I am a heretic 3.0. I (sort of) like the Catholic Church

I was exposed to disagreement very early on as a Christian.

I came to Christ as a freshman at Eastman School of Music in a college dorm room. Soon after I hooked up with the chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

When I returned home, I decided to hook up with the most radical Christian church that I knew of in the Rumford area, one "Church of Good News" headed by Rev. Larry Shaw.

The problem was that my IVCF was comprised primarily of calvinist reformed type while the Church of Good News was most definitely Pentecostal.

In my Pentecostal Church I learned that the IVCF types were folks who denied the power of God and believed in greasy grace (eternal security). From my IVCF friends I learned that my Pentecostal church was into error, hyperfaith, and works salvation. All that I could figure out was that they obviously disagreed with each other.

Since then I have encountered disagreements on subjects like the second coming of Christ, baptism, whether drinking alcohol in moderation is morally evil, Christian rock, what version of the Bible is correct.. and the list goes on. I have figured out the following realities.
* There are folks who know the Bible more than I do and who are more spiritual than myself who disagree with other folks who know the Bible more than I do who are more spiritual than myself.
* There are a vast number of areas of disagreement where these folks above can disagree agree on. Therefore, the probability that an average Christian like myself can get all of these areas of disagreement correct is negligible.
* Since I am a Christian nonetheless, it is probably not a priority to God that I get all of these areas correct. Therefore I should focus on other things in my life other than areas where Christians disagree on.

I have learned that Catholics disagree with Protestants on a whole number of other issues (purgatory, Mary, the saints,..) that we agree with ourselves on. But this is what I don't understand.

I have figured out (and have learned) that the areas where us Protestants disagree with each other are (mostly) "nonessential". A "nonessential" is a point of belief where you can still have eternal life and be wrong. I furthermore have a classification of "unimportant" which is a "nonessential" point of belief that furthermore will not mess you up and cause you grief if you are wrong. To differentiate, I view the whole eternal security issue I encountered my first year as a Christian as nonessential and mostly unimportant (extremes of belief either way might become important). Hyperfaith might be nonessential, but it is important. You could die if you don't call a doctor when you have a heart attack, believing instead that God will heal you.

Here is what I don't understand though. Why are the disagreements between us Protestants on issues that are mostly nonessential and unimportant, while disagreements with the Catholics all of a sudden are essential and important. If a Catholic asks the Virgin Mary to pray to the Lord for prayer request 'A', why would being wrong on this point deny the Catholic eternal life particularly when possibly being wrong on the second coming holds no eternal consequences to me. I am not even convinced this issue is all that important, particularly if you believe (as I do) that prayers that go to God the Father through the saints are just routed to the Father directly.

All of the literature that I have seen from Protestants that expose the evil of Catholicism seem to have the underlying assumption that all of these issues are "essential". But I have yet to read a logical explanation of why this is the case while at the same time our disagreements are "nonessential".

(Actually I have read one source that claimed that "faith alone" is an essential, and that Catholics by disagreeing with "faith alone" are a non-Christian sect. Now if you are talking about "faith alone" as in how you initially come to Christ, I agree that one becomes a Christian on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ, not on the basis of "how good I am". The Bible is clear on this. But I think Catholics agree with this also. Therefore, it seems to me that "faith alone" really deals with how faith and works relate to each other after one becomes a Christian. If this is the point of disagreement (and I think it is), Protestants disagree with each other on how they work together (see Lordship salvation controversy); thus I fail to see whereas this is essential.

Most other sources I have read like Chick tracts just seem to assume that the pope is the AntiChrist and the Catholic church is the whore of Babylon..or is it the other way around.)

Until I read something that clearly and convincingly makes this case, I guess I will remain a Protestant heretic and continue to view these disagreements as "nonessential" and (mostly) "unimportant".