Say what you wish, Stu, but at least Canadiens aren’t identified by their revolting nature.Sure, it's in response to a dig at Canadians that heavily criticizes the initial comment by lumping all Canadians together as ones who would say such a thing. But still, it's nice to know there are thoughtful internet Catholics who believe we are revolting by our very nature. Still, this is from the fellow who said children slaughtered by American Indians got what they got for being part of the evil White Protestant Invaders. Imagine saying that on Mark's blog about Japanese children in Hiroshima and imagine how long you'd last (I think both things would be repugnant to say). A reminder why the Catholic Church has such a massive stack of bodies in its 2000 year old wake.
Anyhoo, the initial comment on Mark's post was what got me to thinking. It was posted by a regular reader whose dislike of the US is pretty well documented. Fair enough. The question was, why is Mark's blog such a magnet for the "Hate America Catholics!" crowd? I stated that I don't believe Mark is there, yet. But then, in response to that little 'let's assume America sucks and is evil' dig, Mark posted his own response:
Actually, I like your comment just fine. Yes, his remarks are of a piece with the utopian arrogance that dominates the United States.Uh huh. So there you go. Mark gives a high five kudos to the whole 'no doubt the evil US will lead a coup to depose the Pope since it's so evil and arrogant' assumption. Is there wiggle room? Could Mark argue he doesn't have some loathing and contempt for everything to do with the US? Is there, shall we say, room for plausible deniability? Again, no problem with criticizing America. But this is criticizing America with the same balance and insight that Jack Chick brings to his disagreements with the Catholic Church.
No, scratch that. In it all, I'm actually convinced that Jack Chick thinks he's doing the right thing and really wants Catholics to save themselves from certain damnation. The comments I'm increasingly seeing on Mark's site suggest nothing of the sort. They merely suggest, well, a hatred of the US more in line with a Fred Phelps than Chick. For Phelps gives no indication he has any concern or desire for those he hates to be anything other than those he hates. And Mark, who once rallied around the flag and proclaimed that while we must be prepared to correct our nation, we should never cease loving our nation as an extension of the command to love our neighbors? Who once shouted down those too critical of our nation as violating that very principle? Who now has a regular litany of visitors ready to proclaim 'America sucks, it's evil, stupid, always has been, it's worthless it's the cause of all suffering, American's are dolts and evil losers, who cares if its rotten kids were slaughtered by Indians!'? I give you hope:
To criticize America with the mind of the Christ is a duty of every American Christian. But, since 9/11, many more Christians and many Americans now recognize that all such criticism should be done with reverence and gratitude for the truly great country this is. (Emphasis mine)
America! America!Mark Shea, The National Review, 12/29/2001
God mend thine every flaw,
confirm thy soul in self-control,
thy liberty in law.
It was true then. It is still true today.
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| What has he done? |
[cont from previous post]
ReplyDeleteYeah. It probably is, as is most sin. I'm not saying there's nothing to criticize, but it's obvious when it goes beyond that.
Yeah, that's what I was attempting to convey. Or at least, one would hope that some Catholics, upon seeing how little separates them from their "enemies", would pause just for a moment. Maybe (just maybe) they could consider that they might be as off about the USA as atheists are off about the Catholic church.
And that just as atheists are learning, a society without the Church (well, any religion, really) isn't as great as they hoped - maybe some should realize that a world without the USA might be darker and worst than they hope.
At times I like to think of this quote:
The problem here is that not only do America's problems also exist in other countries, a lot of the time they're actually worse. Is the American criminal justice system getting you down? Escape to France, where prisoners have been reduced to eating rats and get to shower twice a week -- oh yeah, and this was inside a prison where only half of the inmates had been convicted of anything. Or Japan, where they can hold you for 23 days without trial in a "substitute prison," while relentlessly interrogating you and depriving you of sleep and food, a system that has led to an extremely high rate of false confessions.
Hate American rednecks' racism and xenophobia? French Muslims are 2.5 times less likely to get called back after job interviews than non-Muslim applicants with similar qualifications, and Italy, Spain and the U.K. have all had race riots recently.
...
So why don't most Americans think about these things? I think it actually comes from something positive: the fact that Americans are uniquely willing to openly discuss uncomfortable or embarrassing problems.
Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_19363_6-reasons-your-plans-to-move-abroad-might-not-work-out_p2.html#ixzz2O5L3jbMY
(I recommend the whole article, actually)