D
I'm a bit bothered by a trend I've seen, in which people are willing to spout whatever sounds convincing, even if it's not true. (Most people call this lying.)
Just today, while talking about Catholics, someone said that 'Vatican' came from 'vatis'+ 'can' where 'vatis' means 'prophecy' and 'can' means 'serpent.' Clearly, Catholics are servents of the devil! Nevermind that any first year Latin student knows that 'can-' has more to do with dogs than snakes. Catholics may be serpents of the devil, but your Latin is worse. Don't give etymologies unless you can translate basic sentences in the language.
Not too long after that, someone began saying that the prophecies of St. Malachi named the current pope 'Benedict' by name. I said it didn't. He said it did. I looked up at least three copies of the prophecy. None of them did - all of them talk about 'gloria olivae.' No Benedict, no Ben, no Dick or Jane or any other name. I asked for the precise phrase, multiple times, that named Benedict. Never got one, but I did get repeated insistances that it was there.
My favorite, of course, is the woman on here who suggests any Asian religious leader she doesn't like is a negligent father, even those who don't have children! I regularly hear lies about Buddhism when people are trying to convert me. I've heard that Buddhists believe we're all pieces of God, that we still do animal sacrifices, that we're uncompassionate people, etc.
Why do people think they can get away with bald-faced lies in the information age? It doesn't make Christianity look any better if it takes five minutes with Google to contradict the obvious ploy. Your faith is substantial enough that it doesn't require lies to make it more marketable.
Just today, while talking about Catholics, someone said that 'Vatican' came from 'vatis'+ 'can' where 'vatis' means 'prophecy' and 'can' means 'serpent.' Clearly, Catholics are servents of the devil! Nevermind that any first year Latin student knows that 'can-' has more to do with dogs than snakes. Catholics may be serpents of the devil, but your Latin is worse. Don't give etymologies unless you can translate basic sentences in the language.
Not too long after that, someone began saying that the prophecies of St. Malachi named the current pope 'Benedict' by name. I said it didn't. He said it did. I looked up at least three copies of the prophecy. None of them did - all of them talk about 'gloria olivae.' No Benedict, no Ben, no Dick or Jane or any other name. I asked for the precise phrase, multiple times, that named Benedict. Never got one, but I did get repeated insistances that it was there.
My favorite, of course, is the woman on here who suggests any Asian religious leader she doesn't like is a negligent father, even those who don't have children! I regularly hear lies about Buddhism when people are trying to convert me. I've heard that Buddhists believe we're all pieces of God, that we still do animal sacrifices, that we're uncompassionate people, etc.
Why do people think they can get away with bald-faced lies in the information age? It doesn't make Christianity look any better if it takes five minutes with Google to contradict the obvious ploy. Your faith is substantial enough that it doesn't require lies to make it more marketable.