‘Catholicism is the One True Faith.’ And…?

If anyone can tell me what Elliot Friedland is driving at in his article, ‘Catholicism is the One True Faith,’ I sure would appreciate it.

Here is the beginning of the piece:

Catholicism is the “one true faith.” You might think that’s a pretty odd thing for a Jew to say. But in a Western context, we treat it as if it’s true.

Everything in the West is oriented around the Catholic church. Sunday is the day of rest. Even if contemporary corporate culture has largely abandoned the idea of resting as a concept, government offices and banks and other such things are more often than not closed on Sundays. We even use the Catholic calendar, created by a pope and dating the years from the birth of the Catholic savior, Jesus Christ.

The other major western branch of Christianity (in all its myriad fractions) defines itself relationally to the Catholic Church. It’s called Protestantism – because they were protesting against the papacy.

Catholic terminology and ideas are embedded into our culture.We say talk about things being “sinful” or “pure” and mutter “Jesus Christ” when we swear. The way God is traditionally depicted, as an old, white man sitting on a throne with a long beard comes from Catholic iconography and art.

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