The only thing I've read people mention against them are that they make people feel bad, like they're a bad Catholic for not being more reverent, or like other people are going to think they're not as good a Catholic as someone else.
The same argument is made against movable kneelers, and people kneeling on the floor, or wearing veils, or…
The only thing I've read people mention against them are that they make people feel bad, like they're a bad Catholic for not being more reverent, or like other people are going to think they're not as good a Catholic as someone else.
The same argument is made against movable kneelers, and people kneeling on the floor, or wearing veils, or (sometimes it seems) doing anything visibly religious at all.
I sometimes wonder if they want us to not go to Mass, in case some of the many people who skip, by choice or by need, feel bad about it. (I heard that suggested during Covid, no exaggeration.)
Like many Catholics, I'm agnostic about altar rails -- don't see any need to remove them or install them. Those demanding I pay for an installation are obligated to come up with a better answer than your comment.
My comment was not an argument for it, it was trying to find the argument against it. There are lots of comments here providing reasons for them. Given that they were almost universally removed (and all the parishioners forced to pay for the removal), one would think there would be an explanation for removing them.
At least in my parish, my consent is not obtained for everything that is done with parish money. I don't think I'd get very far by attempting to require it.
The only thing I've read people mention against them are that they make people feel bad, like they're a bad Catholic for not being more reverent, or like other people are going to think they're not as good a Catholic as someone else.
The same argument is made against movable kneelers, and people kneeling on the floor, or wearing veils, or (sometimes it seems) doing anything visibly religious at all.
I sometimes wonder if they want us to not go to Mass, in case some of the many people who skip, by choice or by need, feel bad about it. (I heard that suggested during Covid, no exaggeration.)
Like many Catholics, I'm agnostic about altar rails -- don't see any need to remove them or install them. Those demanding I pay for an installation are obligated to come up with a better answer than your comment.
My comment was not an argument for it, it was trying to find the argument against it. There are lots of comments here providing reasons for them. Given that they were almost universally removed (and all the parishioners forced to pay for the removal), one would think there would be an explanation for removing them.
At least in my parish, my consent is not obtained for everything that is done with parish money. I don't think I'd get very far by attempting to require it.