David v. Goliath: Standing up to Anti-Catholic Bias in the News
. . . Another published letter by Bernice Durbin of Crossville, Tennessee concluded that Catholic priests "don't deserve First Amendment protection." I could not believe I was reading this in the nation's second largest daily newspaper. Could you imagine the backlash if USA Today gave a platform to someone declaring that Jews, or Muslims, or African Americans no longer deserve First Amendment rights and freedoms? As I wrote in “Honoring Father Norman Weslin,” those who have claimed to advocate for victims – some real, but many feigned – have created a whole new set of victims by dismantling the freedoms and civil liberties of a single class of citizens: accused Catholic priests. The outcome of the trial of Monsignor William Lynn in Philadelphia is the result. . . .
Accommodations in the Garden of Good and Evil
. . . That, for me, is Jamil's wake-up call. The Catholic Church in America - and I do not refer just to the United States of America - is in the process of being parked a block or so outside the Public Square, and it's going to be accomplished by a force I have written of before on These Stone Walls. It is the most insidious force of all, but it is vague and subtle and indistinct, and we cannot blame President Obama for it. That force is best characterized as "the noise of a few, and the silence of many." . . .
SNAP Judgements Part I: Catholic Priests Among the Public Ruins
. . . It’s also time to cease giving any credence whatsoever to groups using "victimhood" to mask a devious agenda. In just about every news account of Catholic scandal since 2002, the news media gives the last and loudest word to representatives of SNAP - the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests - whose spokespersons stand ever ready to condemn the Catholic Church, the priesthood, the bishops, the Pope, and even Catholics in the pews for still being Catholics in the pews. SNAP has become an inexhaustible source of the story the news media wants - and the media has discovered that SNAP will never tire of condemning the Catholic Church for still standing even in the face of SNAP's self-serving rhetoric. It's a marriage made in . . . well, certainly not Heaven. SNAP is now a part of the problem and should be treated as such. Its sole goal is to denigrate me, you, and our shared faith, and it plans to do so until the entire Church is bankrupt. It's time to stop listening to SNAP. This group surrendered its moral credibility when it confused justice with vengeance by promoting only the latter, it advocates for a never-ending state of victimhood for its adherents. That is not true advocacy. . . .
"Holy Hostility, Batman!" When the Gloves Come Off on Catholic Blogs
. . . I thought of Batman recently when I received a snail mail letter from TSW reader Dorothy Stein after her on-line exchange described above. I was struck by her message and I think you will be, too. I asked her permission to use it, so hear it is: "From watching some of the debate on Catholic blogs, I have come to the conclusion that there are factions in your Church whose prevailing agendas are to destroy the Church. Knowing that any sane person would realize as I have that there exists no evidence for your supposed guilt, I can only conclude that attacks on you are not motivated by that at all, but by your witness, your fidelity, your support of the priesthood, your asking your readers to remain faithful to their Church. If you were willing to abandon all that, as some others have done, it seems things would go so much easier for you. But don't do it, Father. Take the Bangs and the Bonks! It's for a good cause. Just learn when to duck!" . . .
Cable News or Cable Nuisance? Gloom and Doom in America's Newsroom
. . . Greg Erlandson, publisher of Our Sunday Visitor, knows the difference, too, and it prompted him to add cable news to his list of things to avoid in 2011 (OSV, "New Years Resolutions," January 2). He clearly considered at least some of what passes for news on 24-hour cable news channels to be more akin to nuisance when he wrote: "The talking heads seem engaged in an anger and anxiety arms race, playing on ignorance and fears to get the best ratings."Greg Erlandson resolved to find "more rational and less incendiary ways" to be informed of the news. A couple of OSV readers reacted in letters to the editor. Dave Maxwell of Adrian, Michigan wrote that for him, "FOX News and The Wall Street Journal are the only reliable and balanced sources for the daily news." It seems that a lot of people agree. I'm not writing an advertisement for Fox News or The WSJ, but both news outlets are pulling in the highest ratings these days. I suspect there's a good reason for that, but it may also cause other news outlets to compete for ratings, sometimes by appealing to our basest nature. . . .