“Censorship” at the Times
Yesterday’s New York Times featured a full-page ad placed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation advising “liberal Catholics” to leave the benighted institution.
Though some might find it objectionable that the ad was accepted at all, the FFRF complained rather of the Times prior censorship of their freedom of expression. Lest I be thought to be indulging in hyperbolic rhetoric, here in their own words:
The Times required FFRF to alter its punchy headline, ‘It’s Time to Quit the Catholic Church,’ to ‘It’s Time to Consider Quitting the Catholic Church.’ Barker called that decision “disappointing” and “a sign of the Catholic Church’s inordinate power to intimidate and muzzle criticism.”
Happily the punchy cartoon was spared the censor’s ax. Statement and ad may be found here.
Reporting news and opinions is one sort of thing. Asking folks to change their minds is yet another. Giving a command or urging an action is something else. I wonder if the Times had those distinctions in mind when it insisted on the change.
I’m surprised the NYT made the FFRF change the headline on the big ad they paid big money for.
I’m surprised that anyone would object to the ad. (Is there something in the ad that is untrue?)
The Catholic Church could buy a full page ad on which to counter the points made in the FFRF ad and to urge people to leave the FFRF.
(When Pope John Paul II visited St. Louis in 1999, the Post-Dispatch carried a TWO-page ad by the Seventh-Day Adventists with cartoons and information about the “beast”, etc.)
Change the wording around in that ad a bit and it could’ve be made by the Bishops, charging liberal Catholics to agree with them fully or leave the Church. That’s where all this is heading, isn’t it?
Well, it can’t be THAT bad. The Guardian of All Things Catholic, Big Rich Bill Donahue, hasn’t weighed in yet ….. has he?
The 3/9/12 print edition of the NY Times out here in CA had a full page open letter from the “Freedom from Religion Foundation” urging “liberal” and “nominal” Catholics to a “moment of truth.”
The banner across the top suggests “It’s Time to Consider Quitting the Catholic Church” and ends with the emphatic plea, “Please, Exit En Mass.”
I didn’t recognize any of the underwriters of the ad [except for a James Coors, a geneticist from Madison WI (I don't know if he is related to the beer moguls from CO)] but I presume the underwriters are FFRF members and supporters.
Whistling-past-the-graveyard thinking on the part of hierarchs and pew Catholics will not be able to resist these appeals to mostly younger Catholic women and men.
The open letter quotes with that very radical intellectual of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine: “My own mind is my own church.”
It is very difficult to counter these entreaties with a population of young people who can read, and on whom Catholic families have spent fortunes educating in universities and colleges, the anti-intellectual attitudes of the hierarchs’ favorite presidential candidate and American Torquemada want-to-be, Rick Santorum, notwithstanding.
The evidence is all around us: An inexorable evolution toward a PEOPLES’ church is underway – and not just among young Catholics, but in the whole culture.
As the recent political kerfuffle over access to contraceptives and women’s health care demonstrated, the hierarchs are not up to this kind of pastoral challenge.
It’s up to us: LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE!
In the latest issue (Mar 10) of The Economist, one of the letter writers refers to Sanitorium as a “Paleopuritan.”
Yep.
I’m sure everyone has a favorite logical fallacy in the ad. Mine is that the FFRF crowd offers a “home” to liberal and progressive Catholics.
I quit going to communion long ago over my inability to accept the Church’s teachings on contraception, and the local parish is about the most frigid you’d find anywhere in the upper Midwest.
But I somehow can’t fathom that the constant griping I’d hear from the FFRF would somehow be preferable to the messages I hear about Jesus and loving my neighbor at Mass.
Besides, the Men’s Club is deep into fish fry season and its yearly cut-throat rivalry with the K of C in the parish next door over who’s raking in the most cha-ching. This week’s episode: Bob, the lead guy on the fyer, has been called out of town this week. Will the rest of the crew be able to fill his shoes? Meantime, the wives have slacked off on their contributions to the dessert table, which means Jim may have to improvise with pineapple fritters, which are widely despised, but no one has the heart to tell him. Will the wives step up this week and save the day??
