Anti-Catholicism, Again

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I know you’re all probably sick of hearing about the recent abuse scandals, but this is the best commentary on it that I have read so far.

Anti-Catholicism, Again
JOSEPH BOTTUM

The permanent scandal of the Vatican.

The day the Antichrist is ripped from his papal throne, true religion will guide the world. Or perhaps it’s the day the last priest is gutted, and his entrails used to strangle the last king, as Voltaire demanded. Yes, that’s when we will see at last the reign of bright, clean, enlightened reason – the release of mankind from the shadows of medieval superstition. War will end. The proletariat will awaken from its opiate dream. The oppression of women will stop. And science at last will be free from the shackles of Rome.

For almost 500 years now, Catholicism has been an available answer, a mystical key, to that deep, childish, and existentially compelling question: Why aren’t we there yet? Why is progress still unfinished? Why is promise still unfulfilled? Why aren’t we perfect? Why aren’t we changed?

Despite our rejection of the past, the future still hasn’t arrived. Despite our advances, corruption continues. It needs an explanation. It requires a response. And in every modernizing movement – from Protestant Reformers to French Revolutionaries, Communists to Freudians, Temperance Leaguers and suffragettes to biotechnologists and science-fiction futurists – someone in despair eventually stumbles on the answer: We have been thwarted by the Catholic Church.

[read more]
 
i notice he says 500 years of the CC. what does this mean? does this mean that he acknowledge the CC being only 500 years old?
 
wisdomseeker said:
i notice he says 500 years of the CC. what does this mean? does this mean that he acknowledge the CC being only 500 years old?
Click to expand...
OK, “seeker of wisdom”, let’s do the math . . . Today is 2010 minus 500 years = the year 1510 AD. And just what happened around 1510? Could it have been the Protestant Reformation?

Just a guess on my part!:cool:
 
jenkiedad said:
OK, “seeker of wisdom”, let’s do the math . . . Today is 2010 minus 500 years = the year 1510 AD. And just what happened around 1510? Could it have been the Protestant Reformation?

Just a guess on my part!:cool:
Click to expand...
i confess i failed to make a connection. the article is too big.
 
The Soviet Union really thrived without the Catholic Church, didn’t it? And communist China is a beacon of hope for those who seek to rid the world of oppression, right? And of course he left out the obvious fact that the Catholic Church is the direct cause of poverty in India (I’m pretty sure Mother Teresa was to blame, but I’ll have to check the most recent secular History Text to verify that).
 
S_Carton said:
The Soviet Union really thrived without the Catholic Church, didn’t it? And communist China is a beacon of hope for those who seek to rid the world of oppression, right? And of course he left out the obvious fact that the Catholic Church is the direct cause of poverty in India (I’m pretty sure Mother Teresa was to blame, but I’ll have to check the most recent secular History Text to verify that).
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well said.
 
I read the article. It has some thoughtful points worth considering. I missed the ones some of the posters here are talking about.
 
A very thought-provoking and bare-knuckled use of the old, “mankind needs a scapegoat”, premise, without making it sound hackneyed. I do take exception to his casual dismissal of the concerted, calculated propaganda which has been actively engaged in ruthlessly assailing the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. His statement, “Anti-Catholic motives in the media are beside the point”, reveals a certain naivete’ relative to the power of a media engaged in agenda promotion.

This “New World Order”( which we are constantly being told represents mankind’s salvation) , ruled by an elite, must by extrapolation have a “global culture” wherein which its authority finds near concensus. Taken a step further, it needs a global philosophy, or even more to their ends…a “one-world religion”. If you think that is a radical idea, I suggest you research the true nature of the United Nations “meditation” room. A polymorphous ideal of a world religion already has roots within the halls of that international body.

All things which oppose this singular world view must be made anathema, and what better tool than a controlled media propaganda machine to accomplish such an ambition. Propaganda has led mankind over the cliff on many occasions in the past, what makes this age immune from such an assault? The digital age has given the media greater speed, and access than it has ever had, With this comes a great power; and a greater responsibility. Many have commented on this peculiar form of power over the years. I offer two examples: firstly, novelist Joseph Conrad, who wrote, “He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense”, and secondly, author Saul Bellow states, “A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep”. Never negate the influence exerted by the agents of mass communication.

