Easter in the mainstream media

[JimG]

“We could have chosen another branch of Christianity, one whose secular framework more closely matched our own understanding of a church’s role in the world. But to a soul imprinted from birth on Roman Catholicism’s stained glass and incense and 2,000 years of art and music, all the other churches just seemed a little slight somehow. "

Well sure. Two thousand years of art and music. I guess the 2,000 years of handing down the Faith of the Apostles carries no weight, nor 2,000 years of martyrs dying for the Faith, 2,000 years of scholars pondering the Faith, 2,000 years of missionaries spreading the Faith—that was all just so much fluff?

Mainstream Journalism’s Religion Problem

Now that Holy Week is behind us, it is worth reflecting on the “religious” views expressed by “mainstream journalism” over those few days. While not expressing it quite so crudely as the last…

www.crisismagazine.com

 

[Tis_Bearself]

“one whose secular framework more closely matched our own understanding of a church’s role in the world”

This may seriously be the dumbest thing I ever read.

Edited to add, I take that back. All the other quotes from that NY Times article as well as the “top comments” were completely imbecilic.
I can’t stand that newspaper.

 

[commenter]

The mainstream media used to be an open forum, with diversity of views, usually respectful. Today of course it is totally different. I do not recommend reading the NY Times or similar publications including my own daily paper. It is tempting to say, “Of course I disagree with it, I just want to see what partial lies they are spinning at the moment”. But gradually the point of view sinks in, part way, even to us.

The media applauds Easter as a symbol of renewal, new life, fresh outlook, open mind. The problem is they omit Good Friday and everything connected with that.

To some extent, parts of the Church have gone along with that. Local parishes use Stations of the Cross that add an extra station, of the Resurrection, because they think Catholics cannot handle the thought of focusing on the Crucifixion in itself. They are wary of the risks of excess devotion.

But Easter is meaningless without a genuine Lent, without knowing what came before. Not surprisingly, attendance at Stations of the Cross is way down.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

It’s hard for me to sum up exactly why the article and comments annoy me. I think part of it is these people seem to have absolutely no sense of their own history or culture in choosing a church, and the other part is they’re very clearly looking for a feel-good church experience, only. Both things are completely antithetical to why I myself am part of a church.

I have to remind myself that not all of them were raised with the same kind of church experience I was, where it really was part of the fabric of daily life and heritage in a way that would be very hard to unweave and fully get rid of. I’m very much a cultural Catholic and I always felt it was hypocritical to be a cultural Catholic and not actively practice, and for that reason I was annoyed and displeased with myself during the years when I didn’t actively practice. It may be that these people do feel some of that and hence they write long justifications for why they think God is better found under a tree or why they’re an Easter Catholic only. I should be more patient with them.