Beth had the fine privilege of overhearing and then taking part in a conversation about the differences between Catholics and Protestants. There were three teenage Protestants and one uninformed teenage Catholic.

Before Beth joined, the essential conclusion was that the main difference is that Catholics worship Mary. She, of course, set them straight by stating the fact that some Catholics may take hyperdulia to a maryolatric extreme, but the reality is that Catholics, as we all know, worship God alone.

When she told me about this, in my consternation I wondered, “Where in the world did they come up with this idea?”. Seriously! In this day of evidence and book knowledge, the idea that educated people (even teenagers) are so easily duped by stale old lies is absurd. And, since all of the girls (who were from very different backgrounds) agreed on the conclusion and were familiar with that myth, it is obviously a myth that is continually perpetuated by an ignorant populace.

Maybe Catholics should start perpetuating the Myth that Protestants worship Martin Luther, or King Henry the Eighth, or (your favorite revolt-leader’s name here), since they were all of sufficient divine ability to found churches in opposition to the one founded by Jesus Christ. Except, the problem is that I’m Catholic, and every Catholic knows that he must strive to attain the truth in every circumstance. And I know that Protestants don’t these people, just that some folks were misled for various reasons. So I’m not going to make a lie out of spite.

But I guess I can’t expect the same thing from people who thrive on untruths, or at least on not finding the truth.