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| The Martyrdom of St. Lucy |
Anti-Catholicism is as old as the Church itself. The Romans hated the Catholics--they were infant eating, atheists who were bringing down the temple economy. For those of you who are cradle Catholics and a generation or two older than me, I imagine you have gotten use to the steady dose of Church-hate. I'm a neophyte, so I'm adjusting.
All you have to do is search "Catholicism, the last acceptable prejudice" in Google to get a myriad of articles from Archbishop Dolan to Father Barron on the topic (although Jimmy Akin disagrees). Whether we can settle on the affirmative to that claim or not, we can all agree that Henry VIII and Elizabeth I did their best to eradicate Catholicism off the Anglo-Saxon map, and from the moment this country was founded anti-Catholicism has flourished. A recent History Channel special on The Pilgrims highlighted how archeologists are uncovering Catholic sacramentals in what appears to be execution sites. There is a comment thread over at the History Channel's website that evidences both 17th century prejudice and bares witness to the anti-Catholicism that is lurking almost anywhere (look at the reply).
On my journey to the Catholic Church from low-church protestantism, I actually found anti-Catholicism to serve as a kind of anti-apologetic. [Raging Anti-Catholics: If you are reading this stop reading this now]. In demonstrating your understanding of your opponents position, caricatures, hate-laced diatribe or straw-men do little to prove you understand the issue, care to understand the issue or are animated by the Spirit of Christ. I found these types of rhetorical ramrods to be at the least off-putting and at the most begging the question as to whether or not Catholicism was in fact true. If the best someone can come up with is a shoddy photoshopped picture to "prove" the Pope doesn't love Jesus, I'm all in. No really, it isn't that simple, but the weakness of a disproof can point to the strength of a proof.
Today as Catholics we are faced with 3 types of Anti-Catholicism: genetic, demonic and political. Sadly, everyone--not just Catholics--is faced with these types of anti-Church filth and the great tragedy is that it keeps many men and women out of the Church. A cursory and sophistic argument works for a cursory inquirer, and today more than ever, the inquirer has become cursory at best. Let's now turn our attention to the 3 categories of anti-Catholicism.
GENETIC
Flannery O'Connor captures this particular hereditary malady. I'm reminded of the tenant farmers, the Shortleys, in her story The Displaced Person. Like many other southern prejudices, anti-Catholicism in O'Connor's work comes off with that smile-while-I-spit-in-your face ignorance so endemic to genetic hate. We all laugh while I make fun of your statue of the Mother of the Savior of the World. Okay?
Here are some examples of Genetic Anti-Catholicism:
- Headline Reads: "Vatican Spokesman Discusses the Eucharist and Globalization"-- Commentary: The Pope is the anti-Christ and will be the head of a one-world government
- Saying Catholics worship Mary over and over again until those still in the room believe you
- A Website with a Header called "God Hates the Catholic Church" followed by this image
- People who make comments on blog posts referring to "poor Catholics" who are "trapped" in a religious system of man-made traditions that keeps them from the real saving power of Jesus
DEMONIC
Clarification: All forms of anti-Catholicism are demonic. The Catholic Church is the Church Jesus Christ established, it is not a denomination of men. Therefore, there is only one prince whose aim is to defeat that which the Lord declared the gates of hell would not prevail against. Nonetheless, some forms of anti-Catholicism take on an entirely sinister, should I say, quality. Ignorance can be bliss for the genetic kind, but in this category the anti-Catholic seems to understand that he or she is defaming the holy and enjoys doing it.
Three examples: Lady Gaga, Jerry Springer and Paul Myers.
First, I don't even need to explain why I put Lady Gaga in the mix. Why a Catholic parent would let her near their children with a 10,000 foot pole perplexes me. From start to finish, Lady Gaga is out to promote sin and undermine the Church Christ established to defeat it. Not to mention that her beats are unoriginal and her lyrics lack any noetic quality.
Second, Jerry Springer's newest escapade includes publicly mocking the crucifix and trashing the Eucharist.
Third, Minnesota professor Paul Myers illicitly obtained the Eucharist and then publicly desecrated it, "reporting" to his followers on his blog all the lurid details. He apparently nailed pages of Dawkins The God Delusion to our Lord (ironic that Dawkins argues that religion causes hate). Sadly, Myers act has spawned a youtube challenge to desecrate the Eucharist with no end in site.
The Devil is the only source of hate for this kind of anti-Catholicism. From demon-possessed to demon-obsessed, unlike their genetic counterparts, they could care less if Satan is using them and to their demise, he is.
POLITICAL
From the Huff-Puff Post to the New York Times, political hate for the Catholic Church abounds. It's a "spin-zone" where bishops, orthodoxy and common sense morals are fair game for the intelligentsia to knock around like a cheap piñata. It's almost a party atmosphere, and writers like Maureen Dowd are particularly savvy at rotting their teeth away on anti-Catholic dum-dums.
Political anti-Catholicism has always been about one thing: keeping Catholics out of politics. Americans were afraid of having a Catholic president for fear he would follow the Pope over the people. This fear nearly kept Kennedy out of the oval office. Now, since mainline Protestantism has acquiesced to the modern ethic, Catholicism (and Evangelicalism) has become the last bastione against the secular sacking of the West--particularly in America. The gate has been broken down and the enemy of decency and common sense is running amuck.
In political rhetorical strategy, the more one caricatures one's opponent the better. Cartoons are good, but if all we read is the funny papers we are in trouble. If the Huff-Puff and Times were your only source of information about the Catholic Church, you might be led to believe that the Church is against: women, those with same-sex attraction, abused children, good sex, freedom, healthcare and the terminally ill.
As faithful Catholics, we know that last sentence to be patently false. The problem is that the political agenda to keep Catholics out of politics acts as a kind of intellectual hegemony, keeping from the mind the beauty of the Catholic faith in a quid pro quo move that leaves most audiences alienated from that happiness that St. Augustine speaks of and our Constitution promises.
(Note: modern political anti-Catholicism is quickly morphing into the genetic kind)
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What can we do?
Pray. Not just in our closet and chapel but with our lives. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta reminds all of us that our lives should answer the prayers that we pray.
Dialogue. Prejudice is defeated through conversation and repentance. Honest and sincere engagement with the other defeats the genetic prejudice, except for in cases where there is something more demonic at play than first thought.
Be Catholic. Nothing proves to the world more the untruth of anti-Catholicism than Catholicism lived out. Passionately loving Christ, His Mother, and the entire Christian family. Caring for the sick, widow, imprisoned and orphan. Defending the gift of life from conception to natural end. Worshiping God in Spirit and Truth. This is our faith, the faith of the Church. God sent His Son to be the Good News and His Son sent the Church to be the voice of that news because the world was in need of it.
It still is.