I challenge the FFRF to offer anything that entertaining!
See also: http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=4981
What does it say of the state of affairs that Jim Jenkins can be making a relevant comment – accurately, I believe – when he points out that literacy in the youth is one of the obstacles the bishops face? First thought that comes to mind is the burning of Bibles centuries ago to make sure that laymen just learning to read didn’t find out what was actually written down. This problem may help explain why Cdl. Dolan in Hicksville last week was calling for intelligent laywomen to replace pseudo-Irish bishops in the public square to speak on behalf of the Church.
Jimmy, I think Donohue has spoken out:
http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/486947076.html
His first sentence is a sad reminder of how little even GOOD Catholics know about American/Catholic history.
“Never has there been a more vicious anti-Catholic advertisement in a prominent American newspaper than the one in today’s New York Times by Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF).”
@ Jack Barry: That is funny! I love it.
When even I, “Jim Jenkins making a relevant comment,” demonstrates a really low-bar! You’re killing me with such high wit and praise.
When I heard of that ad, at first I was afraid that it came from a fringe Catholic group. As soon as I saw it and realized it came from an atheist organization, I was relieved and it didn’t bother me any more. Why get upset by such silliness when our internal problems loom so much larger?
Today I had much trouble reflecting on this Sunday’s Gospel, so I went to the local Saturday Mass, hoping that the homily might enlighten me. It was mostly families with children and high school youth, and I briefly wished my children had been there with me.
But this is how the homily started: “I want to tell you a story. God had the tablets with the ten commandments, and wanted to give them to people. First he went to the Arabs, and told them: “I have something for you.” The Arabs asked: “What is it?” God said: “They are commandments. You shall not kill.” The Arabs said: “No thanks, we’re not interested.” Then God went to the French and told them: “I have something for you.” The French asked: “What is it?” God said: “They are commandments. You shall not commit adultery.” The French said: “No thanks, we’re not interested.” Then God went to the Jews and told them: “I have something for you.” The Jews asked: “How much does it cost?” God said: “It is free.” The Jews said: “Ok, we’ll take it.” “
The people in the congregation laughed and laughed, more loudly at each witticism, while I sat rigidly in my pew, arms crossed across my chest. I was only relieved that my children were not there, since that would only have confirmed their negative opinion of the Catholic church.
With such prejudices, who cares what others might say about us? We are our own worst enemies.
Peter exhorted us to tell people about the hope that is in us. Our bishops are telling people what they should do in the bedroom. An obsession they will not desist from. But the FFRF may be right about some things but they do not know Catholics if they think we will leave the church for them in their godlessness. Our bishops might be whores, to paraphrase Dorothy Day, but they are our whores. We urge our bishops to be servants of the servants of the Lord. FFRF has nothing to say to us.
I’m not sure how newspapers set policies regarding which ads are accepted or rejected for publication (not that I particularly care) — but I don’t think the decision to publish such an ad enhances the credibility of the New York Times when it comes to reporting on things Catholic.
I’d probably change parishes after that. Embarrassing. This can’t be the first time, though. Why do you put up with it?
It’s not my parish. It’s just the parish closest to where I live.
But there’s nothing special about it. It’s just a large, mainstream, suburban parish. Imagine if this is what a typical Catholic parish is like! What a nightmare!
To his credit, the priest, when I told him upon leaving after Mass: “I am French and I didn’t like your joke”, said he was sorry and looked as though he meant it. But the congregation!! Ugh.
FFRF: “You’re like the battered woman who, after being beaten down every Sunday, feels like there is no place else for her to go.”
