Religious Misinterpretation and what it says---

 
Most people do not have the interest, the time or the confidence to examine their religion's claim to truth. The man or woman or child in the pew is nearly always theologically illiterate so they will tend to believe a crude version of their religions teaching.

Here is what the huge majority of Catholics will believe. They will believe most of the following ludicrous ideas.
 
Faith is believing what is stupid or not true.

That faith is just opinion - if that's all it is then the Church is unimportant and will not survive!

That the answer to who made or designed God is that God made himself.

That God is an old man up in the clouds.

That the Holy Spirit is a ghost.

That suffering is bad luck sent by a vengeful God.

That God gets mad at some sins and not others. For example, sex drives him nuts.

That evil is a force or power so God made it (and yet they worship this god who would do such a thing!)

That religion should not be criticised - though each religion claims the right to kindly point out errors in other religions.

That the Virgin Mary can impel God to answer prayers he is reluctant to answer.

That the Immaculate Conception means that Mary got Jesus without the dirtiness of sex.

Everybody goes to Heaven no matter how bad they are.

That Hell and punishment from God happen to other people and not to me.

That if I sin it is because original sin weakened me or it's the Devil's fault so I will not be punished by God.

My feelings are God trying to tell me something.

God does not care if I pick and choose what to believe out of what he has revealed.

I can be a good Catholic and get drunk and shag around and miss Mass.

Others may believe that the only sin is sex - shocking that people would be so low as to support a religion they think teaches that!

It is what we want to believe that matters, not what is believable or should be believed.

That it is bad luck not to have the baby baptised.

That God hates babies who are not baptised.

Going to confession or saying an act of contrition gets rid of sin even if you are not sincerely sorry.

That confession is great for as long as you say sorry to God it doesn't matter about the person you hurt.

That we have no sins to confess to the priest in confession.

That the pope does not sin.

That the communion wafer is a piece of human flesh and that chewing it hurts Jesus.

That Jesus is physically squeezed into the communion wafer by God.

That communion is still communion even if the priest forgets the consecration.

You go to Heaven for doing good works. Heaven is your reward.

God puts really bad people like Hitler in Hell to torture them forever.

That the saints enjoy it when people suffer in Hell.

We have to believe Adam and Eve really lived though this is against science.

Jesus was much the same as before when he rose again.

That making the sign of the cross brings good luck.

That Jesus and Mary went to live in the clouds.

That holy objects and relics and holy water can cure you if you believe in them enough.

That you can force God to send nice weather by putting a statue of the Child of Prague outside all night.

That saying certain prayers forces God to help you and are guaranteed to get what you ask for. Novenas are a notorious example.

That it doesn't matter if you mean the words or not when you pray.

That such and such a thing is a sign from God to you.

That miracles happen to entertain us and maybe give us a cure if we are ill.

That God will not cure people unless they go to a shrine or use a certain kind of holy water.

That clerical child abuse justifies doubting that the Church is really from God.

The Church can and should change doctrine and allow divorce and birth-control.

Abortion is murder of the worst kind - we reject the belief that if life begins at conception, it does not mean personhood begins at conception.

The Church will give you an annulment if you have enough money or if the marriage was a Protestant one.

It is a sin and bad luck to go into another faith's house of worship or to worship in it.

Catholic Church must be sent to a Catholic school for Protestants are bad news and will contaminate the child.

Not everything above, to be fair, is genuine Catholic doctrine. That people would follow a religion they think teaches the above rubbish and foist it on their children is alarming. It's scary for authentic Catholics, sceptics and atheists.

Such nonsense proves how easily religion can become dangerous blind fanaticism. The believers are fanatical in the nature of their views if not their actions.