If the attack on the Roman Catholic Church and its Pope is some sort of test case, then those who wish to control global cultural sensibilities should be well pleased. If the very Church founded by Christ, and built on the blessed mortar of martyr’s blood and bone, can be pilloried, mocked, slandered and defamed successfully and with impunity, what other institution could possibly be safe from a similar onslaught? None.
 
Hi, I’m new to this site, I tried to start a new post but couldn’t figure out how and this seemed like the most appropriate/inappropriate thread to begin.
Three weeks ago I decided to excommunicate myself from the Catholic Church but something stopped me. I think it was loyalty to the Church that helped me put a face on what I felt as the hand of God in my youth.
With everything that is going on with the Church at the moment: covering up child rape, constantly being forced to apologise by outside forces and never seeming to do so out of its own sense of morality, the disparity between the morals of grass roots priests/parishioners and the hierarchy of the church.
I find myself struggling with what questions I should be asking.
I am looking for the most important questions you think I should ask.
Thank you.
 
Just_a_fellah said:
Hi, I’m new to this site, I tried to start a new post but couldn’t figure out how and this seemed like the most appropriate/inappropriate thread to begin.
Three weeks ago I decided to excommunicate myself from the Catholic Church but something stopped me. I think it was loyalty to the Church that helped me put a face on what I felt as the hand of God in my youth.
With everything that is going on with the Church at the moment: covering up child rape, constantly being forced to apologise by outside forces and never seeming to do so out of its own sense of morality, the disparity between the morals of grass roots priests/parishioners and the hierarchy of the church.
I find myself struggling with what questions I should be asking.
I am looking for the most important questions you think I should ask.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Here is a question one in your situation might ask: How important is the Eucharist to my hope for eternal salvation? If you start there you begin at the source of why the Church came into being in the first place, and why it has persisted against all odds for over two-millennia.

For me, the body and blood of Christ is the most cherished gift mankind has ever received. As a sacramental Roman Catholic I consider myself truly blessed to be able to partake of this transformational treasure. When I break it down to that most substantive and elemental state, all of the travail and bluster seem trivial by comparison. Go into a Church, kneel before the tabernacle…there is your Church…there is He Whom is worthy of all of your worship, thanksgiving and love.

You are at the crossroads of free will. He beckons, “follow me”, then proceeds onward. He leaves the choice in your hands. Good luck.
 
Are the people in the Church the Totality of the Chruch or even those who run it?
.It is a Divine institution-the only one created by God.Even Christ had his Judas -we have ours.We need thoughtful Catholics like you to heal the wounds on the Body of Christ.The Holy Spirit stopped you.You are like Peter",Where else would we go Lord,you have the Truth".Be part of the Remnant who will stay loyal to Christ in spite of the sins of some in the Church.Pray for the victims and those clerical sinners who have defiled the Body of Christ.When I was questioning my faith years ago this old,tough oriest said three words in heavily accented words,BE LIKE STEEL",it took me years to fully understand what he meant.Faith is a CHOICE use your faith to make reparations to God and the Victims.
But above all DEMAND accountability and change,Write to your Bishop,write to the Pope.I wrote him a letter demanding that the Dominicans be dusted off and a worldwide Inquisition be launched to uproot the smoke of Satan that entered the Church as Pope Paul VI stated.

Please don’t leave,we need you.
 
