Cancelling Flannery O’Connor

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The Jesuits historically have been accused of bending the message to fit the power structure. In 2020 the power structure is the Media.

By 2030 the power structure may frown on Thea Bowman. Will names of buildings be engraved in pencil rather than concrete?
 
I have taught the short stories of O’Connor regularly for many years to undergrad and grad students, and I also speak on her stories often in Catholic book clubs and other venues. I can’t speak for her personal views, but her stories are not in the least racist. She situates them purposely, as she explained over and over in her essays about her writing, in what she knew: she was grounded in a particular place and time, and is thus considered a “local” writer. Thus she captures the atmosphere, along with its religion and its prejudices, of the rural South just prior to the time when the Civil Rights movement was changing the landscape. Her white characters–the landed gentry of the area–are often deeply disturbed by the changes as the black population begins to “rise” is economic and social status. O’Connor LOVES to place black and white, high income and low income, uppity whites and “trashy” whites, in a small setting (bus, doctor’s waiting room, etc) and observe how people treat each other. The endings of the story, while open endings, always evoke a higher perspective, God’s sense of the equality of all humans before Him. Her characters suffer from pride, and the stories put us uncomfortably in their point of view. That’s why many readers come away from them feeling put off.
Recommended stories: Revelation, The Enduring Chill, The Lame Shall Enter First, Everything that Rises Must Endure, The Displaced Person. Especially Revelation if you are new to O’Connor. Recommended reading for her personal devotion to God and dedication of her writing to God: A Prayer Journal.
 
It’s pretty clear that no one is saying her work is racist.
Her personal views, as expressed in her letters to friends and such, are what’s at issue.
Limoncello4021 said:
Her characters suffer from pride, and the stories put us uncomfortably in their point of view. That’s why many readers come away from them feeling put off.
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That’s not why I dislike her stories (I explained why already above). Every teacher I ever had who taught these stories also emphasized this, like it’s somehow big news that people are proud and often hypocritical. Maybe it was an eye-opener when they were first published, but by 1980 it was pretty standard stuff.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
The Jesuits historically were a mission order seeking to convert people in areas with a small percentage of Catholics
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I am not sure why Jesuits are becoming the topic here, but tomorrow is the feast day of their founder, St Ignatius Loyola, so I will add something to the discussion. Their founding document from Pope Julius III says:
He is a member of a Society founded chiefly for this purpose: to strive especially for the defense and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine, by means of public preaching, lectures, and any other ministration whatsoever of the word of God, and further by means of the Spiritual Exercises, the education of children and unlettered persons and the spiritual consolation of Christ’s faithful through hearing confessions and administering the other sacraments.
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They were never an exclusively missionary order. They were educators, pastors, scholars, etc. They did this first in Europe, then throughout the world. They were as concerned with the Counter Reformation as they were with non Christians.

Throughout their history they have faced criticism for not being Catholic enough, being too Catholic, too academic, or too avant garde. They were suppressed once, only to be refounded from Russia, where the Tsars refused to recognize the papal decree. John Carroll, the first bishop in the United States, was a Jesuit who was ordained a priest 2 years before he Order was suppressed. His formation laid the foundation for the Church in the US.

There are Jesuits across every spectrum of opinion. They have opponents in every quarter, and supporters.

St Ignatius, may your companions continue to educate and evangelize all people, bringing the message of Jesus wherever it needs to be heard.
 
They weren’t exclusively missionary as they also do teach and contribute to scholarship, and I believe I addressed that. I went to a Jesuit school and have been involved with historic Jesuit parishes in Maryland. I’m well aware of the history of the Jesuits and not going to get into an argument with you or anyone else about it. I think I will leave it at that because as you noted, this is getting off topic.

I also think I’ve posted enough in this thread so I will take my leave of it now. Have a ince day.
 
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commenter said:
By 2030 the power structure may frown on Thea Bowman. Will names of buildings be engraved in pencil rather than concrete?
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While I highly doubt that Sr. Thea Bowman will be frowned upon, you do raise a good question here.
 
