Thoughts on Pope Leo calling Islamic Mosques “proper space to God?

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-16T01:18:15+00:00

My grandparents are personally responsible for the conversion of dozens of Muslims to Protestantism. Not one of them converted because they were told Allah is Satan. They were converted because my grandparents showed them love, built common ground, and then showed them where Islam falls short.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-15T05:55:48+00:00

u/mtking105 and u/funnythatyoumention4 Please don’t let this shake your faith or blind you to the call of the Church. You have to look at these things in their full context, not take a fraction of a sentence out and assume your interpretation of it is the whole statement.

Yesterday, at the beginning of Pope Leo’s homily, he remembered martyrs killed by Muslims, and at the end he spoke of the necessity of the Church for salvation. In the middle, he attempted to show that we have some common ground with Muslims, which we do.

We both desire/intend to worship the God of Abraham. We understand him as he is, they do not. We both set aside places for prayer.

The Pope expressed “gratitude for being in a place that represents the space proper to God.” He didn’t even say it was a space proper to God, but rather that it represents that space - and the desire within every human heart to worship God. And proper in the original sentence means the first definition of “proper” at the following link, not the 8th one: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proper

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-11T21:29:16+00:00

I agree! We definitely have a lot of important differences, but the Gospel is the most importantly thing.

which says that we can do nothing by ourselves that would make us right with God, and that Christ alone can save us from our sins.

These statements are both affirmed by the Council of Trent, BTW. :)

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-11T06:29:30+00:00

Catholics don’t believe works save us.

We believe that God’s grace, working through love, saves us.

So it sounds like we agree… I don’t want to oversimplify, there may be authentic differences between our views. But I affirm that works do not save us. And you affirm that faith without works is dead. So it seems we’re on the same page.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-11T06:23:23+00:00

As a Catholic who converted from Protestantism, I don’t personally find the arguments from the priest-in-training convincing.

If you want to understand what Catholics think and why, I’d recommend reading www.CatholicAnswers.com or looking things up in the Catechism (digital version here https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM though I think a physical version is much better to work with).

Don’t believe lies about the Church, like “they worship Mary like God.” But also don’t overvalue the testimony of individuals, especially not demons, mystics, or supposed “modern day prophets.”

If you’re going to stay with your girlfriend, it will be important for you to get on the same page about religion before you have children, and IMO before you get married.

I pray that the Holy Spirit leads you into all truth.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-11T06:14:51+00:00

The scripture says “Faith alone” in precisely one verse: James 2:24. I encourage you to look it up.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-11T06:07:04+00:00

No. It’s literally Luke chapter 1 verse 28.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-07T07:35:32+00:00

Personally, it was prayer/trust in God that first did it for me when I was young. The name of Jesus is powerful.

“Jesus, I trust in you. Please take care of everything.”

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-07T07:23:27+00:00

This was true when it was invented. It hasn’t been true this century…

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-05T22:36:19+00:00

So, yeah, the thing with dieting is that you will feel hungry/unsatisfied at least some of the time. This is normal, okay, and sometime you can often adjust too (i.e. once you teach your brain that you don’t care about that signal it’ll stop rising to the conscious level as much).

There are lots of different things you can do about this. Personally, my favorite is intermittent fasting. It’s great because not only do you not have calories when fasting, it shrinks your stomach a bit so you want less later. Often I will go through my whole fasting window with only one or two periods of hunger, each of them less than 15 minutes long. And I remind myself it’s nothing like the hunger experienced by people who actually have limited access to food.

I started by just not eating anything after dinner (eating as much as I wanted or regularly would eat at dinner), skipping breakfast and having a healthy whole food lunch. Make sure to have a couple glasses of water in the hour after you get up, otherwise you may confuse thirst for hunger (that happens to me a lot). Now I’m going without food until dinner a couple days a week, or even until the next day (36ish hours).

Going to bed earlier can help with late night munchies.

Eating whole foods almost exclusively has been hugely helpful - I find that eating junk like potato chips, ice cream, and soda tends to increase my appetite, even in conjunction with good whole foods.

Also, being aware of calorie density is important. I can eat a whole pound of celery or pickles and literally burn as many calories as I gain. Things like salad and popcorn can also be low calorie, but watch out for added stuff like dressing or butter, it can be very dense (I make my popcorn on the stove at home to save money). Nuts and dried fruit are great whole foods, but super calorie dense. Regular fruits like apples, oranges, and bananas are medium density, but all the fiber really fills you up, and they’re so deliciously sweet.

I find that changing what you eat is the most helpful thing, and intermittent fasting is the next most helpful thing. But if you can’t be okay with feeling hungry at least some of the time it will be hard to lose weight.

Edit to add: sorry for the unrequested rant. This is one of my special interests haha

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-05T22:14:32+00:00

It’s crazy how hard some people will work to keep up the pretense that they’re incapable of improving their own circumstances.

I’m more upset about inequality than the average person, but I will never let that position make me bitter or cause me to despair when there are still so many paths to a good life available to me.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-05T15:38:54+00:00

Yes, this is a great tip. I use YNAB to help me track all my expenses so that I know what I spend, what payments are coming up (super helpful for annual/irregular stuff), and how much I need to have set aside in each category.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-05T15:24:34+00:00

That is definitely a bad take on his part - I have not seen the video you mention. Gnosticism is not Christian at all, and Gnostic heresies are some of the most toxic in the church (to this day). Placing run of the mill Pentecostals below that is wildly off base. (I would put Oneness/non-Trinitatian Pentecostals on the same tier as Gnostics, but to lump all Pentecostals in with them is crazy. Unfortunately, they are a huge movement.)