Yup. They have a point. Indeed, there is no place else, but sometimes being Catholic is a real challenge. In theory I very much want it to be a place for everyone, welcoming of all, but in practice it’s hard to accept everyone, bigots and all, and praying with them is not easy, to put it mildly. Choosing a parish that fits me (which I have done) is a cop-out. When each person does that, we segregate according to our preferences, our divisions deepen, and then what? Where are we headed? I think our bishops are fools, but maybe I am (along with my parish) the one who is marginalized, and they are the ones who are well aligned with mainstream parishes. It’s a depressing thought.
Methinks the FFRF is no less dogmatic than the RC Church. At least the RC Church teaches that we should not become dependent on the pharmaceutical companies. Having to pay insurance companies to give us contraceptive coverage just helps to make the wealthy one percent of the population wealthier whether we want contraception or not.
Claire – The “joke” that priest told might be the ugliest homily item I’ve ever heard of. It demands a response. I understand it’s too late to get up and walk out, or to confront him after mass. I don’t know how comfortable you are with such things. But I really think you should consider writing a letter to the bishop. I know you would be able to write it in the proper way, such that he wouldn’t just chuck it aside.
A hard stop needs to be put to that sort of thing. We shouldn’t, and don’t, have to put up with that hurtful and hateful nonsense from the pulpit. I am so, so sorry that you and the rest of that assembly were subjected to such a vile thing. It really makes me angry.
As it happens, I took some of my kids to mass on Saturday evening, and our pastor’s homily was one of the very best I’ve ever heard. I wish you could have been there instead.
Jean, I know that you meant your comment to be humorous, but let me be the humorless grinch for Sunday morning: it feeds into the notion that church really is little more than a social outlet for most people, who really couldn’t care much less about theology than the average agnostic (even an atheist is serious enough to take the time to think about it and say no). So it’s kind of like the resistance to the war in Vietnam — what really escalated the opposition was the elimination of the draft deferment for college students. That’s why the bishops’ harder line on contraception, if successful (unlikely as it seems at this point) or even if unsuccessful but much more visible on an ongoing basis, is so pernicious: it’s one thing to show up for that entertaining fish fry when there is nothing personally on the line for you. Quite another if your religious assent makes you feel like you have to invite the bishop to police your bedroom.
I would also say that it harbors an even more insidious danger: the creation of more entertaining and convenient social outlets competes head to head with the Church and as a generation no longer sees fish fries as entertaining, well, there goes the next generation of Church attendees. I would say that mega churches are far more sociologically astute on this point than the RCC.
I hate being reductionistic, but the issue really comes down to who controls the money. As long as hierarchs and clerics have unfettered and unaccountable access to mountains of money, they will continue to lead the church as if it were their personal fiefdom – that is what the church’s feudal oligarchy is all about.
NCR Online this past week has been running an article about St. Peter’s parish in Cleveland which has struck out on their own, incorporating as a 501c, III non-profit, financially independent of the diocese and bishop. They have moved from their the sanctuary that the diocese is trying to sell and are attempting to re-create their community of meaning.
They’re not perfect, but the Community of St. Peter in Cleveland is a prototype for the kind of grassroots, base Catholic communities that will be necessary all across America if the Catholic Church is to even survive till the end of the 21st century.
The Community of St. Peter is a pioneer on the frontier of American Catholicism.
By separating from the “corporation sole” model of Catholic dioceses, where the bishop OWNS literally every piece of property in the diocese, St. Peter’s now enjoys the freedom to create their Christian community out of their own hands and hearts. St. Peter’s has created a viable alternative for parishioners’ charitable donations.
What if Catholic parishes all around the Cleveland diocese, all around America for that matter, established independent and locally controlled foundations to support the ongoing ministries of their parishes? Sure, these brave Catholics would have to surrender the physical monuments to stability that our parish churches and buildings, and their clerical control, have come to represent.
But in return, these Catholic communities would step out of stifling dependency on compromised hierarchs into energizing self-agency in their religious and spiritual lives. “I was dead, and behold I am alive” (Rev. 1:18).
