Get to Know the Facts Before Deciding

In my discussions with my Protestant brethren, I note that many dismiss the Catholic Church out-of-hand by stating oft-repeated misconceptions about Catholicism. Most of these can be traced back to a book published in 1962 by a fellow named Loraine Boettner. The statements in this book have been refuted many times over and have been refuted by anti-Catholic protestant theologians as well!
The sadness I feel is that these untruths about Catholicism continue to be circulated by well meaning but mis-informed folks who take what they heard passed on from others (an oral tradition) as incontrovertible fact. I never questioned my Bible teachers who told me about the "false doctrines" of Catholicism. I must admit, I never bothered to check on the veracity of these claims because my ire had been raised rather high against this Church. I am saddened when I see other well-meaning believers make the same mistake as I did. http://www.catholic.com/library/The_Anti_Catholic_Bible.asp

"There are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church." Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“I have been educated to enmity toward everything that is Catholic, and sometimes, in consequence of this, I find it much easier to discover Catholic faults than Catholic virtues.”
Mark Twain, “Innocents Abroad"

"There are only two kinds of people, those who accept dogmas and know it, and those who accept dogmas and don't know it."
GK. Chesterton