Hannity the Liberal (Full Column)

Spirit and Life ^ | 3/12/2007 | Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer

[Pyro7480]

Hannity the Liberal

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth.” (2 Tim 4:3-4)

Many Spirit and Life readers may know that after last Friday’s column (“Sean Hannity’s Gospel”) I was invited to defend my position on the Hannity and Colmes show that very night. It’s nice to know that my emails are being read in the hallowed halls of Fox News! I suspected, however, that Hannity wanted to defend his “devout Catholic” credentials, and I was not disabused of this notion when I went on the show. What the show did, above all, was to show not that the Church was wrong or incoherent, but that Hannity, like so many other cultural Catholics, is really a liberal when it comes to certain aspects of sexual morality.

The first point I have to straighten out is for those who were concerned that this was not handled first in private. Well, in fact, I did attempt to handle this matter in private with Mr. Hannity in 2004, but I never received a response to my letter asking him for a meeting. [See side bar item, “Fr. Euteneuer asks to meet with Hannity about birth control.”] As far as I am concerned, I did my due diligence before I went public with my complaint about his hypocrisy; but even if I had not, it was Mr. Hannity’s schedulers who called me to make an issue of it, not I who demanded to appear on his show! In this age of culpable clerical silence on many serious issues affecting people’s souls, do we now want a priest to keep silent about something so important? We can’t have it both ways.

Second, concerning the actual debate, what some are calling Sean’s “disrespect” for me as a member of the clergy was not of concern to me. In that sense, Sean is typical of his generation that has been taught that nobody has any special consecration (even if they technically do) and that everyone has to prove his mettle in the realm of public debate. No problem. I am a holder of this office, and I did not feel that his callous disregard for the priesthood did anything to diminish the sanctity of it, but I can see how it was an extra element of scandal for those who value the priestly office highly. Nor did I really care that he cut me off time and time again in the debate; he’s a known quantity—did you expect anything else from Hannity?

Just for the record, Sean Hannity really is a dissenting Catholic and a public scandal to the Faith. He should be rebuked by his pastor or bishop, not by me, but since that has not been forthcoming in his decade or so of public dissent on radio and TV, somebody in authority had to say something. Hannity, as we know, is shameless on birth control, and judging from the interview, he hasn’t even the vocabulary to rationally defend his position in the face of his Church’s clear teaching. Hannity is also clearly pro-choice on abortion in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother, and he is really cozy with the likes of Rudy Giuliani whose love for abortion and everything gay is hardly a secret. It has even been revealed that Hannity’s website, Hannity.com has a gay dating service that Sean knows about and apparently “has no problem with;” no different from his attitude in regard to birth control. So much for the “devout Catholic” Hannity. If that is devout, then Hugh Heffner is reverent.

The interview on Friday night was enlightening in many senses but mostly because it showed Hannity’s true liberal side. The “Judge not lest ye be judged” comment I have heard only and exclusively in debates with liberals and others with guilty consciences. It is the whine of the person who is doing something that he knows in his heart is wrong but can’t stand anyone pointing out. Hannity’s “judge not” rant can be summarized in one phrase which, if it were put this way, would have been much more identifiable as liberal claptrap: “How dare you question my choice!” Face it: Hannity is a liberal when it comes to sex. In his position next to Colmes, Hannity wears the conservative mantle, but when he comes face to face with the truth of his Church, which I as a priest am obliged to uphold faithfully, he is no more than a liberal relativist.

And in that matter, how different is his position on birth control from that of Planned Parenthood? They have “no problem” with birth control either. In fact it’s much more than a personal matter for them. It fuels their business. Yes, about 60% of women going into abortion clinics are doing it because of failed birth control and no amount of feigned pragmatism about stopping abortions with birth control is going to change the fact that birth control teaches people to be selfish and leads them down the garden path to the killing centers of this nation—or any nation for that matter. And by the way, for those who wanted me to object to both abortion and birth control as a solution to any problem, please go back and listen carefully to the clip—I did object to both! The Catholic Church’s teaching on sexual morality is the only coherent dissenting viewpoint from PP’s gospel of free sex and baby killing, and sadly, Hannity, the “devout Catholic,” just aids and abets those criminals.

