Anti-Protestantism is a bias against Protestantism, though similar feelings can exist in opposition to the social practices of protestants. Much of the opposition to protestantism occurs for similar reasons as anti-clericalism.

History

The Reformation's break from the Catholic Church began in the 16th century. These early Protestants were quickly moving in many different directions and not all proved compatible or amicable amongst themselves. Still they did share their rejection of Catholicism which made many Catholics view them as enemies. As Catholicism sees itself as the descendant of Peter and the apostolic Church, it has often viewed Protestants as fallen Christians or non-authentic Christians. The periods of religious violence heightened Protestants and Catholics viewing each other as inauthentic Christians or hostile camps. Some Catholics indicated Protestantism was heresy, a crime similar to religious treason, and that without repentance the punishment for Protestantism should be death. Protestantism remained illegal for residents of the Papal states until their dissolution whereas Judaism was legal if restricted.

In Eastern Europe Lutherans and other groups attempts to reconcile with Eastern Orthodoxy proved problematic. Once they became aware of Protestantism many Orthodoxers viewed it dimly. Although for geographic and historical reasons the two had comparatively little contact. In general, though many Orthodoxers initial impression was that Protestants were an invalid heresy that arose from a previous heresy. The previous heresy being Catholicism itself. By the nineteenth century some Eastern Orthodox thinkers believed Northern Europe had become secular or virtually atheist due to their being

Hostility to Mainline Protestantism

In the U.S. hostility to mainline Protestantism comes from stereotypes of WASPs. This a usually derogatory term describing people of "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant" background, but can be applied to all Protestants of Northern European descent. It can describe upper middle class Protestant people and their values in insulting or disparaging terms. The term is often used in the sense that a WASP's achievements, wealth, and prerogatives are unearned. Also WASPs tended to be portrayed as rigid and emotionally reserved. Pop-culture references to this occur in the discussions of the Mayor's background in Spin City, the Jim Dial character in Murphy Brown, and many characters in the film Mona Lisa Smile. Though the term developed in predominantly Catholic areas of the East Coast, it is applied increasingly to people in the mostly Protestant Midwest and South.

Mainline Protestants also suffer from the image that they do not believe or stand for anything. This comes even from Evangelical Protestants. They are generally portrayed as having a religion devoid of real feeling and a life of suppressed emotions. This despite the fact that many mainline sects have taken controversial stands on same-sex marriage, Divestment from Israel, and other issues.

Hostility to Evangelicals

Evangelicals often claim to be one of America's most persecuted religious groups. This is often because of laws prohibiting evangelical practices like public proselytizing and religious displays. This claim and those actions anger many non-evangelicals. Much hatred is directed against Evangelicals who assume that anyone who does not share their denomination's interpretation of the Bible must be un-Biblical and in need of conversion. Their occasional message that non-Protestants do not know the Bible, or are not Christians, causes anger in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox worlds. Hence parts of Central America and the Andes have seen riots against Evangelicals. In Central

In the Muslim world hostility to Evangelical Christians is widespread and arguably the most violent. In the Islamic world it is a kind of anti-Christianity that focuses on Evangelicals for a variety of reasons. For one in much of the Mideast and North Africa, Catholics, and especially Orthodoxers, have lived in the region for centuries so they have become established. What might be more specific though is that Evangelicals are seen, rightly or wrongly, as more aggressively encouraging Muslims to convert to Christianity. In Islamist influenced regimes this is deemed apostasy and can have legal repercussions. The punishment can vary from censorship to death. Hence in 2004 Eritrea began a crackdown that saw the arrests of several Evangelicals. Eritrea is one predominantly Muslim state that sees Catholics and Orthodoxers as essentially established, so the persecution tended to specify Evangelicals. Still it is more common in the Islamic world for anti-Christian feelings to be generalized. Hence Christianity in general is viewed unfavorably in Turkey and Pakistan according to a recent Pew Survey.

The most extreme of Protestants take the Bible as literal and exact truth, and so have been derided as "Bible thumpers" from the Bible belt. These are seen by many secular people as a kind of "fifth column" aimed at turning the US or other nations into a Christian Theocracy. Robert A. Heinlein's "If This Goes On—", and many other science fiction works, project this fear into the future. This view is shared by many non-evangelicals, like Catholics, Jews, Hindus, and some liberal Protestants.

Catholic and Protestant disagreement

In several countries with a majority of the population identifying themselves as Catholic, there is a hostility to Protestantism as a whole. This distaste with Protestantism is often religious in nature, but in some areas, such Northern Ireland, it is the unfortunate result of a history of political struggle. On that in general the strongest religious antipathy is toward specific movements though. The most common objects of hostility among non-Protestants in general might be Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists, Churches of Christ, Baptists and a few fringe sects.

Early opposition to the existence of Protestantism began in the Catholic world though so it might be useful to return to that more fully. In more modern times, Catholic-Protestant relations have grown calmer. Nevertheless, in general the further a Protestant sect is from Catholicism in its doctrine, the more discomfort among many Catholic people arises. Anglicans and Lutherans are only sporadically viewed in a negative light in modern Catholic countries. However, a Zogby poll of American Catholics showed Catholics having a more hostile attitude toward Fundamentalist Christians than to any non-Christian religion. As Fundamentalist Christians would be the most likely to focus solely on the Bible, they might be the least likely to value the teaching of Church Councils--which are deemed very important in both Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Thus, it is also the official teaching of the Church that Protestant faiths do not contain the fullness of truth. Most modern Catholics would indicate this does not make them outright false or negative, but merely less true. There are, however, Catholics, especially Traditionalist Catholics who deem Protestantism to be a rejection of "the one true faith", and thus in a state of mortal sin.

In other cases, especially Northern Ireland or pre-Catholic Emancipation Ireland, the issue is more complex. Rules like the Test Act and repressions under Oliver Cromwell bred resentments toward Protestants among the Catholic populations. These resentments sometimes remained after the events regarding them had long since ended.

See also

• List of people burned as heretics

Criticisms of Protestant Christianity

• It mentions Catholics too.

Treatment by nations and peoples