A priest's anti-Muslim comments reveal US Catholics' Islamophobia problem

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A priest’s anti-Muslim comments reveal US Catholics’ Islamophobia problem​

(RNS) — On a day in which pastors were encouraged to remind their flocks of the Christian duty to “welcome the stranger,” a Catholic priest in Minnesota used the opportunity to sow fear and suspicion about Muslims.

Calling Islam “the greatest threat” to Christianity and to America, the Rev. Nick VanDenBroeke argued that Muslim immigration to the United States should be curtailed.

“We do not need to pretend that everyone who seeks to enter into America should be treated the same,” he said. After news of the homily spread, the local chapter of a Muslim advocacy group called upon the Catholic Church to repudiate the priest’s remarks.
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I know forum rules are that we are to be respectful of other religions, so everyone remember that.

Also, this is almost like a “world news” subject. I had heard nothing about this.

Whether we need to couch our words in polite terms or not, I know many Americans share similar types of thoughts and a lot of that is because we see terror, war in the world. We see people risking all to cross the Mediterranean and in other places. We see one of the former leaders of Italy, Matteo Salvini, currently being taken to court. And we hear the Pope’s words on the topic. We really see a lot of the Middle East in conflict. Our responses and views need to be thought out, reflective, deliberate.

I’m also not sure if RNS’s intro above is correct in the URL block above not the story itself.

And lastly, if this topic is unwelcomed, it is fine to close or delete it.
 
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Victoria33 said:
Also, this is almost like a “world news” subject. I had heard nothing about this.
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There was a forum thread on it about a week or two ago when the priest made his remarks and the bishop made him apologize.
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Priest apologizes for homily Catholic News
I wasn’t sure where else to drop this. This is semi-localish, curious to hear thoughts.
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As for US Catholics having an “Islamophobia” problem, I don’t have such a problem and I’m willing to bet they didn’t survey everybody at Mass on a Sunday or they’d find out lots of other people don’t have such a problem either.

I do have a problem with people committing terrorism or breaking US law, so if you are doing one of those things and you happen to be Muslim then I’m going to want the government to do something about it, but at the same time the vast majority of Muslims I have met are ordinary law-abiding people like doctors, lawyers, engineers, shop owners, cab drivers, etc and they do not bother me at all.

You cannot work in an engineering, tech, or medical field in US and not be tripping over Muslims. I’ve been seeing them all over the place since the early 80s. I think we all realize (or should) there’s a difference between them and the Ayatollah or whoever the big bad Muslim enemy is this week.
 
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The story is dated Feb. 13. A picture at the article appears to show people dressed more for summer weather. I will look for the other story.
 
I posted the other thread above. Couldn’t find any sort of video or transcript of what priest actually said, it had all been taken down off the web within a couple days of him giving the problematic homily.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
I posted the other thread above. Couldn’t find any sort of video or transcript of what priest actually said, it had all been taken down off the web within a couple days of him giving the problematic homily.
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I read it, moderators, please close or delete this thread. I did not know of this other story. That’s what happens when one stops reading this area as much. I had no idea. I will flag it myself.
 
You don’t have to flag it. It’s okay to have a second thread, the first one is closed.

I was just pointing it out to you because you said you hadn’t seen anything on the forum previously.
 
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Catholics have an “Islamophobia” problem? Robert Spencer and Scott Hahn?

Talking about and highlighting issues with and within Islam is not Islamophobia.
 
Unfortunately, since as the quote goes, “Christianity is the last acceptable prejudice,” of course the media would side with Islam to avoid being labelled as “Islamophobic” (the definition of which seems to be becoming broader and broader overtime).
 
A phobia is an unreasonable fear.

Fear of Islam is eminently reasonable; and to a certain extent, a Christian duty.
 
Who is the ultimate arbiter of what is “real Islam” and what is a “distortion of Islam?”
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But how would you even recognize a ‘distortion of Islam’, per your prior post?
 
Common in all 3? Really?

