4. When it came to Catholics, most American Protestants could not decide if Catholics were brilliant or indolent.
Supporting brilliance, they saw the Jesuits. Although one might hate a Jesuit, one never underestimated him. Yet, supporting indolence—at least by the lights of the Protestant work ethic—French men freely married native women. This, to good Englishmen, seemed an abomination. One might partake of such a relationship privately, but never in public.
Two men considering a religious vocation were having a conversation. “What is similar about the Jesuit and Dominican Orders? “ the one asked.
The second replied, “Well, they were both founded by Spaniards — St. Dominic for the Dominicans, and St. Ignatius of Loyola for the Jesuits. They were also both founded to combat heresy — the Dominicans to fight the Albigensians, and the Jesuits to fight the Protestants.”
“What is different about the Jesuit and Dominican Orders?”
“Met any Albigensians lately?”