The Catholic Channel

[Mothers_Boy]

The discussion seems to have turned to the busted halo radio show and I think that is appropriate. I was listening to The Busted Halo Show and was wondering if it was really Catholic. I wonder this about a lot of the programming in SiriusXM’s Catholic Channel. I decided to go to the web site for the Busted Halo and was shocked by all the references I saw to sex and homosexuality just on the first page. I then went to www.catholicculture.org which reviews Catholic web sites. I wasn’t surprised to see the Busted Halo web site received a “Red” rating. This is from their site:

DESCRIPTION

                   Busted Halo is the Paulist Fathers' dismal attempt to create a website for Catholic young adults. According to their mission statement, We live in an age filled with seekers in their twenties and thirties who are desperately trying to find deeper meaning in their lives but whose journey has little to do with traditional religious institutions. BustedHalo.com believes that the experiences of these pilgrims and the questions they ask are inherently spiritual.  Based in wisdom from the Catholic tradition, we believe that the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of all God’s people. Nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. BustedHalo.com strives to reveal this spiritual dimension of our lives through feature stories, reviews, interviews, faith guides, commentaries, audio clips, discussions and connections to retreat, worship and service opportunities that can’t be found anywhere else.

We are committed to creating a forum that is: open, informed, unexpected, unpredictable, balanced, and thought-provoking. Every time we ask questions about what our lives mean and what keeps us alive, we are talking about something that’s relevant to BustedHalo.com.
Those poor souls who find their way here will not be strengthened in faith—in fact, they will be fortunate if they escape without losing faith or morals. A visit to the site produces one horrific example after another of dissent, blatant secularism, syncretism, and moral ambiguity. Needless to say, we strongly recommend that you completely avoid it.

                              **STRENGTHS**

 
                            None Reported.                  
     
                             **WEAKNESSES**

 
                                ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7234&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Articles by James Martin, S.J. (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7235&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Articles praising a sacrilegious play (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7236&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Article defending "The Vagina Monologues" (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7237&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Article promoting a documentary which "re-examines the scriptural prohibition toward homosexuality" (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7238&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Confusion about the nature of the Mass (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7239&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Questionable retreat centers recommended (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7240&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Incorrectly states the Church's teaching on consulting psychics (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7241&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Incredibly, the Moral Dilemmas page contains analysis by the notorious Fr. Richard Sparks, C.S.P. (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7242&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Blasphemous prayer (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7243&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Article promoting Buddhism (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7244&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Article attacking Church's teaching on women priests (Fidelity)
                  ·             [Example(s)](http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?Example=7996&recnum=3618&task=showexample)
         Articles favorable to Barrack Obama (Fidelity)

I just removed this station from my presets. I think we should all quit listening and demand orthodox content. You listen at your peril!

 

[srferdave]

I share your concern with the busted halo show. But I’ve found the other shows to be very Catholic.

 

[celticsfan1983]

I just removed this station from my presets. I think we should all quit listening and demand orthodox content. You listen at your peril!

First off, the show is different than the web site.

But yeah, maybe we should demand orthodox content! I mean, just look at The Catholic Channel! There’s a show called Conversation with the Archbishop each week, where Archbishop Timothy Dolan in New York answers email questions for about an hour. Pffft, what a non-orthodox, non-catholic show that is! Answering questions from EMAIL, how ridiculous.

Or that Fully Alive show. Marriage issues? They talk about relationship problems? We as Catholics have no time to worry about relationships! Busted Halo, taking questions you have about Mass and making faith connections to popular music? You’re right, totally non-Catholic! And that Lino Rulli, he has fun while he teaches about the faith! BLASPHEMY!

Yep, no orthodox content here. We should even toss out my conversion to The Church, since I have such a non-orthodox channel to thank for it!

Seriously, Mothers’ Boy, by taking this channel off your presets, you really lost a station that has fun while teaching the faith, and reaches a lot of people that other stations couldn’t dream of reaching. If it’s not your style, fine. But don’t attack it. I owe them my spiritual life. That means more than any web site report.

 

[srferdave]

First off, the show is different than the web site.

Yes, but this is where the show comes from. I think they share the same thoughts. They are very much related. When listening to the show they reference this website a lot.

