“We’re no more engaged in a witch hunt than a doctor excising a cancer is engaged in a witch hunt,” said Michael Voris of RealCatholicTV.com and St. Michael’s Media. “We’re just shining a spotlight on people who are Catholics who do not live the faith.”
Yes, there’s nothing like a little Christian charity and tolerance to make you think that there just might be hope for humanity, eh? Well, that might be the case if that’s what was actually going on within the Catholic Church. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll own up to not being a fan of the Catholic Church (quelle surprise), but this is just plain silly. Self-appointed moral policeman, engaging in witch hunts to ensure ideological and theological purity? THIS is What Jesus Would Do? Could it really be true that Catholicism is less a religion than just another means for fearful and intolerant Catholics to enforce conformity and their rigid, inflexible, slavish devotion to doctrine? Is it really about requiring that Catholics forfeit the right to think for themselves and fall into lockstep behind an inflexible theology completely devoid of the grey areas that define the human condition?
What I find so interesting about this strain of what’s been called “Taliban Catholicism” is the emphasis on conformity at the expense of humanity. Church teachings are held to be immutable and all-powerful. Doctrine takes precedence over everything, even the grey areas that are the realities of day to day human existence. While depending on rules can help ensure order and reduce uncertainty, I fail to understand why Taliban Catholics are so threatened by independent thinking. No, I’m not advocating selective obedience, though some might think that a viable option. That being said, any institution is a living organism, shaped and defined by its members. Vital institutions use history and experience to adapt and change to ensure their continued relevance and viability. Fearful, sclerotic institutions (like the Catholic Church) fight change, resist self-examination, and refuse to tolerate independent thinking. When an institution cannot (or refuses to) look within itself and adapt to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world, that institution begins to die.
Historically, of course, the Catholic Church has seldom, if ever, been about the teachings of Jesus Christ. More often than not, the Vatican has been controlled by those primarily concerned with maintaining their own position and power. Enforcing conformity and obedience has been an effective way of maintaing the status quo. Fast forward to today, and…the more things change….
Certainly, there are many Catholics who live their faith in a loving and caring manner. Unfortunately, few of these folks are in positions of power within the Church hierarchy. The Vatican’s current venality and corruption are not appreciably different in an historical sense from what has come before. The Catholic Church has always welcomed the fearful, the intolerant, and the overly zealous…because it serves their purpose. Until and unless Catholics wake up and demand change, nothing will change…and the Catholic Church will continue to be one of the most demonstrably corrupt and sclerotic institutions on the face of the planet. The truly sad thing is that it doesn’t have to be this way.
Catholics (and all of us) deserve better….
