Posted on 04/11/2011 7:50:25 AM PDT by marshmallow
Do you have a blog on which you write about Catholic stuff?
Do you read Catholic blogs?
Do you comment on Catholic blogs?
Are you planning on going to Rome for the Beatification of John Paul II?
Are you pretty sure you're not going to get invited to the Vatican's blognic?
Do you suspect that they found your work just a leeetle too ... err... forthcoming about the bishops, the Church, the state of things? Do you suspect that you'd probably be regarded as a "Taliban Catholic" blogger in certain circles?
Or just don't think you can face hours of talks by Vatican bureaucrats on "the initiatives that the Church is putting in place in the world of new media, whether in Rome or at the local level"?
Come to the *other* Catholic blogger Rome blognic...
"Shaping the Narrative: how Catholic 'new media' is re-defining the global Catholic debate"
and talk about what *YOU* want to talk about...
Unlike the Vatican's, ours will be FUN!
AND ours will have beer...
AND pizza...
AND we'll let you come in your pyjamas if you want.
Tell your bloggy friends and enemies.
When? May 3rd, 2011, 1-5 pm (for Europeans, that's 13:00-17:00)
Where? We're still in the process of organising this (since we just dreamed it up on Friday). More details about location will follow, but right now we're looking at a very central venue, Scholar's Lounge Pub, the home of the Rome Pub Quiz, which is on all the Centro's bus and tram routes. So it will be an easy access to wherever you'll be camping for the Beatification.
Things we do know:
1) you will be allowed to talk about whatever YOU want
2) No Vatican prelate will bore you into early-onset Alzheimer's engage you in a meaningful dialogue
3) the talks will all be in English
4) all the cool kids will be there
For now, the plan is to have two formal "talks," in the style of Theology on Tap: a keynote and a panel. We'll discuss the general state of things, the impact of the "new media" on the Church at the local and international level, the contributions of bloggers to the various Catholic public debates etc (see topic suggestions below).
The rest of the time will be in "small breakout discussion groups" (IOW, sitting around in the pub drinking and talking).
Also, we're going to do our best to get Wifi so you can liveblog it, and we can maybe set up some Skype calls or iChat thingies for people whose bodies can't make it so at least their heads can be there. And we'll see what we can do about getting the thing on video so it can go up on YouTube.
AND, if all goes as planned, there will be discounts for drinks for those who are registered before the event.
"Sounds GREAT! Where do I sign up?"
Are you on Facebook? look for "The *Other* Rome Catholic Blognic" on the facebook search and sign on. Leave a note on the Wall giving a link to your blog, (or to the blogs where you most often make a pest of yourself in the commbox). It's that simple.
Or, you can just send me a link to your blog in the commbox below, by email or by a message on Facebook and I will put you on the list.
Sounds GREAT! What can I do to help put it together?
First, thing to do, is cut and paste this post into your blog (or other new media thingy) and start drumming up interest.
Next, think of three or more Catholic bloggers who fit the following criteria:
1) is likely to get rejected from the Vatican's list for being, in the immortal words of John Allen and at least one influential cleric, "Taliban Catholics"
2) blogs about Catholic stuff
3) is likely to be in Rome for the Beatification anyway
...and invite them to join this Facebook event page.
Next, suggest topics you'd like to hear talked about. So far we've had:
1) Whatever the hell we damn well want to talk about
2) "blogging until something happens" - the intolerable silence of injustice has been disturbed and even destroyed - the power of the blogs efforts in transparency and accountability
3) "I am not alone" - isolationism and the iconoclasm
4) Why is the Catholic blogosphere so nearly uniformly "conservative," pro-Benedict and, above all, young?
5) Are we really "making a difference" or is it really all just narcissism?
6) exchanging stories: how have Catholic blogs, websites and "new media" actually made a concrete difference to the Church or to real people?
...
UPDATE:
Bloggers (and Catholic "New Media" people) I've invited
Jeff Miller, the Curt Jester
the "Seraphic" Dorothy Cummings McLean
Elizabeth Scalia, the Anchoress
Michael Voris
Fr. Tim "Hermeneutic of Continuity" Finigan
John "Orbis Catholicus Secundus" Sonnen
Deal Hudson
Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
Anthony Ozimic and John Smeaton of SPUC
Chris Gillibrand of Catholic Church Conservation
The "Dyspeptic" Dale Price
Gregory DiPippo, Gregor Kollmorgen and Shawn Tribe of New Liturgical Movement
Andrew Cusack of Andrew Cusack
Fellow former League of Evil Traditionalists:
Mary "Against All Heresies" Alexander
Steve Skojec and Nick Trandem (who no longer blog)
Fr. Philip "Da Mihi hanc aquam" Powell
Oliver McCarthy, who seems to have locked everyone out of his blog
Sean Taylor, also known as Binky the Webelf
Deborah Gyapong who I sometimes forget isn't Catholic (quite yet)
Fr. John "Veritas in Caritate" Boyle
Thomas Peters the American Papist
John Allen (maybe he can tell us what, exactly, constitutes a "Taliban Catholic")
Creative Minority Report
Rorate Caeli
Mulier Fortis who I see has kindly given us a link
Robert "Love Undefiled" Colquhoun
A 2banana LTTE:
Dear Editor:
I fought in Afghanistan as a Special Forces Team Commander. I am also what you would perceive as a “wacky-right-wing-conservative-religious-Christian-person”
So here are the differences between myself and the Taliban.
The Taliban allowed no freedom of expression, no rights for women, no freedom of religion and destroyed anything and everyone that did not abide by their version of Islam. They destroyed the famous Buddhist statues of Bamiyan because the felt they were un-Islamic graven images. The wiped out entire peoples and villages (such as the Hazara) because they were not Islamic enough. They would think nothing of executing an entire village if one family converted to Christianity. They cut the ears, eyes, tongues and noses off people for “infractions against Islam.” They turned schools into horse stables. They planted bombs and mines in children’s play fields. They torched newly built girls schools. They stoned women to death who had been raped for “adultery.” They allowed the training of terrorist groups to export their version of Islam to the world. They looked at the world as two spheres – One that has been conquered by Islam and one that will be conquered by Islam through war. They would think nothing of raping your wife and children and making you a slave or corpse. It is what you and your family, or any non-Islamic person, deserves for being an infidel. They would not allow women (and girls) to go to school, have a job or even leave their home (unless accompanied by a male relative). The Taliban ruled by fear and intimidation. They remind me of the Nazis and Communists.
What do the so called religious conservatives in this country want? Here is the super secret list: Economic Opportunity and Personal Liberty.
Things like: Taxes we can afford; A reverence for the US Constitution as the Founding Fathers wrote it; An appreciation for the values and traditions that made this country the finest in the history of the world; A respect for all opinion, not just what is the PC flavor of the month; An understanding that people should “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character;” And respect for life (no matter how vulnerable or powerless).
The differences are slight, but there they are. I hope this clears up any misunderstandings.
De Oppresso Libre,
2banana
The author sounds 18. I feel old. Anoreth would feel old reading this.
Good job!
LOL!!!
Aren’t you having bad memories of high school? *shudder*
This kind of thing is why I generally avoid blogs.
She’s actually at least mid-thirties.
Oy.
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