Anti- Catholic editorial in my hometown newspaper

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I am not anti-Catholic. I know lots of Catholics, like most of them and love more than a few. But I’ve just been condemned to eternal suffering by their leadership, and that’s worth a public response.
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It would help if he would at least get the basics of Catholic doctrine correct.

Or even read the document that seems to be the basis for this assertion. The pope has not condemned anyone to eternal suffering. He didn’t even say that non-Catholic religions are “no good,” as the editorial asserts.

As Joe Friday used to say, “just the facts, ma’am.” Can editorial writers first get the facts right?
 
Boxerdog said:
Here is a very anti Catholic teacher that teaches at Cape Cod Academy school and writes for the local paper. Feel free to write to the school or the paper.

capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070727/OPINION/707270359/-1/OPINION0309

capecodacademy.org/home/content.asp?id=1

Lawrence Brown
Humanities
B.A., Pennsylvania State University
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I did one better. His phone number is at the bottom of the article. I called and left a message (it is his home phone apparently.)
 
It’s really too bad that the author didn’t include the quote where Benedict XVI called all other religions “no good” and asserted that they were all going to burn in hell.

He would’ve gained some points if he did that.
 
As a beginner in apologetics I thought I’d take a little time and write up a response to this article and put it on my blog.

Any critiques - good or bad - would be most helpful. I need to know what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong.
 
Philothea53 said:
I did one better. His phone number is at the bottom of the article. I called and left a message (it is his home phone apparently.)
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So this man writes a letter to the editor in a small-town newspaper, and now he’s going to get bombarded by phone calls from all over the country telling him he’s an anti-Catholic bigot?

That doesn’t seem like such a great idea. In fact, it seems pretty obnoxious. Have you people got nothing better to do with your time?

In fact, if you take time to read the article, it’s pretty clear that he’s not actually an anti-Catholic bigot. At most, he misunderstands some of our theology, which aligns him neatly with 99 percent of the world’s population and 90 percent of the world’s Catholics. This is what he wrote:
Christians are being murdered and driven from their homes in Darfur. Religion can no longer be the cause of rigidity and sadness in the world.

But do religions know that? Or will they insist, even in the nuclear age, that what the world needs more than anything is their theology triumphant, and all competitors seduced or crushed out of sight?

I am not anti-Catholic. I know lots of Catholics, like most of them and love more than a few. But I’ve just been condemned to eternal suffering by their leadership, and that’s worth a public response. I have always believed if we will only practice compassion every day, God will teach us all the theology we need. When religions put doctrinal purity first, they get toxic. History — including the present time — shows us this. The future will turn on what America decides to believe.
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  1. He didn’t get the jist of B16’s comments - the Pope addresses Christian religions only.
  2. If he is a world religion’s teacher, he should do his part in researching what the CCC teaches about salvation outside of the Church.
  3. His credibility just lost a couple of points IMHO.
 
He further implies that Catholics believe that we are saved by faith alone here:
But if we are saved by faith alone — and even then, only by the right faith — then I’ll be joined in eternal damnation by my gentle Baha’is, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims — and all the Protestants save, perhaps, Episcopalians. (Unless they’re too liberal.)
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That right there is pretty ridiculous. That was a pillar of the reformation, not a Catholic dogma or doctrine. :eek:
 
The guy is an idiot - if anything I would report him to his editor for poor research prior to writing on something he obviously has no knowledge of. As for complaining that he’s anti-Catholic - there is no law against it, and I for one would prefer to stay away from free speech laws on this one. I really don’t see that there is anything to complain about outside the fact that he doesn’t have his facts straight. He can be an anti-Catholic if he wants, that is his prerogative.

Even those who responded in comments on the site, including an atheist, said that he was full of it.

He’s not worth my time, outside of time for a prayer for his soul.

~Liza
 
Penny_Plain said:
That doesn’t seem like such a great idea. In fact, it seems pretty obnoxious. Have you people got nothing better to do with your time?
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Oh! I thought I saw an elephant in the room. I must have been mistaken.

😉 😃
 
He’s not worth my time, outside of time for a prayer for his soul.

~Liza

right attuide! 👍

Gillian
 
i left a message on the board. had to register to cape cod news, but i figured it was worth it. i doubt he’ll read it though. perhaps i’ll attempt to e-mail him. i was just proud i managed to respond rather respectfully considering how much he offended me.

props to the holy spirit on that one.
 
I am much happier, less sinful, and more likely to get accurate news by tuning the MASS MEDIA out. Since only a tiny minority of reporters have any discernable religious affiliation or practice, how on earth are they going to accurately report on matters of faith? If you or I speak conclusively about a subject that we are ill-informed on, we are considered ignorant. We would immediately be considered members of the elite if we had press credentials.

Stop the paper. Turn off non-EWTN television. Forget talk radio and listen to Catholic Radio-audio stream through your computer if no station is near enough. It’s simply amazing how much more pleasant life is when you hear solely from those who fear God. MSNBC/ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN it doesn’t matter. You can make alphabet soup out of their acronyms-you just can’t make sense out of their stories.

Sure, write letters, emails, etc., but tune them out. They will almost certainly not air your grievance publicly-because they don’t have to. They only have to sell stories for advertising and investment revenue. Remember: It’s a free press, not an accurate one.

Christ’s peace to all.
 
Penny_Plain said:
So this man writes a letter to the editor in a small-town newspaper, and now he’s going to get bombarded by phone calls from all over the country telling him he’s an anti-Catholic bigot?
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Isn’t it our DUTY to defend the faith from falsehood and misrepresentation? St. Peter [1 Peter 3] and St. Jude [Jude 3] seemed to think so.
 
I agree with the OP’s intent to respond publicly, and his response that I read looked pretty good.

For those who are (I think) cutting the author of the a-C article too much slack I would simply say, “Why blow out another’s candle in order to make your own appear to shine the brighter?” because that seems to be exactly what he is doing.
 
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