I am beyond furious. Flannery O’Connor was perhaps the finest American Catholic writer of the 20th Century. She was a woman of her times and yes, she had some racist attitudes. As smart and self knowing as she was, I can’t help but think she would have changed if she had lived longer.
God will forgive any sin we commit if we are repentant. The current crop of wokesters will not forgive ever. That is the main reason I dislike them so intensely.
 
I have no idea what these racist comments of hers were. But I do know she liked to shock. It was part of her way of shaking people out of their cocoons of complacency and making them face the reality of what we are and what we do and what we can be.

I don’t think her writings are “too dark” at all. I think we will all be surprised at judgment to know how profoundly serious our slightest sins really were. Ste Therese of Lisieux said it will be so unnerving that we will either throw ourselves upon the mercy of God or throw ourselves into hell.

But lest we be deceived, she said the former is more difficult than the latter.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
he ate a live frog in front of his friends.
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This shouldn’t be done in front of friends, but rather immediately on getting up in the morning.

At which point you know that nothing worse will happen to you that day . . .

😱 🤯 :roll_eyes:

Anyway, "A Good Man . . . " is the only one of he tales I remember. Even in high school, she struck me as heavy-handed, and I wasn’t impressed.

I think she was a misanthrope, with a bitterness to make even lager Twain seem optimistic and hopeful . . .

. . .

Franklin wanted to come back every 100 years to see how electricity progressed.

I would like to come back every hundred years to see how the future judges today’s sanctimonious twits who insist on judging all past figures by today’s standards . . . there already demands to tear down Lincoln’s statutes (and by any modern standards, he was a racist and a bigot), and at least one gang of yahoo has torn down a statute for an abolitionist (Heg) . . .
Tis_Bearself said:
The logical place for them to be nowadays would be China and Japan,
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They did China already. They had the emperor willing to convert. But even the Jesuits couldn’t successfully explain to the pope at their ancestor “worship” was not worship, but reverence and respect . . . and it all fell through.
 
The Jesuits have a presence in Japan, especially through Sophia University.

Two of the last four master generals of the Jesuits have been missionaries in Japan: Pedro Arrupe and Adolfo Nicolás. Fr Arrupe was in Japan during WW2 and was living just outside of Hiroshima when it was bombed. 20 years later he became master general and worked to implement the changes from Vatican 2 throughout the world.
 
I’m a little confused how anyone can think she was, especially anyone who’s actually read her works. The worst thing I can think of, is the fact that some of her Works use the n-word, never mind they never used it positively, and the people that usually said it were in fact bigoted racists.
 
but we know the truth never changes, the right conclusion is always the same. The fads of the time are the ways of thinking of the time but sooner or later it has to lead them to the same conclusions.
 
Anyway, "A Good Man . . . " is the only one of he tales I remember. Even in high school, she struck me as heavy-handed, and I wasn’t impressed.

I think she was a misanthrope, with a bitterness to make even lager Twain seem optimistic and hopeful .
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I agree with this sentiment. My first year in seminary they’d bring in a literary professor every few weeks to assign us Flannery O’Connor readings. I had not read her works prior to this. We’d sit in a circle and she’d get deep into what we were reading, taking turns discussing it, looking for deeper meaning, the professor projecting her own (and therefore in her mind the most correct) deeper meanings of often quite grotesque literature. I was not nicely impressed with Flannery O’Connor’s stories. Quite the contrary, actually.

That’s not saying that Flannery isn’t a gifted writer and has an interesting way with words. But I certainly wouldn’t recommend her works to a friend in the faith (nor anyone for that matter) due to it’s disturbing content and questionable aims and conclusions of the stories.

Cancel culture is ridiculous though, and this case is no exception, and while I’ve not paid attention to Flannery’s cancel case, I hope that this case of culture cancellation was not began by nor picked up and ran with by Catholics.
 
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