extreme Catholic

I see a pattern emerging (and I will explain the pirate picture)

In the aftermath of the sexual abuse scandal it seems that legions of anonymous cowards have stepped forward to verbally defecate over every news item or blog posting that mentions "priest" to make a crude reference to child molestation. Before I give an example of this, so you too can recognize it, let me give you two core truths about the scandal of sexual abuse:

The scandal was to a very large extent (perhaps as high as 80%), about homosexual relationships between priests and sexually mature males -- many under 18 and many over 18. Another segment was heterosexual relationships between priests and unmarried women over 18 (immoral but not illegal), and women who were married (which would be both immoral and legally actionable) and the smallest segment: sexually immature (i.e. prepubescent) boys and girls - illegal and morally depraved.

Sexual abuse of children respects no occupational boundaries: it occurs more frequently among public school teachers and doctors. There are child sexual abusers among police officers and fire fighters, politicians and Wall Street executives, show business types and Internet technologists, venture capitalists and bloggers. It is in no sense specially prevalent in the Catholic priesthood. Many people hate the Catholic Church. It is just a sad fact of post-Enlightenment post-modern and post-Christian United States. The task at hand is to call them out. Answer them with charity or answer them with sarcasm -- whatever fits the circumstances and audience and your blogging skills. I've been doing this for 25 years starting with USENET and Compuserve, and I am not alone. To the particular case of the Pirate and the Priest: One has to feel sorry for Father Commolly. Whether or not he said what was attributed to him, his goose has been cooked by the narrative given by Paul and Peggy Kanigoski. We should all give Father tactical support. The statue in full is soft-porn like a Victoria Secrets ad. It is objectifying the image of women. However, this is not high on my list of priorities. Women walk around with less on top during the summer in New York or any major city in the US. Sex sells. I think it more important to tell people that images like this subtract from human dignity rather that letting the Kanigoski's claim a cheap Larry Flynt-like martyrdom, and open door to the the sneers of the stupid comment boxers.

Here are the links:

I have decided to post a modest picture of the statue. You can use your imagination or click on one of the above links.

Let me also mention that Curt Jester blogged on this earlier in the day.

Labels: anti-catholic, blogs, culture, extreme

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 8:17 PM Permalink

There's an anti-Catholic spin in any story if you look hard enough

There was a tragic plane crash in Montana on March 22. This is a typical contemporaneous report:

Montana Plane Crash Kills 17: AP

Today, looking for reaction to the Texas school board decision, I found this follow-up to the crash: A heartless faith

The atheist author is outraged, first mocking the idea that a Catholic cemetery includes a memorial to unborn children in scare quotes, then embedding his own irony in his criticism of this article on Christian Newswire which is a complete inclusion from Gingi Edmunds blog

If you are not inclined to click on everything, this is the source of PZ Meyer's outrage:

I don't want to turn this tragic event into some creepy spiritual "I told you so" moment, but I think of the time spent outside of Feldkamp's - Pam Feldkamp laughing at the fetal development signs, Bud Feldkamp trying not to make eye contact as he got into his car with a small child in tow - and I think of the haunting words, "Think of your children." I wonder if those words were haunting Feldkamp as well as he stood in the snow among the remains of loved ones, just feet from the 'Tomb of the Unborn'?

I think this is creepy, like a Twilight Zone episode. That crew and passengers did not deserve to die. The unborn children killed in abortion do not deserve to die. Gingi Edmunds should realize that people like PZ Meyers are out there stalking our side and looking for every opportunity to point the accusatory finger at us of hate and hypocrisy. Write carefully and ask yourself, "Can the enemy spin this to their advantage?"

Labels: blogs, pro-life

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 7:46 PM Permalink

A false dichotomy

As I get up to speed with the other Catholic bloggers in 2009, I will mention a few blogs I have read and some comments I have posted.

Unam Sanctam presented what I thought was a false dichotomy.

It is common enough to lay out here and I also have some space to explain where I am in the middle of this.

On one hand, there's Catholic Monarchism -- from Constantine to Blessed Charles I, Emperor of Austria. This is the ideal government is one that it Catholic from the top down and able to establish the Catholic Church as a state religion, and to encumber or even suppress the spread and practice of non-Catholic religions. When it comes to papal observations I take the insights of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict VI over that of Pope Pius IV who, in office from 1559 to 1565, would know nothing but monarchy. Excessive zeal -- seeking a short cut to establishing the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven -- is its driving force.

On the other hand, there is spiritual sloth -- Indifferentism, Syncretism, false Ecumenism -- it has many names. I don't think it's important to make a major argument against this now, just identify it.

There's a big middle in the middle of the two. When I am, I am a big believer in the principle of subsidiarity and accountability. Small, visible local charities -- where people can give up all three: time, talent, and treasure. Uncoupling it all -- creates two evils: powerful politicians who control the flow of other people's money and a class of people becoming dependent on the government.

I am likely the first (and perhaps only) blogger to declare admiration for both Dorothy Day and for Cardinal Spellman. In many ways, the inability for these two to work out some accommodation is the legacy we have contend with today.

The sloth aspect of it comes in when you believe that you need to eliminate war, poverty, economic instability, and deadly disease before you can share the gospel. Those four, you might recognize as the Four Horsemen of Rev 6. The right sort of balance between the corporal works and spiritual works of mercy is "DOMINUS JESUS" written by Pope Benedict when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Labels: blogs, monarchism, social justice, syncretism

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 7:43 PM Permalink