Posted on 11/27/2006 2:26:23 PM PST by Teófilo
Folks, Zenit.org reports:
Religion in the Cross HairsPlease, continue reading here.Secular World Attacks Organized Belief
By Father John Flynn
LONDON, NOV. 26, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Organized religion is coming in for harsh criticism in many parts. English singer Elton John said religion turns people into "hateful lemmings." He also accused it of lacking compassion. His comments came in an interview with the Observer newspaper's Music Monthly Magazine, published Nov. 12.
The aging pop star's criticisms were sparked off by the matter of how religion deals with homosexuality. "I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people," he said.
He is far from being alone in this view. In the United States, talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell likened Christianity to radical Islam. Her attack, in a nationally broadcast program in October, was not well received, according to a Nov. 13 press release by the California-based Barna Group.
A nationwide survey by the Barna Group found that although few Americans would challenge O'Donnell's right to make such statements, just as few share her point of view.
Across the Pacific, Pamela Bone, writing in the Australian newspaper on Aug. 15, rejoiced over data which, she argued, showed that "in nearly all prosperous liberal democracies, atheism is strong."
Bone accused religion of being "directly responsible for countless world conflicts, resulting in the loss of millions of human lives." Religion is still a danger today, she contended: "The truth is that it is now too dangerous for religion to be given the special status it has always had."
Bone added: "The best hope for a less religious and thus safer world is for religion -- all religion -- to be open to rational and stringent examination and criticism, and yes, to ridicule."
Commentary. Fr. Flynn writes pretty much in the same vein as Dinesh D'Souza did a few days ago. Atheists, agnostics, and those who follow other "less repressive" spiritualities are coming out of the woodwork to denounce organized religion, reserving their most poisonous for Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular.
These critics' primary target are Fundamentalist Christians who interpret the Bible literally and lack a coherent, unifying view of Tradition and scholarship that would equip them to better engage the findings of empirical science. But the critics don't stop there. Instead, they seek to undermine the entire edifice of faith and culture by reducing every form of Christian belief to the artificial, lowest-common denominator that Fundamentalism represents to them. In other words, the seek to undermine the edifice of Catholic belief and the robust intellectual tradition it represents, by dumbing it down to the level of Fundamentalism and thus dismiss it as unworthy of the consideration of thinking peoples.
In logic they call that a fallacy, or rather, fallacies, a whole chain of them in fact: selective use of evidence, special pleading, red-herrings, and emotional appeals. Atheists boast of their superior, cultivated intellects and unassailable arguments but even under the most superficial analysis one can see that theirs is an empty boast.
That worries them because they are seeing that more and more sophisticated thinkers are calling their bluff. They refuse to be upstaged. Hence we see their shameful display of vitriol and hate—and the spate of their books and publications.
We are on to them and they feel the heat. Let's keep the heat on.
PING!
That's okay. This is all part of the idea of religious freedom, ecuminism, and public morality that John Courtney Murray S.J. talked about. He said, if we are to arrive at new truths about God, we would have to be on an "equal footing" with atheists. If that means suppression of religion, that's all part of Catholic theology, right?
Please quote Fr. Murray, in context, claiming such a thing
These attacks are nothing new and deserve no thought nor consideration from any who espouse faith in God. Far more powerful people than these pathetic creatures have tried to destroy Christianity and failed. We need not fear these peanuts. Our biggest concern should be our own human failings, not the dishonest, pseudo-intellectual drivel of a couple of embittered atheists.
Jesuit theology is not Catholic theology.
Faith is a good thing - until it becomes hatred -AZ Republic – Nov 26, 2006
And a Nov 27, 2006 rebuttal from: AZ Policy.org
At least, to hear some Jesuits say it. Thankfully, not all of them can be lumped together.
-Theo
Why don't these folks look in the mirror and own up to the millions of people who have been murdered in the name of anticlerical egalitarianism? Revolutionary France, anticlerical Spain, Italy, Portugal, Mexico, the Communist nations.
Dogmatic Atheism has A LOT of blood on its hands, and who the heck are they to lecture Christians about the Crusades, suppressing other religions, the Inquisition, Galileo, etc., when they have committed many of the same crimes in greater numbers.
My ancestor was one of them.
Human beings are tribal by nature, and if religion were abolished, people would simply find another excuse to kill or oppress others.
"Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God." - Christendom in Dublin, 1933 G.K. Chesterton
Atheists and liberals worship government.
Religious freedom does not mean the suppression of religion. That is completely illogical. Religious freedom of Christians is under attack as never before, and Christians need to fight back against these attacks.
John Courtney Murray's moral teaching suffered from great and many defects, but I seriously doubt he said this, or that this conclusion is consonant with Catholic theology or even Murray's own.
-Theo
I think atheism has killed more people than all the religions combined.
(I'm dead serious. My college kid is looking at a Jesuit parish as a possible church home-away-from-home.)
That's why the Republicans lost congress. They are afraid to stand up for the truth. A lie is halfway around the world before the truth has its boots on.
My experience tells me that "the right kind of Jesuit" has a strong devotion to the BVM and shows it.
-Theo
Thank you! I'll pass that information on to my daughter.
No problem! By the way, Father Mitch Pacwa is a Jesuit. He's another point of reference for you and your daughter.
-Theo
I think a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin reveals reveals a smart Catholic, e.g. John Paul the Great.
The right kind of Jesuit: is comfortable wearing clerical clothes; speaks positively of the Pope; by speech and action shows an amazing blend of piety and rational thought; has read Thomas Aquinas, and in Latin; and this last one is key: wears old shoes. Look at the shoes. They are a dead give-away for the piety in the heart. New, stylish shoes suggest vanity. Old, crumpled shoes, well worn from walking, suggest humility.
Elton John and Rosie O'Donnell would have no problem with "organized" religion, especially Christianity, if it found nothing morally wrong with homosexuality, abortion, or any other practices that go against the natural law. Theirs is an example of sour grapes.
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Not only wrong, but curious. I'm not sure how one could come to this conclusion. This is a good place to find out what the Catholic Church is really about:
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