Like our primitive Christian forebears around the Mediterranean two millennia ago, these Catholics would enjoy the charisma of the Spirit and the vitality of starting anew among the ruins to which the hierarchs and clerics have led the Catholic Church over the cliff and into the abyss with their corrupt leadership and complicity in the rape and sodomy of our children.
Community of St. Peter: there are millions of us out here who are pulling for you.
And, the article already cites academics who cannot, or more likely will not, give their support to St. Peter’s Community because they are anathema to “schism.” No one wants to repeat the mistakes of the Reformation, for sure.
But, I would say that the ball is in the court of the hierarchs on that matter. [Actually, IMPO, B16 would love to provoke a schism - thereby supposedly getting rid of a lot of the hierarchs' headaches.] the hierarchs are going to have to prove that they really believe in the tender mercies of the Beatitudes.
Besides, for all us supporters of St. Peter’s, as my sainted sixth-grade teacher, Sister Mary Adelaide, often warned us after our daily reading from the Lives of the Saints: “Christianity is not for sissies.”
Ouch! My fanny hurts, Barbara!
If I wanted a social outlet, I’d go to wakes instead of the local parish. It would be more lively and the people would be nicer. So I refuse to feel guilty about getting six weeks of chuckles out of the yearly soap opera that is the fish fry.
I also think you neglected to get my overall point–perhaps I made it badly–which is that for all the sterility of the local parish and my being a Bad Catholic by having kicked the bishop out of my bedroom years ago, it’s STILL a better spiritual home than the FFRF or the fundiegelical mega-churches where real nice folks insist you check your brain at the door and believe that the world is flat.
The local parish connects me to the larger Church, and I think most of its teachings are good and life affirming, and that’s something I find hard to give up despite the fact that I don’t live up to its teachings in every area of my life.
Jim: thanks for your suggestion, which I followed just now (except that instead of the bishop, I wrote to the pastor of the parish where he is associate pastor.) And thanks for being upset on my behalf!
The only thing more obnoxious then conservative Catholics telling me I should quit, are non-Catholics telling me to quit. (At least the conservatives have skin in the game)
I was not offended by the FFRF ad, but, then, it didn’t take non-Catholics to urge me to leave the Church of Rome. B16 gave me plenty of reason to depart, and I’ve never regretted my decision.
I’d love to see more RC parishes go the route of St. Peter’s Catholic Community. To me, this episode represents the best model to date of of any hope of renewing the Church of Rome.
Thanks to JPII and now B16, ecclesial renewal — if it’s to come at all — will originate from the outside, not the inside.
Catholicism is undergoing a metamorphosis, painful though it is for a lot of folks.
I thought Jimmy Mac’s referncing of the America thread by Fordham’s Tom Beaudoin to be most relevant.
Not the ugly ad many can vilify, but how could it be that such an ad came to be and does it play into the”deconversion” phenomenon we see in the world of the US Church 9more and more?)
In our parish, I hear more and more about regs and rules catholicism, and my guess is that for all the good people there it means less and less.
Just in thinking about Church and our young people especially, my sense is that the distinctive Catholicism put forward is more of “all about us,” while I think Bill M. reads it right, the message (of servant) is it’s all about them -and, maybe, especially those at the margins.
Definition of ‘Skin In The Game’
A term coined by renowned investor Warren Buffett referring to a situation in which high-ranking insiders use their own money to buy stock in the company they are running.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/skininthegame.asp
No reason to fear the FFRF–Catholics are already leaving in droves. Indeed, if it weren’t for immigration, the US Church would be aging and shrinking rapidly. And the most important issues for the leadership? Contraception and gay marriage, issues virtually guaranteed to alienate the young. Even if these are important, the leadership’s monomania on sexual questions feels weird to millennials and others, kind of like that creepy unmarried uncle who can’t talk about anything but sex.
“Jimmy, I think Donohue has spoken out: ”
I shoulda known that it was too good to be true.
