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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 1, 2026

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Sooo you don't have a response to the concerns about Mary?

Why are you on this website if you're not interested in defending your positions? Asserting without evidence that anyone who disagrees with you must be the same as James Talarico is not a defense.

My response is to ignore them, because they're the same material as has been going on for five hundred or so years now, and I'm not convinced by them. I'm sticking to my position on the permissibility of reverence done to the Blessed Virgin, and that if you try kicking out the female contribution to religion by the front door then it will force its way back in by the window (though I have little to no sympathy for the Divine Feminine nonsense).

Which is less Scriptural: we honour the mother of the Redeemer for her assent to the plan of salvation, or we deny the fatherhood of God because that is sexism?

I don't know who you think you're arguing with about 'denying the fatherhood of God'. That's a radical position that I certainly don't hold.

I also, again, think we should honor Mary - probably higher than any other person, save perhaps John the Baptist ("among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist" Matt 11:11). However, Catholic dogma requires me to believe things about her that I think are clearly false.

First, that she was conceived free from sin, and indeed never sinned at all. From Catholic Answers: "However, Mary was “saved” from sin in a most sublime manner. She was given the grace to be “saved” completely from sin so that she never committed even the slightest transgression." The article then goes on to argue that even though Romans and 1 John clearly teach that 'all have sinned', that Mary could be an exception since Jesus was also an exception. In other words, Mary was just as holy as Jesus. An insane argument in my opinion, but that's how Catholics have to justify their dogma! Besides all this, Jesus specifically rebukes Mary in the gospels. There's also no reason whatsoever to believe that Mary was conceived free from original sin except for the idea that Jesus needed a womb free from sin - but 1) God could make the womb sinless at the point of Jesus' conception, or any manner of other arrangements, and 2) this argument leads to infinite regress, because if Jesus needed a sinless womb, then Mary would need one too, as would her mother, and grandmother, ad infinitum. The whole thing is patent nonsense and directly contradicts clear biblical teaching.

I can go on, since most of the Marian dogmas are likely false, but that should give a basis for further discussion if you're interested.

since most of the Marian dogmas are likely false

Yeah, sure, try the same tired old arguments on me that haven't worked before and are not going to work now. Protestant churches with the 'correct' Scriptural views on Mary are now the ones committing heresy about "I don't want to refer to God as Father because that transgresses current, temporal, platitudes".

Oh good we're back to 'I'll ignore literally everything you said because I have no response to it'. And then you wonder why so many Protestants have a negative view of Catholics.

I had no intention of re-fighting the Wars of Religion and I probably should stop right now before the mods get involved, but [comment deleted]. Yeah, better stop now.

Music hath charms. Rejoice! From both wings of the Church.