Grab Popcorn
March 16, 2010
When Father Z offers one of his thrice daily prayers to Denver, his followers go a little crazy:
How dare he place covering immigrants on the same moral level as abortion. — Heather
You make a good point, Heather.
And honestly, I don’t know when the Church has ever approved of Socialism,where what belongs to the haves is stolen to give to the have-nots. — kat
And those are just the first two comments. More entertainment ensues. What is made blindingly clear is that these folks don’t care about the uninsured …
.. and they really don’t care about abortion either.
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So a commenter at Fr. Z’s blog said something stupid. Fr. Z clearly agrees with you that what the commenter said was stupid.
Unless we’re holding bloggers responsible for not allowing stupid comments, I’m not quite sure what I should have learned from this post.
One thing is clear: Kat has never read the fourth and fifth chapters of the Acts of the Apostles.
Is “kat” being sarcastic there?
Methinks ye shall have to update this post. Note also that Fr. Z has commented on the first post, and that Kat objects to stealing.
I never imputed the comments to Fr. Z and clearly stated they were the comments of commentators. Kat is stating that taxing to pay for social goods is stealing. She is making a rhettorical flourish, not objecting to stealing.
Time- and comments- are money! Donations are down, and there are birds to feed, vacations to be taken, and computers to be purchased.
For once, I have to give Archbishop Chaput a little credit. At least he remembers the earlier objections to the bill included its exclusion of immigrants. The USCCB, in getting bogged down on the fine points of specific passages in the legislation seems to have forgotten all about how immigrants are excluded from coverage.
“Time- and comments- are money! Donations are down, and there are birds to feed, vacations to be taken, and computers to be purchased.”
I really love Father Z a lot but I have to admit that is funny
Amusing and depressing at the same time.
I have suspected that Fr. Z’s restrictive registration policy tends to admit commenters who are zealous in their defense of traditional values and advancement of politically conservative positions. That’s fine in itself, but finding balance in the WDTPRS comments section was difficult before registration was required, and the balance seems even more out of whack now. It could be just my imagination since I never undertook a formal review and I notice there is some push back against the reactionary comments you’ve highlighted.
In any event, in an earlier post Nate is asking about God’s purpose for the Catholic blogosphere, and I think Fr. Z accomplishes much good with site and will continue to accomplish much good. Maybe just a little more balanced opinion in the comments section would help.
kat doesn’t really object to stealing. She objects to returning what was previously stolen. (See St. John Chrysostom)
Michael I
And St Basil. Both who are of extreme importance to me.
“Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.”
Forget Saint Golden Mouthed Johnny, just direct Kate to the Letter of James. That should be “Biblical” enough.
And St. Ambrose:
“You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.”
Acts 4:32,34-35
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had…There were no needy persons among them. From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
What a disgraceful bunch of Socialists they were!
My how morally superior you are, M.Z.
Funny isn’t it – Christians started out as Commie peaceniks and today the “loudest” among them advocate cutthroat capitalism and fill the ranks of the military. And they don’t find it strange at all.
(Commie of course in the sense of community, not 5 year plans and gulags). The false dichotomy American or Stalin still seems to be around. No other Western country has this mindset (or lacks healthcare, paid maternity leave etc). Or the Gospel of Prosperity…
LOL. Whenever my self-righteousness supply runs low I hurry over here and holler “Fill ‘er up!”
What Gerald said! Thanks for the succint reality check, and Catholic Republicans, note well.
I guess you can be a devout Republican and still be a good Catholic, but you are sure going to have to suck in your gut pretty hard to get through the eye of that needle.
You others, thanks for the input from the church fathers. We can read the US bishops and the popes on social matters and see that apostolic succession is not a dead letter.