Guadalupe Radio and EWTN falsely accused of racism

  • Thread starter Thread starter kmaaj
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
K

kmaaj

Guest
Guadalupe Radio back in June suspended their airing of EWTN’s Morning Glory. Here is their official statement: https://www.grnonline.com/en/events/special/321-morning-glory-grn-s-official-statement

Prominent Catholic figures on social media and their commenters have inferred that Guadalupe Radio’s action and statement was directed solely at Gloria Purvis. And because Gloria is black, these figures have deemed Guadalupe Radio and their actions “racist”

Mark Shea blogged on it, and much of the content cannot be quoted here, so here’s the link: On the Betrayal and Persecution of Gloria Purvis - Stumbling Toward Heaven

Mark has also often tweeted on the subject:

“@grnonline Hey you vile racists who cancelled @gloria_purvis
for having a so-called “spirit of contention” (by which you mean “she’s uppity, black, and a woman”) you should take your racism to confession and put her back on the air rather than w**** yourself out to MAGA donors”

Is there anything in Guadalupe Radio’s action and statement that justifies calling them “vile racists”? Is there anything in their action and statement that was directed solely at Gloria? I say no. What say you?
 
kmaaj said:
Is there anything in Guadalupe Radio’s action and statement that justifies calling them “vile racists”? Is there anything in their action and statement that was directed solely at Gloria? I say no. What say you?
Click to expand...
I’m not sure my thoughts, or the thoughts of others matter. If EWTN removed the show, they either accept the claim, or worse, are the real villains in this story for pandering to political correctness so as not to lose viewers or sponsors.
 
dscath said:
If EWTN removed the show, they either accept the claim,
Click to expand...
EWTN did not remove the show. Guadalupe Radio, per their statement, temporarily suspended their airing of the show on their affiliates.

Is Guadalupe Radio’s action and statement solely directed at Gloria Purvis? Is Guadalupe Radio’s action and statement “racist”, as Mark Shea, Sam Rocha, and others have said? I say no to both. What say you?
 
Seems to be a lot of that going on at EWTN…Raymond Arroyo, now a Fox News semi-regular comes to mind…might be a leadership void since the death of Mother Angelica.
 
I listened to the sound bit and it was painful. If I had that on my SiriusXM, I would have changed the channel.

I tend to agree with GR’s decision. It’s not quality programming.
 
Is Guadalupe Radio’s action and statement solely directed at Gloria Purvis? Is Guadalupe Radio’s action and statement “racist”, as Mark Shea, Sam Rocha, and others have said? I say no to both. What say you?
 
Everything is racist now. Some of the things that actually are racist, the general public tends to ignore. Come to Indian country, and see how members of state recognized tribes and people with mixed Black and Indian ancestry are treated, if you want to see REAL racism.
 
Noted. But their are saner minds like Sam Rocha echoing the same sentiment.

Is the sentiment itself, that the actions and statement of Guadalupe Radio is racist and is targeting a specific individual because she is black, is that sentiment correct and justified? I say no. That sentiment is not only incorrect and unjustified, that sentiment flies in the face of CCC 2477 and the 8th Commandment. Do you agree?
 
I agree. I listened to the sound bites as well and was very uncomfortable (not with the topic of discussion but the tone of discussion itself). I guess it comes to the principle of…does GR’s removal of the program equal a form of censorship?

I’m trying to look at it from all perspectives. This is a conversation that is happening and which has stirred up a lot of emotions. There are passionate arguments on both sides, and those voices and opinions should be heard. Like you, I probably would have changed the channel. Others may not. But now we can no longer make that choice. Should that be a decision left up to the listeners?

Based on GR’s explanation, I don’t necessarily see that their temporary removal of the program was racist. Censorship? Perhaps. But I guess it’s their decision as to what they consider to be quality programming for their channel. And it’s not like people can’t find the show via other mediums.
 
Last edited:
As with all businesses–and let no one be under the impression that Catholic Radio is not a business–they need to evaluate their content against the market they are trying to reach. Even if it’s just “one program”, it still constitutes part of the overall offering of, in this case, Guadalupe Radio. If their mission includes, for example, a mandate to offer only edifying and inspirational content, but exclude debate, politics, or apologetics, that’s completely their within their right to do define that, and exclude any content that does not meet their mission definition. On the other hand, there could be an apologetics and politics-specific Catholic radio station that may deem inspirational or family programs “sappy”, and thereby exclude them too.

It’s not so much censorship, as it is whether the content furthers the business’s mission to its identified market.
 
I’m all for vigorous debate. I also believe that GR has every right to decide which direction their programming content goes.

I do not believe Mark Shea, as a practicing Catholic, had the right to call GR “vile racists”. I believe other practicing Catholics, like Sam Rocha, should not be echoing Mark’s sentiment.
 