Claire 03/10/2012 @ 7:51 pm
What does that Catholic bigotry and nonsense no longer surprise me? And why DID it surprise you?
It caught me unawares because, at Mass, I try to be more receptive to what the priest or deacon might have to say during the homily. (In my regular parish that can be done without risk.)
Maybe it no longer surprises you because you’ve let them harden you and have become cynical.
Lisa,
“Monomania” is not reserved to the bishops. All you need do is scroll through the obsessively repetitive comments on the blogs of both left and right to verify the fact.
As for “fearing” the FFRF — I think “funny” is the more fitting word. Didn’t their lament about the Church’s power to muzzle and intimidate the “Times” elicit even a faint chuckle?
” — you and have become cynical.”
Yea, verily.
Claire — I’m very sorry you got what you did instead of what you went there for and were owed. Were I there, I hope I would have followed you out, said “I’m an Arab”, and told him precisely what I thought of his “homily” and his teaching. Perhaps with a committed jokester as distinguished President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he felt that was the way to go these days.
No worry Jack. That was yesterday, and today is another day. I will mail my letter, because I’d feel guilty to let people be insulted without speaking up, but then I’ll put the incident behind me.
“Monomania” is not reserved to the bishops. All you need do is scroll through the obsessively repetitive comments on the blogs of both left and right to verify the fact.
———-
Perhaps the comments (here, at least) are obsessively repetitive because the contributors’ opening posts are obsessively repetitive.
If commenters were allowed to start threads, some less dreary topics might be introduced.
“If commenters were allowed to start threads, some less dreary topics might be introduced.”
Thanks for the welcome injection of a little humor :-)
You’re welcome!
LOL at the notion that anyone could come up with more riveting topics than the ten most recent:
1) Margaret on Israel;
2) Joseph on Augustine’s teachings about the “serious sins” of the “Jewish people”;
3) Robert on Ireland;
4) Robert on a NYT ad;
5) Joseph on pre-natal testing;
6) Joseph on Augustine’s teachings about snakes’ skin;
7) Margaret on Israel;
8) David on contraception;
9) Joseph on Augustine’s teachings about bags; and
10) Robert on a New Yorker review of Götterdämmerung.
American Atheists put up a big billboard on the eve of Purim outside an orthodox Jewish Community in Brooklyn. Community leaders found the billboard objectionable in general, but were particularly distressed that it spelled out “God” in Hebrew letters, something the Orthodox don’t do.
http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/03/08/42651-atheist-billboard-enrages-jewish-community/comment-page-1/#comment-1039962
Are these kinds of ads actually meant to be persuasive?
The NY Times ad comes across either as an excuse to spew bigoted hate speech and ridicule towards the Catholic Church, or as a sign of desperation and instability in FFRF:
Parody translation of the FFRF ad at:
http://sytereitz.com/2012/03/translation-of-ffrf-quit-the-catholic-church-nytimes-ad-or-its-not-easy-being-free-from-religion/
Gerelyn that’s a silly description.
What topics related to politics, religion, and culture, would you like to see covered?
It’s not my personal ideal mix but it’s by far the best of any blog I know anywhere in French or in English.
Syte’s web site, at which she defends Rush and predicts FFRF’s next target will be Islam, is another “welcome injection of a little humor”.
LOL
Five suggested topics:
1. Did God misunderstand the vaguely worded intention for the 2008 Election Novena (“for an outcome of the November Election which is pleasing to Almighty God, and which best serves the eternal and temporal interests of all of His children”) and should the 2012 Election Novena get mores specific? I mean, look who won in 2008.
2. What happened to Father Corapi? Should he be rehabilitated to run the Crystal Cathedral?
3. What exactly is a “fish fry” and why don’t we have them in Manhattan?
4. Should bishops be given the power to order fatwas?
5. To rekindle interests in relics, should EWTN start a program called “Relics Road Show” where they travel around the country estimating the monetary value of relic collections brought in by ordinary lay people?
