Libby Purves suggests that the Catholic church’s response to its own recent history has been due to its own perspective that the reporting (she quotes a reporter for the Boston Globe) “is fuelled by anti-Catholicism and shyster lawyers hustling to tap the deep pockets of the church.” And maybe it is, she says. But.
But such an attitude is not a dignified response to clamorous hysteria. It is self-protective, paranoid arrogance; the canker that threatens all religions and ideologies. We recognise it all too well from history, and from modern fundamentalism in Christianity and Islam. Once you are convinced that you alone hold the truth — whether your god is Amun-Ra or Marx — you slough off self-doubt and self-examination. You build rich hierarchies of obedience, surround them with impressive ritual and illogical rules, and then circle the wagons to protect your artificial structure.
And you do that so thoroughly and with such fervor that you can even manage to justify (to yourself) protecting perpetrators while threatening victims – even though the perps are grown men and the victims are children.
Comments
5 responses to “It’s all Catholophobia, surely”
Good article, I notice that one comment seemed to imply that the fault lay in insidious, creeping atheism within the church. I say ‘seemed’ as it wasn’t a particularly coherent comment.
Shyster lawyers, eh? Catholic antisemitism much, y’think?
Yes, that’s why I quoted directly. Pretty language coming from the Holy.
Ah, yes. Holy.
I take it we have all seen this truth spoken plain?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPvwGqq4Meg&feature=player_embedded
How silly to attempt to ignore criticisms by labelling them “anti-X,” as though that makes it less reasonable. You’re right, OB, it IS just the same rhetorical move as “Islamophobia.” It’s not that I makes the criticisms I do because I’m anti-religious, I’m anti-religious because of the content of the criticisms! I suppose that’s the difference between free inquiry and apologetics, and I guess it’s not surprising that the Catholic Church can’t tell the difference.