True. And the more I think of it, it isn’t as though the program has been taken off the air completely, which I was finally getting around to at the end of my last post. They just don’t see it aligning with their business concept at the moment, which is fair.
 
I agree with you. A boyhood friend of mine is an ordained deacon and very visible in his community as a catechist. Himself and others in his position are discouraged by their bishop from even having a bumper sticker on their cars. They are exhorted to keep their public communication faith related and apolitical.
 
No I do agree with that. And I definitely don’t like them automatically be spouted as racists because of their choice. That did not appear to be their sentiment and reasoning behind the decision. It was uncomfortable, with which I can totally agree.
 
I don’t even have a GR affiliate in my locale. Morning Glory is very available to me either online or by Sirius, so I technically have no dog in this fight. I see GR’s critics that are playing the race card as being contrary to CCC 2477
 
A radio station is free to choose to not air a show. If the listeners of the show don’t like the content or the format of the show, then that’s a good reason to take it off the air.

I don’t know who Gloria Purvis or Mark Shea are, I don’t care, I don’t listen to the show. Mark Shea is a blogger? Cool. There’s only 1,243,761 bloggers out there in Internet land and they all have an opinion. Big deal.

People will call you all sorts of names when they disagree with you. Forget about CCC 2477, it’s just plain rude and uncharitable for people to call names. If you feel you did the right thing and the shoe doesn’t fit, then why would you care? I doubt the bishop is going to cruise in and give them the smackdown.

The only one of these people I know is Msgr Pope and only because I heard he had COVID recently. I received an e-mail asking us to pray for him. Does anyone know how he is doing?
 
Last edited:
Tis_Bearself said:
People will call you all sorts of names when they disagree with you. Forget about CCC 2477, it’s just plain rude and uncharitable for people to call names. If you feel you did the right thing and the shoe doesn’t fit, then why would you care? I doubt the bishop is going to cruise in and give them the smackdown.
Click to expand...
I care because, in my case, if I’m publicly labeled a “racist”, half of my potential customer base disappears, and our standard of living goes from just adequate to destitute. Of course that’s why I post anonymously, but still.

I also care because it troubles me that prominent Catholics get away with what amounts to spreading rumor. You claim to not know who Mark Shea is. Fine. There are many converts that came to the Faith as a result of his books and apologetics. Many of those converts are here. Many of those cannot reconcile Mark’s apologetics with his socio-political rants. Many others say his apologetics and rants are separate. Mark insists that his apologetics and socio-political rants are one and the same.
 
kmaaj said:
I care because, in my case, if I’m publicly labeled a “racist”, half of my potential customer base disappears, and our standard of living goes from just adequate to destitute. Of course that’s why I post anonymously, but still.
Click to expand...
Then in USA, it’s lawyer time if possible.
If not possible, it’s perhaps time also to find a business that’s not so prone to politics and cancel culture to bring money into the house.

Mark Shea is not indispensable. If converts are putting too much faith in every word coming out of his mouth, then they’re building their houses on the proverbial sand.

You’re unlikely to find anyone who’s going to invoke CCC section whatever to protect you from a business loss in a time of controversy.
 
For those unfamiliar with Gloria Purvis, here are a few interviews to read to understand more of what she thinks about racism in America, within the Catholic Church, and how hatred and prejudice within these social, political, and spiritual spheres are in conflict with Christ’s call for us to love our neighbor. A few soundbites don’t do her justice.




Gloria Purvis believes there must be a reckoning in America, among Catholics included, on the deep structures of sin, the “cultural practices, attitudes and traditions that are racist and which lead to a diminishment of Black people as human persons.” In essence, Catholics have failed to recognize and embrace Christ’s radical message of love for every human person from natural birth to natural death. The protests in light of the deaths of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, and countless others is a heartfelt plea for others to listen to Black Americans, to see Christ in their suffering, and acknowledge that, indeed, their lives matter, too, and we as a society and as Christians have failed for too long to grasp the true extent of their humanity and the grave injustices they must contend with all their lives in ways those who are not Black are blind to.
 
Last edited:
kmaaj said:
Is Guadalupe Radio’s action and statement solely directed at Gloria Purvis? Is Guadalupe Radio’s action and statement “racist”, as Mark Shea, Sam Rocha, and others have said? I say no to both. What say you?
Click to expand...
i don’t know except that it seems like there has been a bit of overreaction on both sides. I read in the local southern CA news that there have been ongoing fights at schools between Black gangs and Hispanic gangs. I have read that in prisons, Blacks, whites and Hispanics generally stay in their own racial group and do mot mix too much. Hopefully, there is the possibility of promoting peace and good will among all peoples of all races and backgrounds. But racial profiling and discrimination is everywhere even in some Catholic Churches. For example, at the local Byzantine Catholic Church, there was a woman from Ukraine who would go on about how bad Russians were and how they should all be kicked out of Ukraine.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top