Most surprising of all, however, was Hannity’s use of what I call the “argument from pedophilia;” namely, the tendency to fall back on the Church sex abuse scandal when you’re losing an argument with a priest and have to grab for something. I have had people do this to me in front of abortion clinics, at Da Vinci Code protests and in private conversations about Catholicism for the past several years. Let’s just say I didn’t expect it from Hannity! Was it me or did Sean just disconnect from reality at that moment? Where in the world did that come from? Well, it’s because Hannity’s really a closet liberal when pushed to the wall. True colors come out in the wash, and the birth control issue just has a greater tendency to touch the sensitive areas of people’s philosophies of life.

Hannity’s worldview is full of holes. He may have gone to seminary but, if that is the case, his seminary background and knowledge of Latin (!) gives him a greater responsibility to get it right when he wants to spout off about Church teaching in the public forum.

For your reading interest you can click on the side bar items to see some of the incredible feedback that we got on both sides of the debate. Of particular interest is the recent statement of Cardinal Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, who has said that “dissident Catholics are more worrying than atheists.” Whew—words of warning for Hannity and O’Reilly and company. In the end, we all have to undergo our own “Judgment Day,” and it is the Church’s job to let people know ahead of time that God is not a moral relativist on the issue of birth control.

[RobbyS]

Over the years I have come to the sad conclusion that plenty of parish priests are not orthodox.

[Tax-chick]

I think it was necessary that this public disinformation campaign be publicly challenged. The point is not Sean Hannity's personal decision to contracept, because that choice is "invisible" to the public. By publicly proclaiming dissent on a moral teaching of the Church - while at the same time making a show of scrupulosity regarding an accidental failure to abstain from meat - Hannity is bearing false witness against the Church.

By causing a visible and open disagreement, Sean has threatened that "He will become Baptist" if the good Father and other priest keep up the pressure.

There's a place for people who look for a church that approves their favorite sin. "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You!"

This quote, from an article "Frank Sheed" linked in another thread, is very relevant here:

Contraception involves no temptation at all, in the sense of pressure to yield to an impulse, but rather the resolution to lead one's life in defiance of the Church. To contracept while attempting to remain a Catholic accordingly required the development of an entirely novel religious stance, a stance founded on two beliefs: first, the conviction that the teaching Church is wrong in an area in which she explicitly claims authority; and second, the conviction that a Catholic can coherently hold that the Church is wrong in one place and right (or right enough) in others such that Church membership remains a conscientious and meaningful choice.

(Frank, could you post that link in this thread, at your convenience? I'm not good enough with html to do it neatly!)

[Frank Sheed]

http://www.ewtn.com/library/PRIESTS/FR93103.TXT

Your every wish is my command, Mrs. Tax! I stand with you and Holy Mother Church!

F

[Frank Sheed]

I have to mention this story which I posted once long ago and was told to me by someone.

A priest came to do a Parish Mission which was very well attended. On his final night, he spoke passionately about Life and included contraception in his talk.

After Mass, a woman who was a "Brahmin" in the Parish, a member of the Pastoral Council, who led all the fundraisers, was on every conceivable Committee, who sang each Sunday (etc., etc.) approached him outside in the view of all. In an accusatorial tone, she told him that she was a "good Catholic," but that the Church had decided this long ago. She said that some families just cannot be "as big" as others would have them be. As such, certain precautions were needed. She asked pointedly if the priest really meant that contraception, in HIS view, was a mortal sin? The priest tried to take her aside, tried to make it a private discussion, but she begged the question again in a loud voice. Finally, he replied "no, m'am. It is a mortal sin in the Church's view. That is a dogmatic teaching and it's not negotiable."

