tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7846189835239594160.post5922247307625762812..comments2024-03-28T20:30:10.681-04:00Comments on southern orders: THE LAST ACCEPTABLE PREDUDICE: Anti-CatholicismFr. Allan J. McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16986575955114152639noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7846189835239594160.post-16009115746378254602009-12-23T11:50:19.590-05:002009-12-23T11:50:19.590-05:00I have two quotes of Francis Cardinal George that ...I have two quotes of Francis Cardinal George that I am very fond of issuing...one of them is this, “Protestant secularism is no mean enemy at the gate.” Yes, Mr. Shea did the Catholic Church in the United States a service by attempting to analyze the strategy of our exceptional enemy.<br /> However, even though you call the article “good and worth reading” Pastor...I rankled. I wonder if the framework and approach of Mr. Shea caused more harm than good. <br /> Mr.’s Shea & Jenkins (along with too many others!) insidiously cultivates the image of Mother Church as an intrinsically political grouping of persons instead of the instrument of God. I don’t deny the black sea of politics within her, but politics defines neither her nor persons within her! Using oxymoronic labels (that BTW hurt) like “conservative” or “liberal” indentify the faithful incorrectly. I think we, as faithful persons, are not defined by political roles that leverage the movement of a particular agenda (is this a secular borrowing?). We are however, characterized by our approaches to expressing our faith in more empirical terms such as functionalists or interactionists, which serve well and allow us to be reminded that we are “In Deum.”<br /> Next, Mr. Shea supports publishing ...that there are catholics who want to cut ties with Rome and start a so-called catholic church of America! I know of many posers who label themselves catholic that may hold with this idea, however I do not know of any Catholics who do. Self identification does not legitimize a characterization of recognition. <br /> Then, there is this “persistent strain,” that Mr. Shea holds Jenkins to, which is used to define centuries old New World North American Catholic persecution. How can persecution of religious belief ever be so trivialized by being called a strain? In the face of Fr. Neuhaus’ kind analysis; indeed early on, the English Crown repeatedly installed colony heads that were either seasoned brutalizer’s of Irish Catholics, or well vetted protestants. The dominant ideology (that forms a society’s culture), which organically emerged from a population that was predominantly Reformist/Protestant condensed into an American Dominant Ideology in the 19th & 20th centuries. It’s called Progressivism and it is alive and well. <br /> Finally, Mr. Shea’s cavalier assignation of labels used to describe contestants that are duke’ing it out in a brawl sends the wrong message. A particular adversarial position that persecutes another group over a time window that is constituted in centuries at the very least must be operationally defined in empirical terms. Anti-Catholic fits.<br /> What’s the point here? Even though Mr. Shea & Mr. Jenkins render a service in raising the consciousness of the masses concerning Catholic persecution in America at what price do Catholics bear this? This 2003 article is trivializing a “no mean enemy” at the gate; which, it seems, nobody wants to accept. Dark casting of image, abusive politicization, soft-pedaling bad data, trivialization, seem to be the asking price for this so-called service. Pastor, I beg to differ with you here; but, the “good” and “worth” of this op-ed might bear some further scrutiny? <br /> Lastly, I remind myself that there seems to be a weighty poverty of published material that treats with these matters of persecution and adversarial strategies. Thank you Pastor your Blog was stirring.-Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01586480579220554662noreply@blogger.com