Anti-Catholic bigotry

[WalterMitty]

if it could be accomplished it would be entirely self defense, not bigotry.

You sound just like a Nazi
[/quote

Well, the Jews weren't out to stamp out prostitution.

is that all you care about?

[nclib]

In response to the poll question, I voted 'yes'.

Hating the ideas of the Catholic church is not bigotry--however, hating somebody simply for being born/raised Catholic is bigotry.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

well then no one can call my mom an anti-Catholic bigot.

[TeePee4Prez]

Best Writer for the Philadelphia Daily News!

Posted on Wed, Apr. 20, 2005
 
 
 


Ronnie Polaneczky | PROS & CONS ON COLUMN ON RELIGION


YESTERDAY, with the rest of the world, I watched, transfixed, a televised image of a Vatican balcony, waiting for my first glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI. The passion of the crowd half a world away was palpable, and I thought, "No one is neutral about the Catholic Church."

Of course, I could've just checked my e-mail inbox for the same evidence, thanks to a recent column I wrote about abandoning Catholicism.

In my column, I credited the former pope's conservative stance on moral issues for leading me away from the church - and into a different Christian denomination I never thought I'd join.

"My soul," I wrote, "is no longer at war with God. It's marching beside Him."

"What a backhanded slap at the pope," fumed e-mailer tjohnson. "In effect, you are saying this pope chased you from the church. Shame on you."

Whoa, tjohnson, who do you think you are - my dad?

Speaking of my dad, he was upset that column noted that I regard abortion as a matter of personal choice.

"Log onto Priestsforlife.org and view the pictures of fully formed fetuses, unborn human beings, which have been aborted," wrote my pop, who I am actually quite close to. "I cannot envision [you] walking hand in hand with God, with Him looking at these pictures (being all-knowing He really doesn't need the pictures) and agreeing with [your] position on abortion."

And "Kevin from Wal-Mart" noted that I "seem angry, disgruntled, frustrated. I hope you find your peace (some other place?)."

Suggesting just such a place was reader Patrick Casey, who recommended the Unitarian Church because, "Anything goes there!"

And Abe Krieger wrote that I should try Reform Judaism because, "they, too, believe in nothing yet call themselves Jews."

Sigh.

I did, though, get a kind note from conservative-Catholic columnist Christine Flowers, who applauded my "decency and honesty in not trying to have the church bend to your perceptions of what it 'should' be, and your willingness to search for God in other temples."

And there were many, many thoughtful e-mails from those who, like me, are "DNA Catholics": Reared in devout families, we learned the corners of the Delaware Valley not by county, town or neighborhood but by parish boundaries and school uniforms.

Our faith was as much about ritual, rules and belonging as it was the teachings of Jesus.

That's partly why John Logue will never abandon Catholicism.

"Although I don't agree with all of the church's 'rules' I'm still glad they exist, and I try my best to follow them," he wrote.

"After all, if the Catholic Church gave in on all these issues you raised... it becomes the homogenization of Christianity, which would be a shame in some ways; at least this way, people have some sort of choice."

Sharon Dougherty painfully exercised choice, and left Catholicism altogether.

"I, too, was forced to confront my true beliefs in God as I made the decision to move away from the Catholic Church, because of John Paul's rigid stance on modern issues," she wrote.

"I found that I truly embraced the teachings of Jesus, and how He told us to treat each other. I discovered the difference between belief and religion, between spirituality and religion. I now understand that religion is an institution, but my belief in God is absolute."

Readers like Lisa Parsley, though, believe that belief in God can, indeed, go hand-in-hand with the institution of Catholicism, evidenced by the work of area groups working to open up the church to greater dialogue with the laity, which she urged me to write about.

"There are groups such as Catholics for Free Choice, and ecumenical groups involved in women's ordination and the integration of modern scientific thought into Catholic beliefs, such as on stem-cell research, birth control and planned parenting, and human sexuality, evolution, and end-of-life issues.

"Hardened fundamentalism is not representative of the very meaning of the word 'catholic,' she wrote, "and we can't afford to force it into modern life."

Reader John Naegele just wanted to go on the record as being in conflict with the church's conservative traditions.

"Thank you for speaking for me and untold numbers of Catholics like us," he said.

"I think that eventually a realistic approach to women and/or marriage for priests will win out."

And an e-mailer named "pinkyslamm," after enumerating his many bones of contention with the Catholic Church, concluded, "I still feel that the Catholic Church is the best way to go. I feel privileged and proud to be a lifelong Catholic, despite all the shortcomings. It is a divine institution, but it is run by humans, and therefore, always subject to human error and misjudgment."

Besides, pinkyslamm said - speaking for DNA Catholics everywhere - he'd never consider another church an option.

"Everything else just 'comes up short' to me."


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[angus]

Hating the ideas of the Catholic church is not bigotry--however, hating somebody simply for being born/raised Catholic is bigotry.

good point.  I think you can say that about places, religions, races, whatever.  If you don't like Jamaica or Mississippi because it's too moist, too wet, and too full of darkies, then you may be a bigot, but you are not necessarily so.  Maybe you just don't like the constant noise of cats ing all night long.   Or maybe you don't like the smell of flowers, which may be found in profusion in those places.  But beyond the climate, fauna, and flora, objections to which do not a bigot make, there is objection to people, objections to which in fact do amount to bigotry.  Whether it is the ruling-class of European descent, or the hard-labor class, mostly of African descent, in those places which offend, the actual offense is a form of bigotry.