"The Jesus-Eating Cult of Rick Santorum" and "America - Love It or Leave It"

I'm upset about this, but not as much as I might be. Anti-Catholicism is part of the deeply cherished cultural values that many Americans hold dear. After a while, it's more tedious than troubling.

Not that I approve of how an op-ed referred to Catholics and the Catholic Church:

"Conservative leaders demand apology from Huffington over anti-Catholic column"
FoxNews.com (February 28, 2012)

"A group of socially conservative leaders is demanding Huffington Post publisher Arianna Huffington apologize for allowing a column to be published on her website that compares Catholics to pedophiles and attacks communion as a 'barbaric ritual.'

"In the letter dated Tuesday and obtained first by FoxNews.com, the group -- never fans of the online news site -- writes that the website, recently purchased by AOL, is "complicit in bigotry" for publishing columnist Larry Doyle's article about Rick Santorum's Catholic faith.

" 'Larry Doyle's recent anti-Catholic screed in the Huffington Post, "The Jesus-Eating Cult of Rick Santorum," is bigoted and unacceptable, and a perfect example of "flame-throwing, name-calling, and simplistic attack dog rhetoric" ' that Huffington pledged to avoid when she launched the Huffington Post in 2005...."

That phrase, "The Jesus-Eating Cult of Rick Santorum," is - oddly enough - literally true. Rick Santorum is Catholic: and we do 'eat Jesus' at each Mass. (Catechism of the Catholic Church , 1322-1405)

Anti-Catholicsm: a Fine Old American Tradition

(From Thomas Nast Portfolio, Ohio State University, used without permission.)

Under the circumstances, I don't think the Huffington Post op-ed had theological aspects of the Eucharistic celebration in mind when referring to the Catholic Church as "The Jesus-Eating Cult of Rick Santorum."

My guess is that it's an example of America's indigenous anti-Catholic sentiments. I've posted about the Eucharist; and the ever-popular 'pedophile priest' story before:

• "Corpus Christi, and Running into Walls"
  (June 26, 2011)
  Particularly
  • The Eucharist: Something to Gnaw On
• "Return of the Pedophile Priests Rides Again: The Sequel"
  (November 18, 2011)

Where's the Rant?

I could, given what I've read about the Huffington Post op-ed, rant and rave about how much I hate folks who express opinions like that.

Not - gonna - happen.

I'm a practicing Catholic. We've got rules that I'm supposed to follow.

When it comes to hating people, the Catholic Church has quite a bit to say. It boils down to: DON'T. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1033, 2262)

If that's not what you've read in the papers: I'm not surprised.

Love: Simple, not Easy

All the acres of text in Catholic documents are based on a very simple set of interconnected ideas:

• Love God, love your neighbor
  (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31)
• Everybody is our neighbor
  (Matthew 5:43-44; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-30; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1825)

That 'love God, love your neighbor' thing has interesting consequences. It's the principle behind what the Catholic Church says about euthanasia, legitimate defense, and social justice. Among other things. I put a short set of links under "Background," at the end of this post.

What the Catholic Church teaches may seem complicated. I think that's partly because we've been around for two millennia: dealing with the occasional barracks lawyer who wants to weasel out of that 'love God, love your neighbor' rule.

"America, Love It or Leave It"

I remember the 'good old days' when folks supporting America's establishment used slogans like "America: love it or leave it." That's one of the reasons I'm glad those 'good old days' aren't coming back.

A few decades later, 'the establishment' was no longer nearly all white and all male: and I got up close and personal with political correctness in American academia. Different words, different details, same basic idea: 'freedom' meant agreeing with the establishment.

I am distressed by casual - and clueless - anti-Catholicism in America.

Some issues are much more serious than that Huffington Post op-ed. For example, I think a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate which may force Catholics out of America's medical and insurance fields is destructive, ill-advised, and ethically wrong.

Hopeful About America's Future

But I am quite hopeful about America's future. That's because I've seen 'the establishment' tearing itself apart from the inside before.

I don't think the '60s would have happened, if America's establishment of the '50s had paid attention to serious problems - and not become increasingly detached from reality.

I don't like what I see in today's America:

• Casual acceptance of remarks like "The Jesus-Eating Cult of Rick Santorum"
• An unwillingness or inability to understand that
  • Disagreement is not treason
  • Protest is not terrorism
  (April 19, 2011)

It reminds me strongly of the trailing edge of McCarthyism, and what happened on the steps of Foster Auditorium.

Back in the '60s, it felt like America's institutions would never change.

But they did.

I think that's happening again: and this time we may do a better job of reforming America.

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More posts about forcing Catholics to violate our conscience:
The Department of Health and Human Services vs. Conscience

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Related posts:

• Tolerance, real and imagined
  • "My Take on the News: Religion, Politics, and Freedom"
    (October 28, 2011)
  • "The Establishment Clause; Religious Freedom; and Getting a Grip"
    (October 5, 2011)
  • "Huckleberry Finn, [redacted] Jim, and Making Sense "
    (June 24, 2011)
  • "Anti-Catholicism: Alive and Well in the New Yorker"
    (November 9, 2009)
  • "'Going My Way,' and Why Anti-Catholicism is a Good Sign"
    (November 18, 2010)
• America's establishment, then and now
  • "What's With 'the Establishment' in this Blog?"
    (September 15, 2011)
  • "Oh, For the Days of Yore?"
    (March 22, 2011)
  • "Blogs, Freedom of Speech, and Threats to the Status Quo"
    Another War-on-Terror Blog (July 31, 2010)
  • "Rebellious Youth, Protests, and The Establishment: in 2010 "
    (January 26, 2010)
  • "Pakistan, YouTube, Censorship and the Sixties"
    Another War-on-Terror Blog (May 20, 2010)
• Federal 'conscience be damned' HHS mandate
  • "The Spirit of Resistance"
    (February 26, 2012)
  • "My Take on the News: Death; Religious Freedom; Resistance; Burned Books; and Saints"
    (February 24, 2012)
    Particularly
    • The Spirit of Resistance
      • (Re-posted, with additional material, February 26, 2012)
  • "HHS Mandate, Conscience, and This Catholic"
    (February 19, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Conscience, Life, and Killing the Innocent
  • "HHS Mandate, Catholic Bishops, and Foster Auditorium"
    (February 12, 2012)
• Hate
  • "Chauvinism Knows No Borders"
    (July 23, 2011)
  • "No Open Season on Transgendered People, Please!"
    (April 26, 2011)
  • "Hating People? Not an Option"
    (December 9, 2010)
  • "Smashed Statues: An Opportunity for Prayer and Charity"
    (November 25, 2010)
  • "Some Catholic Blogs Bother Bishops - A Lot"
    (June 17, 2010)

In the news:

• "Conservative leaders demand apology from Huffington over anti-Catholic column"
  FoxNews.com (February 28, 2012)

Background, the Catholic Church and:

• Human life
  • Why human life is important
    (Catechism, 2258)
  • Abortion
    (Catechism, 2270)
  • Capital Punishment
    (Catechism, 2267)
  • Euthanasia
    (2276)
  • Legitimate defense
    (Catechism, 2263)
  • Murder
    (Catechism, 2268)
  • Suicide
    (Catechism, 2270)
• Social Justice
  (Catechism, 1928-1942)
  • Including environmental issues
    (Catechism, 2415)

Freedom comes with a catch, responsibility:

• Catholics must support religious freedom
  (Catechism, 2104-2109)
  • For everybody
    (Catechism, 2106)
• Freedom comes with responsibility
  • For the individual
    (Catechism, 1731-1738)
  • For the state
    (Catechism, 2431)