The woman left that night and never came back.

Fr. John Corapi has mentioned stories analogous to this over the years. Sometimes, people will walk away just as the crowd walked away from Jesus after His discourse on the Eucharist. Remember their words, "This is a hard saying."

Indeed.

[redgolum]

Good story FS. Heard a number of them like that myself (usually on Pro Life Sunday).

Still, this whole thing is just odd for me. Now there is a priest that moon lights at Fox defending Sean.

[Tax-chick]

My pastor in Broken Arrow once mentioned on Father's Day that courageous fatherhood did not include sterilization. I honestly thought there would be some heart attacks.

On this point, I noticed in the video clip that Hannity tried the "NFP is the same as contraception" dodge with Father E. Who does he think he's fooling (other than himself)? If NFP and artificial contraception of any kind were practically, that is, "in practice," the same, then who would do anything but NFP? Why would anyone pay the cost, experience the inconvenience, run the health risks, of artificial contraceptive or sterilization ... if it were "just the same as"?

We know better; it's not the same. NFP requires maturity, discipline and faith.

(p.s. Thanks for the article link, above. I will print the article for some of my friends.)

[Tax-chick]

I meant to include you on my #66, but my mind blanked on the spelling of your username :-).

[cheme]

Relevant radio with Drew Mariano is going to talk about this at 3:15 central time. He will have Father on.

[cheme]

BTTT

[cheme]

Just heard that it will be in about one hour. 3/13/07 4:00 central

[NYer]

Sean has threatened that "He will become Baptist" if the good Father and other priest keep up the pressure.

Now what sort of message does that send to practicing Baptists?! Dissenting Catholics, lacking in moral fiber, choose to make their spiritual home with you.

[redgolum]

LOL! I wondered that also.

[Tax-chick]

Yes, how rude to Baptists, just as if they didn't have any serious Christian beliefs of their own, not to mention important areas of disagreement with Catholics.

"You know, Baptists ... they'll take just anybody ..."

As I said, I think "TEC" may be Hannity's true "church home."

[cheme]

BTTT

[TradicalRC]

Hannity doesn't know what he's talking about and he argues like a liberal.

[Running On Empty]

TRC,

I was finally able to view the Hannity "discussion" with the link you provided (wasn't able to do so with the original one for some reason).

I am really turned off by Hannity now. The fact that he had to bring in the priest scandals, like so many who hate the Church, rather than look to the far many more faithful priests, scandalized me just as much as I was scandalized by his treatment of Fr. Tom and his lack of knowledge about how contraceptives work and how many contraceptives operate as "silent" abortifacients.

There is no way to excuse SH's arrogance.

And you're right--he doesn't know what he's talking about and he argues like a liberal.

[AnAmericanMother]

How embarassing for Hannity.

He doesn't really think on his feet very well. I was a trial lawyer for almost 25 years, and I can tell when somebody has that deer-in-the-headlights look and can't think how to respond to a question (I've been there a few times myself, but I got better over the course of time). But I've noticed in the past that when Hannity gets caught out and doesn't have a response, he blusters and calls names and goes straight to the ad hominem.

He REALLY did it this time -- and to a priest of his supposed own church.

I think you're right . . . Hey, Hannity,

[Siobhan]

Hannity had previously said he would become Eastern Orthodox. So now it is Baptist.

For anyone who wants to follow Hannity right on out of the Church, well, they would just be making visible and external what has already taken place within their souls. A terrible tragedy, but one due to their own volition.

[Tax-chick]

He doesn't really think on his feet very well.

Not a good quality in a live television/radio host!

[AnAmericanMother]

No, he mostly makes set speeches and reads stuff his staff types on the monitor.

If you listen, you can tell when people are reading as opposed to speaking off the cuff.

I earned my living thinking on my feet for a long time (ANYthing can happen in a courtroom, and usually does . . . ) and I know it when I hear it.