Posted on 07/23/2008 2:47:21 PM PDT by Pyro7480
When Gov. Alfred E. Smith ran for president in 1928, his candidacy was derailed in large part by anti-Catholic prejudice. It has been nearly 48 years since John F. Kennedy became the first (and so far only) Roman Catholic president, but experts say that anti-Catholic sentiment much of it originating in, or as a response to, immigrants in New York remains an enduring force in American culture.
That was the consensus of a panel assembled at the Museum of the City of New York on Tuesday night to consider the question, Is Anti-Catholicism Dead?
...The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus a leading conservative intellectual, a former Lutheran pastor and the editor of the leading Catholic journal First Things offered a surprising view on the question.
To be a Catholic is not to be refused positions of influence in our society, he said. Indeed, one of the most acceptable things is to be a bad Catholic, and in the view of many people, the only good Catholic is a bad Catholic.
...He added that anti-Catholicism was as likely to come from the left sometimes from commentators who believe that a threatening theological insurgency is engineered and directed by Catholics, with evangelical Protestants merely as the movements foot soldiers.
(Excerpt) Read more at cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Are the people that attend the 12% named for God not blasphemers and idolators?
Willful ignorance or Invincible Ignorance?
“Mary named churches were TWICE AS MANY as God named churches.”
The third grade logicians club is saddened today.
IF, that is, you insist that Saints are not primarily an aspect or an instance of God's grace, which at least some non-Catholics seem resolved to do. This whole exercise is meaningless, of course, because there is little to no sense in the patronage or dedication of a Church that the patron or, what, aspect to which it is dedicated is superior to God.
But if it makes the non-Catholics feel good to find some more nerf-balls to throw at us and pretend they are striking significant blows, I know reason and facts won't make much difference.
Precisely. The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
None of these denominations formed by men, but rather the Church founded by Christ Himself.
You're quite the mind-reader.
What a deliciously slick (sick) way to insinuate that the saint honored by the naming of a parish is the one worshiped inside.
You’re misreading the mind and falsely representing the intentions of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Hate poisons most logic, even the third grade variety.
Yeah, gooey.
And this is part of the problem. So many of our critics have two problems which prevent their understanding the data.
The first is a matter of diverse cultural expression. We do not throw away our past, we do not reject the writings and thoughts of those whose background in time and space is different from our own. We do not despise those whose emotional make-up and, therefore, personal piety is different from ours.
So, what this means on the ground is that a lot of so-called "spiritual writing" ends up sounding like bad translations from sentimental French carried out by an emotionally over-wrought Victorian woman in the middle of a hot flash.
And the second is like unto it: When our adversaries find some sinfulness (or other failing or inadequacy) they hoot and holler and wave it about as though they had found some fatal flaw.
Of course, from our Point of view, the Church is kind of cross between a guerrilla camp deep in hostile territory and a hospital. We EXPECT even our "doctors" to show occasional signs and symptoms of the illness which will trouble us until we are perfected in Christ. We EXPECT infiltrators and spies. We EXPECT that just when we are settling down in a momentary lapse of vigilance, mortar shells will land in the middle of camp.
That is what it means to be between the Cross and the Kingdom. That is why we pray, "Come, Lord IHS." There's a war on, and the Church is in the thick of the fight.
And our antagonists see us there, and count our many wounded as marks against us.
If some of us turn to banal and gooey (I refer the term "icky" myself) devotional material, well, in my youth I mocked such folks. But ever since I looked at the seemingly sappy and sentimental little old ladies fumbling with their gaudy beads and bringing down the Soviet empire, my eagerness to judge by superficial things, my eagerness to judge at all has been dampened.
Some worship with tambourine and electric guitar, others with treacly paintings of livid saints with porcelain skin. Some judge on the basis of the outward appearance, and among them are those who come to the party with a pretty considerable stake in a certain hypothesis about the Church.
Reality is not Rorschach test, and woe to him who looking outward only sees what is in himself.
If you want “gooey,” hang around one of these threads for a while and read saccharine-syrupy schmaltz like this: “Oh thank you most kindly my dearest soul-friend in Christ for those splendiferously exquisite scriptures and your beautiful insights. Amen! Amen! blah blah blah.”
THAT is gooey.
About that Rorshach test—I’ve so often wondered when someone was going to come along and say “projection” by another name.
“There’s a war on and the Church is in the thick of the fight”
This one sentence stands out to me.
I’ll carry that one with me for the rest of my earthly journey.
Little old ladies with the gaudy beads-——:-)
One wonderful priest I know once said that more people were moved towards God by little old ladies than the world dreams of.
(For those of you in Rio Linda : Different strokes for different folks.)
I’ve learned it from you, Petronski. You’re a good teacher.
And yet a lot of Protestant churches are named after the denomination. I guess Protestants worship First Baptist, First Methodist, Bethel Baptist....
Gooey
“Reality is not Rorschach test, and woe to him who looking outward only sees what is in himself. “
I think you have a very profound statement in that.
I do not worship Mary or any saints, nor do I teach such. You bear false witness against me with stunning facility.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.