6. Are the notes in the New American Bible heretical?
7. When was the last time you gave or received a spiritual bouquet? Wore a scapular? Wrote “JMJ” at the top of a piece of paper before you started writing? Said the prayer to your guardian angel?
8. St. Patrick’s Day is coming up. Share your recipes for Irish Soda Bread.
9. Do we really know there isn’t a Limbo?
10. When did restaurants begin having someone come to the table and asking, “Would you like some fresh pepper on that?”
If the Bible said “five suggested topics” and a list of ten followed, would it still be inerrant? Yes, because it doesn’t say “only five suggested topics.” If more than five topics follow, there are definitely five, even thought there are more. (However, in this case, I made an error.)
Hi, David!
5) My husband pointed out an article in the FT the other day about the investment opportunities in relics. (I forgot to read it.) And the person who stole St. Lawrence O’Toole’s heart had something in mind. (DNA?)
7) I say the prayer to my GA frequently. Can’t wait to see Her face-to-face.
10) Is the word “twice” disappearing from the English language, as thrice seems to have done? I notice on t.v. ads, they say, Our product is two times more effective.
—-
I would like to see a thread about gay issues in the Church. I think I’m not the only Catholic who has some questions. (About hypocrisy, outing, etc.)
Interesting how a thread on the NYT ad became one on threads here and how can one stay above the fray pf all the slanted commenters.I’m bemused but if the topic needs more, maybe we should evaluate by the number of responses to various posts.
As to those who put forth threads, there are many many fine presenters, but “who will guard the very guards?” Grant? And who will guard Grant?)
LOL
“3. What exactly is a ‘fish fry’.” and why don’t we have them in Manhattan?”
As I understand it, you don’t have party stores, grain elevators where you can play with baby chicks, or euchre tournaments in Manhattan, either, which is your loss, IMO. But most of that stuff we give up for Lent. Anyhow, I’m not touching fish fries no more for fear of reducing the high-toned tenor of this here blog.
Jean,
Is a party store in Michigan what was known as a “pony keg” in Cincinnati? It is a store that sells beer, soda (as it is called in New York—Coke, Pepsi, Root Beer, and so on), pretzels, potato chips, perhaps candy and ice cream, but no fresh produce, tv dinners, or other such items one might find in a small grocery store.
David N., Gerelyn — Re 5) relics and investing. Think bigger.
Cdl. George is reportedly considering public sale of bonds so you can invest in his diocese (and he gets cash flow). Not sure I’d want too much of my retirement funds there in spite of a high rating from Moody’s and the century-old inspiration from Cdl. Mundelein. But, to spice up a topic, one could probably mention usury, benefices, and clerical inheritance for riveting background.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-29/news/ct-met-archdiocese-finances-20120129_1_bond-sale-private-bonds-archdiocese
Actually, you might want to investigate the following NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/us/religious-statues-left-behind-find-their-own-patron-saint.html?scp=1&sq=church%20cleveland&st=cse
About a guy who has purchased a decommissioned church in Cleveland and turned it into a museum where he displays a variety of relics and statues that he has personally restored.
“10. When did restaurants begin having someone come to the table and asking, “Would you like some fresh pepper on that?””
Don’t you mean, “When did they stop?” Although, I did take my family to Olive Garden (unaccountably, they like it) where they offer fresh grated parmesan cheese on top of anything you can think of. I think the possibility of more imaginative freshly ground toppings is ripe for exploration. Why doesn’t anyone ask me if I’d like freshly ground cinnamon bark on my coffee? Or freshly ground horseradish root on my prime rib?
Fish fries can only happen in Catholic environments. That is why there are none in New York City.
Euchre parties, however, are very narrowly restricted to the upper Midwest!
Lest I win the prize for sponsoring the most off-topic comments in the history of dotCom, I have to declare: this fish is fried!