Just_a_fellah said:
Hi, I’m new to this site, I tried to start a new post but couldn’t figure out how and this seemed like the most appropriate/inappropriate thread to begin.
Three weeks ago I decided to excommunicate myself from the Catholic Church but something stopped me. I think it was loyalty to the Church that helped me put a face on what I felt as the hand of God in my youth.
With everything that is going on with the Church at the moment: covering up child rape, constantly being forced to apologise by outside forces and never seeming to do so out of its own sense of morality, the disparity between the morals of grass roots priests/parishioners and the hierarchy of the church.
I find myself struggling with what questions I should be asking.
I am looking for the most important questions you think I should ask.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
to tell you the truth, what really bothers me is the changes in the Liturgy. what the priests and bishops are doing to the Liturgy, the Worship of God, you know, something like everythings goes type of thing. their personal sins, i can deal with. for i know i am no better than they are. there is no guarantee that i will not fall into temptation also any day, any time. i can forgive their personal sins. what i cannot deal with is when they mess wiht the Mass and water downs of the Faith. this i must flee from.
 
unafraid said:
If the attack on the Roman Catholic Church and its Pope is some sort of test case, then those who wish to control global cultural sensibilities should be well pleased. If the very Church founded by Christ, and built on the blessed mortar of martyr’s blood and bone, can be pilloried, mocked, slandered and defamed successfully and with impunity, what other institution could possibly be safe from a similar onslaught? None.
Click to expand...
I have seen innumerable articles, commentaries, and remarks that attack certain persons in the church hierarchy, including offending clergy, bishops who enable such offenses and officials who winked at sexual abuse, even so far as attacks on the Pope. However, none that I recall has attacked the Church itself. It seems to me that those highly placed in the hierarchy who find themselves under attack interpret any attack on them as an attack on the church in an attempt to gain the sympathy and support of Catholics in the pews. This is wrong; even the Pope is only a man; Christ founded the Church; not a man. Throughout history the Church has had some very unsavory priests, bishops and popes. It is nothing new that today we have similar men in the Church. That doesn’t mean the Church is bad.
 
OriginalJS said:
I have seen innumerable articles, commentaries, and remarks that attack certain persons in the church hierarchy, including offending clergy, bishops who enable such offenses and officials who winked at sexual abuse, even so far as attacks on the Pope. However, none that I recall has attacked the Church itself. It seems to me that those highly placed in the hierarchy who find themselves under attack interpret any attack on them as an attack on the church in an attempt to gain the sympathy and support of Catholics in the pews. This is wrong; even the Pope is only a man; Christ founded the Church; not a man. Throughout history the Church has had some very unsavory priests, bishops and popes. It is nothing new that today we have similar men in the Church. That doesn’t mean the Church is bad.
Click to expand...
If your position is that you detect no attack on the entire body of the Roman Catholic Church, then you need to examine things more clearly. These are enemies of Christ who have openly stated their objections to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. There has been no obfuscation of intent here. They are bold, and they state a categorical loathing for the Church.

These people are sophisticated, they know that the Pope is an octogenarian who will not live forever. His demise will not satisfy their unnatural appetite for destruction. The Church is their real target, the true object of their hatred. It impedes their vision of this “Brave New World” which they are feverishly trying to create. The Church itself has been under attack, is under attack and will be under attack, and no argument to the contrary holds any water.

When an open wound on a limb is infected by bacteria, the offending agents do not localize their assault to that limb only. No, they spread throughout the entire body until all is consumed and life is extinguished. The Roman Catholic Church, not merely its leadership, is the ultimate prize of all who deplore the very name of Jesus Christ. This is not a hidden thing, but a plain fact, stated with unbridled arrogance by Her declared enemies.
 
unafraid said:
If your position is that you detect no attack on the entire body of the Roman Catholic Church, then you need to examine things more clearly. These are enemies of Christ who have openly stated their objections to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. There has been no obfuscation of intent here. They are bold, and they state a categorical loathing for the Church.

These people are sophisticated, they know that the Pope is an octogenarian who will not live forever. His demise will not satisfy their unnatural appetite for destruction. The Church is their real target, the true object of their hatred. It impedes their vision of this “Brave New World” which they are feverishly trying to create. The Church itself has been under attack, is under attack and will be under attack, and no argument to the contrary holds any water.