But yeah, maybe we should demand orthodox content! I mean, just look at The Catholic Channel! There’s a show called Conversation with the Archbishop each week, where Archbishop Timothy Dolan in New York answers email questions for about an hour. Pffft, what a non-orthodox, non-catholic show that is! Answering questions from EMAIL, how ridiculous.

Or that Fully Alive show. Marriage issues? They talk about relationship problems? We as Catholics have no time to worry about relationships! Busted Halo, taking questions you have about Mass and making faith connections to popular music? You’re right, totally non-Catholic! And that Lino Rulli, he has fun while he teaches about the faith! BLASPHEMY!

Yep, no orthodox content here. We should even toss out my conversion to The Church, since I have such a non-orthodox channel to thank for it!

Seriously, Mothers’ Boy, by taking this channel off your presets, you really lost a station that has fun while teaching the faith, and reaches a lot of people that other stations couldn’t dream of reaching. If it’s not your style, fine. But don’t attack it. I owe them my spiritual life. That means more than any web site report.

I don’t mean to take sides on this… but I don’t think it is right to attack Mothers Boy on specifics of each show when Mothers Boy never mentioned the reasons for avoiding the channel. You are putting words in his mouth. He just gave a reference to the Busted Halo website which is very much similar to the Busted Halo show and said he doesn’t listen to it.

I do agree with you on the other shows… They seem to be orthodox. However, I don’t agree with your tactics of explaining your rationale for those shows. I don’t like putting words in peoples mouths.

 

[celticsfan1983]

Right, and then he says,

I just removed this station from my presets. I think we should all quit listening and demand orthodox content. You listen at your peril!

Case in point, we should all quit listening to this station and demand orthodox content (because the whole station apparently is not orthodox). Otherwise, he would have just said quit listening to one show in particular. And then listen at my peril? Like listening to this is going to endanger my soul?

Mother’s Boy stepped way out of line by suggesting all of this.

 

[srferdave]

Right, and then he says,

Case in point, we should all quit listening to this station and demand orthodox content (because the whole station apparently is not orthodox). Otherwise, he would have just said quit listening to one show in particular. And then listen at my peril? Like listening to this is going to endanger my soul?

Mother’s Boy stepped way out of line by suggesting all of this.

But, nevertheless, it was a suggestion. That’s what he believes. And he has a right to that belief. You can say you disagree, but I don’t think it is right to put words in his mouth about why he disagrees with you. I don’t agree with him about all the other shows… but I do agree with him on the Busted Halo show. It would be interesting to know why Mothers Boy doesn’t think the other shows are orthodox. I understand why he thinks the busted halo show is unorthodox. Maybe Mothers Boy can chime in about the other shows… and his reasoning for not listening to those.

 

[celticsfan1983]

Putting words into his mouth, sure I can understand where that would be wrong. But the insinuation is too strong to be ignored. Regardless of whether he comes out and explicitly says it, the insinuation pretty much spells it out.

 

[Mothers_Boy]

WOW! I seemed to really offend some people. My apologies to those I offended that was not my intent. Looking at my original post I see I wasn’t clear. My post was directed at The Busted Halo Show only.

celticsfan1983, I am going to attempt to be more charitable with you than you are with me. “I owe them my spiritual life.” Who? Some radio channel? We all listen to shows like Conversion or Fully Alive for reinforcement in our faith. We may even find our way back to the Church through these shows. We, however, owe our spiritual lives to our Lord Jesus, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, Our Blessed Mother, the Sacraments and Mother Church. I think you need to pray about these things just as I do.

Srferdave, I think you are an example of being charitable in this short discussion and I appreciate your attitude. Thank you.

FOR THE RECORD: From what I have heard and read I feel The Busted Halo show and its accompanying website could be a danger to Catholics. I will continue to say this because after listening to the show and visiting the website I went to a source I trust for helping me to know which websites I may want to avoid and confirmed the suspicions I had. I again apologize for any offense but I really felt I needed to post about this. The other content I have listened to on The Catholic Channel seemed pretty good to me although I am not sure about The Catholic Guy Show. I think the entire faithful have a duty to scrutinize all the media they expose themselves to. I was merely trying to help.