaving office.

What I find interesting however is that everywhere the English went and instilled a sense of "us-versus-them" antithesim (is that a word), it's more or less alive and well. Nowhere is that more true than in the good ole US of A, with our friends down at Bob Jones University.

But you see it in Ulster, in Scotland, in Canada and in Australia too. It's my belief that the original hatred dates back to ole Henry VIII, who understanding what shaky ground he was on by breaking from the bishopric of Peter, had to demonize those he left, without really ever 'leaving'. Let's face it, theologically and dogmatically, the Church of England has a lot more in common with the Church of Rome than it does with say the Lutherans or the Presbytarians. Somewhere down the road, this propaganda against the Roman church got infused into the National character. I'm sure Guy Fawkes and the wars with France, a predominately Catholic nation (at least at the time) helped.

Now in the 20th century, as religion stopped playing such a critical role in England's national sense of self, the need to scorn Catholicism and Catholics subsided. But in the places the English exported their loathing, namely the former/current Commonwealth countries, the message never got out. I suspect this had to do with the fact that the spirit of animosity wasn't a symptom there, it was brought as an end in of itself.

So you wind up with Americans (who fought two wars with the mother country to prove they were no longer English, mind you), hating and despising Catholics... and one of the principal complaints lodged is "they're dislolyal, because they listen to the pope". Nobody seems to have a problem with Anglicans in the US listening to the Archbishop of Canterbury, however.

Every now and then, when I'm not paying attention, something jerks me to my senses... like finding one of the girl's half-filled sippy cups with 3 day old milk under a car seat. You see something, hear something... and it just stuns you... intelligent, caring good people still choose to hang onto these old rants and screeds. Why? What possible purpose does it serve in today's society? Why is Jack Chick not put into the same list as Fred Phelps?

[Skullheadhq]

Implying catholicism is even christian and not just a papish fake-religion.

[Don Corleone]

Implying catholicism is even christian and not just a papish fake-religion.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Shibumi]

Religion.

Some point their bum up and headbang the floor, some put on funny hats.

Some do not care about it.

To answer the OP - why brits/people in general ridicule catholicism? I would guess it is because they find the faith absolutely ridiculous.

[Andres]

Religion.

Some point their bum up and headbang the floor, some put on funny hats.

Some do not care about it.

And then you have those who pretend they don't care, yet feel the need to ridicule the religious people.

[Shibumi]

And then you have those who pretend they don't care, yet feel the need to ridicule the religious people.

There are indeed those too.

There are also those who honestly do not care, but still ridicule religion.

Imagine some loony walking into the bar screaming about having seen unicorn. As you see, it is quite easy to ridicule even without caring that much.

As to ridiculing religious people, there is a fine line there. And if I understood the rules of this boards correctly, a matter hard to discuss freely.

[Pannonian]

This isn't an English/Irish phenomenon, though I'm sure there's an aspect of that there.

Quite frankly, it's not really about England itself very much at all anymore. By all appearances, the English people themselves have 'moved on', and are quite open and tolerant of differing viewpoints. Nobody called for Tony's head on the Tower gate when he converted after leaving office.

What I find interesting however is that everywhere the English went and instilled a sense of "us-versus-them" antithesim (is that a word), it's more or less alive and well. Nowhere is that more true than in the good ole US of A, with our friends down at Bob Jones University.

But you see it in Ulster, in Scotland, in Canada and in Australia too. It's my belief that the original hatred dates back to ole Henry VIII, who understanding what shaky ground he was on by breaking from the bishopric of Peter, had to demonize those he left, without really ever 'leaving'. Let's face it, theologically and dogmatically, the Church of England has a lot more in common with the Church of Rome than it does with say the Lutherans or the Presbytarians. Somewhere down the road, this propaganda against the Roman church got infused into the National character. I'm sure Guy Fawkes and the wars with France, a predominately Catholic nation (at least at the time) helped.

Wasn't it the Scots who were particularly evangelical and fundamentalist about their beliefs? Philippvs might know more about the details of the history of Christianity in Britain, but that's the impression I got.

[gaelic cowboy]

Wasn't it the Scots who were particularly evangelical and fundamentalist about their beliefs? Philippvs might know more about the details of the history of Christianity in Britain, but that's the impression I got.

Well there is a feeling of the frontiersman about much of the early unionist/protestant rhetoric from the North makes a lot of sense that it would feed into there religion and politics.

[CountArach]

But you see it in Ulster, in Scotland, in Canada and in Australia too.

You... you do?

[HoreTore]

Oh please CA, you're the biggest sectarian bigot ever.