Comments on: Sometimes I think Randall Terry is Really Working for the Abortion Lobby

By: standmickey

standmickey — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:07:14 +0000

“One does little good, FOF, Frank, and standmickey, by assuming the worst of someone. I agree with Brett that his extreme and (I would guess) counterproductive efforts are the result of his failing to think out their consequences.”

Fair enough, Zak. Mea culpa. To the confessional I go…

With that acknowledged, I think it is fair to say that whatever his motives, Randall Terry is the pro-choice movement’s dream pro-lifer. They couldn’t come up with a better caricature.

By: Ipsitilla

Ipsitilla — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:48:54 +0000

I agree that it’s idiotic to think that someone might adopt the pro-life position as a result of seeing Reid and Pelosi burned in effigy (or, for that matter, in actuality).

Likewise, it’s ridiculous to think that someone might adopt the pro-abortion position as a result of one nutty pro-lifer making a foolish gesture.

The mistake on both sides is to assume that people are emotional reactionaries lacking so much as two live neurons to form a synapse. Anyone whose stand on this highly important issue can be changed (in either direction) by this particular stunt by Randall Terry is not a person whose support or good opinion is worth winning.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:03:17 +0000

Archbishop Burke welcomed him at the Vatican as a legitimate Catholic pro-life leader, so how bad can he be?

By: Henry Karlson

Henry Karlson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:52:11 +0000

Blackadder

I think the “anti-Catholic” statement is that he is acting against Catholic principles. And here, it is that of the respect for life, even of those who we do not like. We are to show love and respect to everyone. To promote the dignity of life. Terry, in being against abortion, seems to be also against the full Gospel of Life (which includes human dignity).

By: Blackadder

Blackadder — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:23:43 +0000

Also, I’m not sure what is so anti-Catholic about what Terry is proposing (not saying it’s a good idea, mind you, just that it’s not anti-Catholic).

By: Blackadder

Blackadder — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:19:45 +0000

I’m not a Randall Terry fan, but if he really is “one of the most vile the far right has to offer” then the far right can’t be all that bad.

By: Zak

Zak — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:24:55 +0000

Or maybe he thinks abortion is such a horrible evil that virtually any action short of vigilantism is acceptable in the efforts to bring it to an end. He’s like a less violent John Brown. One does little good, FOF, Frank, and standmickey, by assuming the worst of someone. I agree with Brett that his extreme and (I would guess) counterproductive efforts are the result of his failing to think out their consequences.

Of course, if there were a Catholic blogger who, while insisting he was pro-life, only criticized (demonized) people on the right, particularly accusing his fellow Catholics of being closet (or spiritual) protestants, I would not say he is deliberately working as a shill for pro-choice forces – he thinks a number of other issues need attention too. That said, one could argue that his actions have the same effect as a pro-choice advocate.

By: Liam

Liam — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:50:20 +0000

Randall Terry should save his powder for Guy Fawkes Day next week.

By: standmickey

standmickey — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:40:08 +0000

Randall Terry is not working for anyone other than Randall Terry. He’s just found in the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith a convenient cloak for his violent fetishes.

By: Frank

Frank — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:36:53 +0000

I doubt that Randall Terry is any more anti-abortion than the average man in the street. It just happens to be the particular crusade he took up to propel himself into the limelight. He’s similar to Balloon Boy’s dad >> Do what you gotta do to get attention, get noticed, get on TV, get everyone buzzing about you. To borrow a phrase from little Falcon Heene, Randall does it “for the show”.

By: brettsalkeld

brettsalkeld — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:31:14 +0000

Honestly, is Terry really trying to push more and more people into the pro-choice column? It would seem so. And it makes a certain amount of sense – his political grandstanding depends on it. Terry and NARAL need each other in the same way as Bush and Bin Laden needed each other.

I think lack of critical thinking or self-awareness are better explanations. But the end result is about the same.

By: FOF

FOF — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:13:49 +0000

Dear MM,

Randall Terry is one of the most vile the far right has to offer; he is barely Catholic, in so much as it gives him a “legitimate” platform to hurl his hate. Just a few quotes from Mr. Terry to round out his (poor) charater – on being arrested while protesting President Obama at Notre Dame, “The Obama -Notre Dame harlotry is the “consummation” of Catholic America’s godless marriage to moral relativism, lukewarmness, and unholy pacifism.” Yet, where was Mr. Terry when the previous President (Bush Jr.)was there…you remember Mr. Terry, the President who condones torture.

On the murder of Dr. George Tiller, “I believe George Tiller was one of the most evil men on the planet; every bit as vile as the Nazi war criminals who were hunted down, tried, and sentenced after they participated in the ‘legal’ murder of the Jews that fell into their hands. But even Mr. Tiller – like other murderers – deserved a trial of his peers, and a legal execution…”

Even with my breadth and acumen as a (Jesuit) educated Catholic, I’m not sure how or where to begin with an individual who calls himself Catholic and yet believes and even subscribes to “legal execution” and is silent on the topic of torture.

Where is excommunication when you need it…