You will know what people believe about their faith by what they teach about their faith. I would agree that you will find “violent passages” in the Old Testament, as well as in the Quran. But when it comes time to understand the context of those passages and how they are to direct the lives of the adherents, how many Christian denominations teach that the Scriptures or their Sacred Traditions direct them to violence? How many Jewish denominations? I don’t see large numbers in either group.

But, It seems to me that there are statistically significant numbers of Muslims that adhere to the idea that the Quran or their hadiths direct them to violence against non-believers. I don’t think this is the majority, as I know many peace-loving Muslims, but, there are quite a few who believe their faith sanctions violence.

Perhaps think of it this way: Is it easier for a Muslim to travel to Christian countries or even Israel and not worry about persecution because of their faith, than it is for a Christian to travel to Muslim countries and not worry about persecution because of their faith?
 
Inasmuch as “islam” is a political system pretending to be a “religion of peace”, I’d say healthy skepticism of it is valid and prudent.
 
My main point on this thread is that US Catholics do not have Islamophobia. But it is quite reasonable to have healthy skepticism, since there is no group that presents the teachings of Islam in an authoritative way (many claim they are authoritative), AND statistically significant percentages of Muslims adhere to a violent interpretation of their “scriptures.”

I would also make the point: There is no basis for making moral equivalencies between the three monotheistic religions other than political correctness.
 
Go to youtube, search for “Robert Spencer,” and get some legit education regarding Islam.

I personally readily agree with what I see the priest quoted as saying. The ideology of Islam is to create a 1 world caliphate, ruled by Muslims. Under that, non-muslims like Catholics, or any other Christian group, and Jews, would only be permitted to not convert to Islam and live IF they pay a “jizya” tax to do so, but would be expected to pay it and realize/admit/behave as if they know they’re nowhere near equal to Muslims. Then, break one law and be executed.

I was in Saudi Arabia as a US Soldier. During that period, some of our guys were invited to a beheading that resulted from 2 terrorists who attacked 1 of our vehicles. Saudi is a Muslim country to the core. No tourists permitted, must be a Muslim, and pretty sure just allowed in country to do the "hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Clearly, a “total” Musllim country does not allow immigrants from the USA, so what is the problem with us reciprocating?
I saw firsthand what a “caliphate” looks like in practice and can promise you do not wanna live inside those parameters.

Does this make me Islamaphobic? Nope, makes me pragmatic to believe that something called a religion is actually a political system that hates those who don’t claim its name. Sorry if the truth hurts. I can be respectful of muslims in my country to the extent required by law. I desire that if they are of the fundamentalist flavor I saw in Saudi, that they leave my country ASAP.
 
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MedievalCatholicBUU said:
And btw, thank you for your service!!
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That my friend, was my pleasure and you are quite welcome 🙂

Also here I recommend the book, “The Glory of the Crusades” by Steve Weidenkompf(sp?)

Most who are called “islamaphobe” are simply aware of the innate dangers within Islam. Look at the history of it.
 
Victoria33 said:
The story is dated Feb. 13. A picture at the article appears to show people dressed more for summer weather. I will look for the other story.
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The picture caption says that it is from Sep. 2016. The only real connection it has to the story is that the picture was taken in Minnesota and related to the subject, but the article acknowledges that it is otherwise unrelated.
KMC said:
Talking about and highlighting issues with and within Islam is not Islamophobia.
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Based on the article, it has less to do with disagreeing with Islam and more to do with saying, “We do not need to pretend that everyone who seeks to enter into America should be treated the same." This came in the context of calling Islam a great threat, so it seems to be less concern over one’s background (e.g. a serial killer trying to escape judgment) and more concern over one’s religion (and arguably ethnicity).
 
ZMystiCat said:
Based on the article, it has less to do with disagreeing with Islam and more to do with saying, “We do not need to pretend that everyone who seeks to enter into America should be treated the same." This came in the context of calling Islam a great threat, so it seems to be less concern over one’s background (e.g. a serial killer trying to escape judgment) and more concern over one’s religion (and arguably ethnicity).
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But one’s religion can be a concern. If a person believes that Sharia Law should be imposed on the US, or if a person believes young girls should undergo FGM, not sure we want them here. Certainly not all Muslims believe this, but some do…its those “some” we need to vet out
 
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