The "whore of Babylon" or the Church of Christ?

Over at Last Light Off the Black West: Sacerdotal Scribbling from the Epicenter of a Dying Culture (don't let the title scare you), Father Eric Sternberg, a good friend of mine, penned a post in which he reflected on the pagan heart of Rome, both ancient and modern.

When I shared Father Eric's excellent reflections on Facebook another friend of mine, who was raised in a fundamentalist Christian denomination, left a very poignant comment (ellipses his):

Growing up... I was given books and videos "exposing" the "Satanic underbelly" of the Roman Catholic Church. Poor me... I had to videotape a large number of weddings in a very Catholic town. I was forced to sit in these dens of idol worship weekend, after weekend, after weekend. After a few years, I noticed an "idol" gesturing toward the front of the church. I then noticed that the paintings were all pointing to the heart of the Gospel... Jesus... I also noticed that the people there were praying... not to the statues... but to GOD...

It struck me as odd that, if this was a Satanic religion, that everything... down to the tiniest bit of architecture... pointed to Jesus... declaring him to be the Christ... the Son of the living God. It took a few years, but I have come home. Some of my family and friends try to save me from my apostasy... reminding me of all the evil conspiracies of the "Whore of Babylon"... breaking my heart with their ignorance and hate... but it is God, who opened my eyes... so I guess that's that...