This is how the blogosphere should deal with disputes. Congrats to both of them.
FROM THE ‘DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND’: A new low for the far left: a post titled, “Why I Hope the Bloodshed Continues in Iraq.” I kid you not.
DERBYSHIRE AWARD NOMINEE: “One is, Do I think [a Catholic schism with liberals leaving the Church en masse] would be better that way? No. Do I think it’s possible? Do I think it’s possible for someone who believes in the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of life, the sanctity of family, over a period of time to choose to survive with people who think it’s OK to kill women and children or for — quote — homosexual couples to exist and be recognized? No, I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t know how it’s going to work itself out, but I know it’s not possible, and my hope and prayer is that it does not end in violence. But, unfortunately, in the past, these types of things have tended to end this way. If American Catholics feel that’s troubling, let them. I don’t feel it’s troubling at all.” – Revd John C. McCloskey, Opus Dei priest and guru to the paleocon set. He’s referring to his own prediction of a future Catholic Church in which all dissenting remnants have been purged – leaving it with perhaps 30 percent of its current membership in the U.S. I have no idea what he means by “killing women.” (Abortion?) But to equate toleration of murder with toleration of the mere existence of homosexual relationships seems to me to be a revealing hyperbole. (Notice how he won’t even deign to call gay relationships “homosexual couples”. Such a term would accord them too much dignity.) Subsequently, McCloskey also makes the following statement:
“There’s a name for Catholics who dissent from church teachings. They’re called Protestants. As someone who’s really a Catholic – and if you asked me, I’d say I consider myself a Catholic – it’s something that you hope doesn’t interfere with your citizenship, but that’s reality. What I’m saying is, a lot of Catholics who were totally faithful to the church started to assimilate, but the assimilation was not simply in terms of ‘I’m a Catholic, and I’m also an American.’ It was also giving in to the Protestant secular ethos of the United States of America.”
What McCloskey is saying is that the old canard about Catholic dual loyalties is not only true but admirable! McCloskey’s radicalism is echoed by Senator Santorum, who has also attacked president John Kennedy’s distinction between public life and private religious faith. This is the new face of ultra-orthodoxy.
The Dish 