Bill Donohue says we should all convert to Catholicism and then everything would be fine.
In an ideal world, Muslims who interpret the Koran to justify violence would convert to Catholicism, and artists who think they have an absolute right to insult people of faith would follow suit. If both did, we would have peace and civility.
Catholicism teaches that it is immoral to intentionally kill innocent persons, beginning with life in the womb. It is not a pacifistic religion—it believes in just wars—though it naturally inclines towards non-violence. It most certainly does not counsel violence as a right remedy to insolent behavior. Muslims who say it is morally justified to kill obscene artists, citing the Koran as their impetus, would do us all a favor if they converted to Catholicism.
Oh really? Catholicism naturally inclines towards non-violence? Catholicism does not counsel violence as a right remedy to insolent behavior? What was all that about the Inquisition then? What were all those burnings for? What were the crusades for? Why were church-run prisons for children in Ireland so rife with sadism?
What a bullshitter Donohue is.
Catholicism teaches that freedom is the right to do what you ought to do. As such, it is always tied to duty, and to individual responsibility. Once that understanding breaks down—as it has in the West—trouble follows.
Oh yes? What was and is all that about the rapey priests then? What was all that about shielding the priests and sending them to new parishes instead of reporting their rapes to the police? If that’s what Catholicism teaches, why is it so grotesquely bad at acting accordingly? Unless of course you simply define “what you ought to do” as obedience to stupid Catholic rules as opposed to respect for the rights of other people.
Unfortunately, many artists interpret their rights as a solo exercise, disconnected from duty or responsibility. But autonomy can never be a sturdy guide to morality: it devolves into relativism and to a wholesale disrespect for the rights of others. Narcissistic artists who associate obscenity with creativity would do us all a favor if they converted to Catholicism.
Ah so you are talking about the rights of others. But then why is church history so full of cruelty and exploitation? Why is its copybook so stained with blood and tears? Why has it been so horrible for so long?
The central problem with Muslim extremists and irresponsible artists is that neither embodies the virtue of restraint. If they did, they would not act as the barbarians and libertines that they are. Catholicism is the answer.
What a terrible human being he is.