As a Catholic growing up in the South, I have always been exposed to 'the problem no one wants to delve into'. Even being younger, telling people I was Catholic always felt more like a barrier, something that could end a friendship or make people believe I was underneath them. For a while I started to avoid discussing religion like the plague, because I was afraid of never gaining acceptance from the majority of my peers. Those who did know, would refer to me as 'the Catholic friend'.  I am interested to delve into the history of why America has built this idea of giving Catholicism a negative connotation. My goal of writing this essay is to bring awareness to Anti-Catholicism because it's not a highly discussed issue. I will briefly explain how the reformation has impacted Anti-Catholic views today, show the historical background of Catholic prejudice in America, discuss the major misconceptions about the Catholic religion, as well as how the media has affected people's thoughts on the Catholic Church and how bad press has impacted the church.

 This article's purpose is to raise question as to whether or not modern day America still holds anti-Catholicism views. He discusses how some states wish to get rid of Catholic

schools, the historical background of Americans not wanting to allow any more Catholics into the country, and of a scandal within the Catholic Church that has recently raised a disliking to the Church.

 The main interests of this article are to provide a thought-provoking article on whether Anti-Catholicism still exists. Sewell goes into a brief historical background of Ant-Catholicism, then discusses modern day examples of discrimination against Catholicism and proves a reasoning as to why this is occurring.

This article is written by a writer for the New York Times, so although the work may be biased, it can be trusted as accurate information. The author seems to be biased towards believing that Anti-Catholicism still exists, and makes a claim as to reasons why it still does.


   1. This article's purpose is to raise question as to whether or not modern day America still holds Anti-Catholicism views. The author states what the beginning of Anti-Catholicism in America was, and how this did not let off throughout the 20th century. Even our president John F. Kennedy was seen as lesser because of his religion, despite all of the advancements he made for our country.

 


   2. The historical background of Anti-Catholicism is the main focus of the article. Starting with colonization, the author chronologically writes down the order of when the United States has shed a negative light on Catholicism views. He notes that Americans tend to break out with Anti-Catholicism views when something triggers it.

   3. The author is a religions professor at the University of Virginia, so his information is most accurate and is used to presenting information regarding Catholicism. He sets up his wording to present more of an informative bias rather than giving mainly his own opinion on the subject.

   1. This article claims that Catholicism is still prejudiced by America, providing evidence and historical reasoning as to why this is happening. Martin believes that Anti-Catholicism is less political, and more cultural. He still discusses how Catholicism is looked down upon in politics, though, along with the media's role in creating Anti-Catholic views.

   2. He begins his evidence of Anti-Catholicism by discussing how people think the Catholic Church promote only religion and forget about education. Then he transitions into the wrongdoings people have been committing toward the Catholic Church. For example, Martin states that nine Churches were vandalized in Brooklyn in the fall of 1999. He then goes on to talk about the historical roots and how they have impacted the prejudices we see today against the Church.


  3. The author is a Jesuit priest and a writer, so it can be assumed that he is knowledgeable on religion as a whole. He is also an editor, which means he has experience avoiding bias. Although, this article does has a slight bias towards being against Anti-Catholicism.

Reflection:

Although my research has not affected my own views, it has opened my eyes to see that there are several viewpoints on the concept. These different perspectives are what makes the question arguable. Some individuals will always be completely unopen to change due to their distrust and lack of credibility in the Catholic Church, while others are simply uneducated about what it's actually like being a member of the Church. I do not plan on changing my argument from my research, but perhaps either delving into a more specific topic or changing the wording of my question so that it better connects with the message I wish to relay.