When an open wound on a limb is infected by bacteria, the offending agents do not localize their assault to that limb only. No, they spread throughout the entire body until all is consumed and life is extinguished. The Roman Catholic Church, not merely its leadership, is the ultimate prize of all who deplore the very name of Jesus Christ. This is not a hidden thing, but a plain fact, stated with unbridled arrogance by Her declared enemies.
Click to expand...
you are correct. i dont think the holy father would be any threat for them if he was just a man in the world. they know who their target is. by attacking the pope they are attacking the whole body, the Church. and they know that. the devil knows.
 
jenkiedad said:
OK, “seeker of wisdom”, let’s do the math . . . Today is 2010 minus 500 years = the year 1510 AD. And just what happened around 1510? Could it have been the Protestant Reformation?

Just a guess on my part!:cool:
Click to expand...
 
unafraid said:
Here is a question one in your situation might ask: How important is the Eucharist to my hope for eternal salvation? If you start there you begin at the source of why the Church came into being in the first place, and why it has persisted against all odds for over two-millennia.

For me, the body and blood of Christ is the most cherished gift mankind has ever received. As a sacramental Roman Catholic I consider myself truly blessed to be able to partake of this transformational treasure. When I break it down to that most substantive and elemental state, all of the travail and bluster seem trivial by comparison. Go into a Church, kneel before the tabernacle…there is your Church…there is He Whom is worthy of all of your worship, thanksgiving and love.

You are at the crossroads of free will. He beckons, “follow me”, then proceeds onward. He leaves the choice in your hands. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Hi Unafraid, thank you for your question, I researched the Eucharist (and found I didn’t really know much about it and am happily continuing that study). I examined my feelings on my hope for eternal life and found it doesn’t much factor into how or why I live my life. I am who I am because I believe in Love not because of the promise of some spiritual reward. Love is the goal Heaven is merely the prize. (That’s not to say the reward isn’t ultimately important to me it’s just that I feel my only influence on entering into Eternal Life is to concentrate on living my life, in the present and in good conscience, connected to the Devine).
The crossroads I am at is not with God; I will follow Him wherever He takes me. The crossroads I am at is with those who are charged with interpreting the teachings of Jesus, with those who have been entrusted to hold the reins of my Faith. A friend once said that she thought her role as a parent was A Privilege and she felt blessed to be part of these peoples (her children’s) lives. The hierarchy of the Church is in the same position but have mistaken this privilege for a right, they have been blinded to the responsibilities that comes with the blessing God has given them and as such put their own standing in the Church, and the Church’s standing in the world of men, above the most basic of the teaching of Christ - Love; Love for the people in their charge, Love for the world in general and Love for God. I want to be part of the Church but the further away from the Church I get the closer I feel to God (which, I think, is the source of my dilemma). The Church has chosen a road but God beckons me down a different one.
Again, thank you for your question, it helped a lot.
 
Just_a_fellah said:
The hierarchy of the Church is in the same position but have mistaken this privilege for a right, they have been blinded to the responsibilities that comes with the blessing God has given them and as such put their own standing in the Church, and the Church’s standing in the world of men, above the most basic of the teaching of Christ - Love; Love for the people in their charge, Love for the world in general and Love for God. I want to be part of the Church but the further away from the Church I get the closer I feel to God (which, I think, is the source of my dilemma). The Church has chosen a road but God beckons me down a different one.
Again, thank you for your question, it helped a lot.
Click to expand...
That is not my experience, personally. My personal experience is that, by comparison to everyone else in my life (husband, parents, friends, boss) my priests put themselves out in service to me, not only when I need them, but even when they only think I might need them. My time spent in the Confessional is the time I feel most cherished by God and humanity, when it’s just me and the priest, talking together.

I really sense that my priests love me - not for any quality of mine (since they don’t really know me that well, personally) but simply because I am their responsibility. Even those priests who are most criticized for their lack of attention to duty, seem to me to be more attuned to their duty of service, than anyone else I know. My experience of Bishops is extremely limited, but my Bishop has also taken time out to just come over and chat with me, when it looked to him like I was feeling lost and bored.

One time when I was just sitting in a corner lost in thought, three priests came over, laid their hands on me, and quietly blessed me.

No one else I know ever does that.
 
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