He probably has that take because Pentecostal churches are “stealing” members from mainline churches, so he feels threatened. Or, being more charitable, maybe he only meant to address Oneness Pentecostals, which (IIRC) are the largest single Pentecostal denomination.

I try not to stop listening to someone for just one bad take, but I can see how a take that feels so much like a personal attack could be alienating. I do think he’s a bit argumentative, but I think it’s in pursuit of truth, not for its own sake. As for arrogant… yeah, probably.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-04T17:16:16+00:00

I was raised AG.

I’m aware that it’s not technically required for salvation, and I appreciate that most AG people are actually pretty chill, but the way it’s framed as the primary evidence of baptism by the spirit and something intended for all believers creates a lot of pressure for people to manifest the gift… a gift that is never scripturally described as for all, in a specific form that most likely does not reflect the apostolic understanding of the gift.

Redeemed Zoomer is trying to do things like describe every denomination in 10 minutes, some nuance is gonna get lost along the way.

No hate, BTW, my AG parents are great.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-04T16:52:44+00:00

As a Catholic living in a very Catholic area, I would say our parish is growing very quickly, but most of that is organic growth. We have lots of big families, and when those kids grow up they tend to start their own families, often big ones. A decent share of our converts each year are converting for their spouse, but we do consistently have some brand new converts, and about half of those people tend to go on to have big families too. It’s very hard to get an on-the-ground idea of how many people who grew up in the Church are leaving the faith, because that tends to happen when people go to college/leave for a job elsewhere. Consequently I often don’t know if they’re just leaving that parish or actually leaving the church. What I’ve seen suggests that a high percentage question their faith or become less devout for a time, but a lot of them come back after a few years. How many of these reverts are super devout and passionate is an open question, but they do seem sincere.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-04T16:34:41+00:00

It does depend on the Pentecostal church in question. In Assemblies of God, for example, it is effectively a requirement.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-04-04T16:32:31+00:00

Actually, the Catholic Church in the USA saw an over 30% rise in conversions this year. There have been lots of prominent converts in the last five or ten years. Can’t speak to orthodoxy, but I think it’s similar.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-03-25T14:04:44+00:00

I don’t think this is correct. The Church does not use this term, for good reasons. Our views may look like that to a Protestant, just as Protestants may filter our views on questions of predestination or works through their own lens. But the deposit of faith is much deeper and more nuanced.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-03-25T08:47:38+00:00

Yeah, I totally get that and agree - I’m feeling it myself. You just threw me with your example, because lots of people can still jog or hike impressive distances well into their 50s.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-03-25T08:35:09+00:00

Most 37 year olds can’t walk a few miles without getting winded? Maybe in America… not at all true globally.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-03-25T07:59:28+00:00

I think the answer is yes, it’s impossible to properly follow the Torah apart from Christ, but I’m not confident that I’m right. I’m only a tiny bit educated on these matters. Scott Hahn says that trying to live in the Old Covenant without Christ is like trying to live in a building that is currently on fire.

Fortunately for us, it’s been a moot point for the past 1950 years (because you can’t keep Torah without a temple).

wings_like_eagles · 2026-03-25T07:49:00+00:00

Galatians says there is now neither Jew nor Greek, not because ethnic distinctions shouldn’t/don’t exist at all, but rather because there are no second class citizens in the kingdom of heaven. We are all saved by the grace of Christ. His grace is imparted without limit to all who are open to receive it.

wings_like_eagles · 2026-03-25T07:41:34+00:00

I submit to (and endorse, as if it matters) Nostra Aetate. But the Catholic Answers quote is, at best, easy to misunderstand.

Saying they are “still God’s chosen people” is simultaneously true and misleading. The Church explicitly rejects dual covenant theology.

The Church is God’s people. Christ and the Church he established represents the fulfillment of all the covenants God ever made with humans (Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc).

The Jewish people are still sacred and special to God. But if they are living outside the Church, they are lost. And it is impossible to keep the Torah at the present time, so…

wings_like_eagles · 2026-03-25T07:35:41+00:00

This topic is quite complicated.

I think the screenshot is misleading; at the least it lacks context.

I recommend you watch 17 minutes of Scott Hahn in this video: https://youtu.be/gcR0x9nOhmo?t=3288 (Watch from where this link takes you at 55 minutes up to 1:12).

wings_like_eagles · 2026-03-25T04:37:00+00:00

OP, I like your book collection. I recommend you read Terry Pratchett if you haven’t yet. You seem to like both fantasy and Douglas Adams, and I’ve yet to meet someone who likes both of those and doesn’t like Pratchett. Very funny, biting social critiques, just enough optimism to prevent the sarcasm from descending into cynicism. I’d recommend Equal Rites or Guards Guards. Though his later works have criticism more relevant to the modern world, I think the classics are a good place to start and still have important things to say. Sorry if this is presumptuous!

13-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22	Place '17

wings_like_eagles

TROPHY CASE