I'm sure the Pastor does very pointed sermons about people being on their phones during church, and everyone knows he's talking about Jill except Jill herself.
Evangelicals hate Catholics because they think Catholics worship Mary or the Pope. "Marist" and "Popist" are both derogatory names for Catholics going back to Elizabethan times. There's some legitimate philosophical arguments to be made, but I bet Jill doesn't know them.
In reality, I personally think modern American Evangelicals hate Catholics because the Catholic church is generally pro science, and puts a lot of emphasis on helping the poor, both things which are anathema to modern right-wing Americans. This particular brand of American Evangelism is just as political as it is spiritual. Abortion is literally the only issue that would bring Catholics to the right, and it was co-opted by the right to court Catholics as a voting bloc. It didn't work. Catholics are against the death penalty. Nuns led the nuclear disarmament movement in the US and UK. They were also vocal supporters of the Civil Rights Movement. In general, before the recent (and bizarre) trad Cath movement, American Catholics were/are generally left wing.
Also, historically, big waves of Irish and Mexican immigrants were largely Catholic, which associated the religion with outsiders.
Another thought is that the Catholic church is huge, literally ancient, and steeped with deep tradition. There's hundreds of years of biblical scholarship to draw on, and priests are expected to understand that and be able to debate meaning with each other. Some fat, half-literate asshole doesn't get to be the spiritual headship for a whole group of children just because he impregnated their mother.
Not that it's ideal! Just perhaps not as appealing to Evangelists, who feel the need to be Personally Saved (rather than a run of the mill sinner like the rest of us unwashed masses) and Personally Called by God to spread the word. Catholicism is somewhat collectivist, basically, while Evangelicals are more individualistic. Which is kind of hilarious given how few options they seem to have to fit into their community.
The biggest blow to the Catholic church's membership was the mass cultural reckoning with sex abuse. It's not going to recover from that, but at the same time-- plenty of Catholics have stayed. (And unfortunately, some of them are vocal trad Caths...)
The people who left aren't converting to even more conservative churches lol. Catholicism's loss is not Evangelical Christianity's gain.
Finally, the difference between a cult and religion is time, size, and most importantly, the ability to leave and come back again. You can leave Catholicism whenever you want, and return whenever you want. If you have a shitty bio family, you can run away, surface in a different city, and be welcome at a Catholic church there, no questions asked. That's what makes it a religion.(obviously there's busy bodies and assholes everywhere, but generally speaking.)
I'm more familiar with the IBPL affiliated groups than Evangelists In General, but I think these little family mini-cults find the Catholic church's size and scale frightening and dangerous. Imagine leaving any of these families-- you'd also be leaving your church by default. You'd lose your wider support and sense of community just by trying to get away from Jill. That's what makes it a cult.
The Catholic Church may as well be secular society to them. Boo, hiss!
