Catholicism and Fundmentalism by Karl Keating

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I picked up the above book this weekend from a Catholic gift store. I was actually looking for “True Devotion to Mary”, but it was on order, so I decided to purchase this. Once I started and got past the first chapter I couldn’t put the thing down. Last night, I was about to put it down and realized the next chapter would be about Jimmy Swaggert. I live about 35 minutes from his ministries and felt compelled to read the chapter immediately. In case some of you don’t know, Mr. Swaggert’s ministry has suffered hugely in the past 2 decades. This book was written and probably published just before the ministry went in decline (1988), which is when I began working in the Baton Rouge area. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy Swaggert Ministires after suffering huge losses, sold off a ton of property located next to his World Prayer Center which is now the Mall of Louisiana, biggest mall in Louisiana. You can bet he made a pretty penny from this land sale. Also, a woman’s dormitory, which was under construction, has never been finished. Do you think even after all of his “Catholic bashing” he deserved such a fate? I mean everyone sins. I kind of feel guilty about how I felt while I was reading the chapter, that he was such a hypocrite and I was gloating. One thing I remember clearly is what he said about there being a bar nearby almost every Louisiana Catholic Church. I thought about it and where I live, he was right. Not a mile from my church parish there is a bar, the next church parish the same thing, and the next the same thing also. Anybody got an opinion?

P.S. Great book, Mr. Keating and well worth reading for anyone who wants to strengthen and defend their faith…
 
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puppylove:
Do you think even after all of his “Catholic bashing” he deserved such a fate? I mean everyone sins.
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Whether any one person deserves the fate they receive, only God knows. Many apparently good people have suffered reverses as well. If his ministry declined because of his improprieties, it may be simple cause and effect. That is a major weakness in the type of personality centered ministries you commonly find in Protestanism. Once the key personality falls, there goes the ministry. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, not revolving around any one person but Christ, will never fall no matter what any one person, be he Pope or pauper, does or doesn’t do (as history will attest).

As to Swaggart’s observation about the bar near every Catholic Church in Louisiana, what is it supposed to prove? I grew up in an urban area of Los Angeles where there were a lot of those little storefront Pentecostal and Fundamentalist “churches.” Most of these shared a city block, many right next door!
 
I do not understand the reason why in Louisiana bars would be locate closer to Catholic Churches than other churches, but I would not take it on face value that this is true beyond a very narrow geographical scope.

As for him reaping what he has sown, it is God who said he will humble the proud. Many of his attacks were unfair and unfounded. We should all be careful not to Catholic (or Fundamentalist) “bash”.
 
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puppylove:
One thing I remember clearly is what he said about there being a bar nearby almost every Louisiana Catholic Church. I thought about it and where I live, he was right. Not a mile from my church parish there is a bar, the next church parish the same thing, and the next the same thing also. Anybody got an opinion?
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Guess what, they build churches near where people live and they build bars near where people live. The same probably can be said for protestant churches. In any city there is probably a bar within any given square mile.
 
Hey, what’s your point?

The nearby parish holds late Sunday morning Mass IN the beer tent during their summer “festival” for the “convenience” of the parishioners working and attending the fund raiser. (The church is four blocks from the grounds of the festival).

Budweiser, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and other banners festooning the walls of the tent.
 
What’s wrong with bars and pubs?? If you have an affirmative reply then tell it to: Chesterton, Belloc, C.S. Lewis, et al. Catholicism is not legalistic.
 
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