Comments for To Fellow Fanatics at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 34 out of 20 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Thu, 20 Jun 2013 08:42:02 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11450 "Even the Archdiocese of Washington and Cardinal Wuerl have remained silent"..........Pelosi, Biden, Sebelius....... - Fr. Benedict Thu, 17 May 2012 15:15:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11421 The newspaper business started morphing into a giant propaganda machine during the Bush I era. I, too, used to read the daily rag, but shortly after Billy Clinton took office, the "news" in the paper went away. Nothing but pablum. I stopped subscribing, missing nothing. Frank, I am a former officer too, a SAC-trained killer. While you would grant our enemies the first shot, we in SAC were more Churchillian: "I tell you — it's no use arguing with a Communist. It's no good trying to convert a Communist or persuade him. You can only deal with him on the following basis... you can only do it by having superior force on your side on the matter in question — and they must also be convinced that you will use — you will not hesitate to use — those forces, if necessary, in the most ruthless manner. You have not only to convince the [American] Government that you have a superior force — that they are confronted by superior force — but that you are not restrained by any moral consideration, if the case arose, from using that force with complete material ruthlessness. And that is the greatest chance of peace, the surest road to peace." - Winston Churchill, paraphrased speech, New York, March 25, 1949. That being said, Randall has the best idea for the Catholic crowd, and that is leave the USA. It is going to get ugly here. Those who move to safer lands will be the seed stock that re-settles this area after the blood stops flowing. Just like the co-founder of Facebook (Eduardo Saverin) did, it's time to give Uncle Soviet the finger. - C. LeMay Tue, 15 May 2012 09:17:56 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11420 I dropped the Sunday NYT about ten years ago after it indicated it would include same sex couples in its wedding notices. I never looked back and haven't missed it. More recently my wife and I dropped our local paper when they uncritically gave their pages over to the manufactured "story" about Cardinal Ratzinger's coverups of abusive priests. In the latter case, personal messages were sent to the publisher and editor, explaining our decision. The editor actually wrote back and asked us to reconsider. It was a rather lengthy and detailed response, by no means a form letter -- so I know we got his attention. Our paper's circulation is much smaller than the WaPo's, but it's still a major factor in this market. Being weak, we do still buy the paper on weekends, but from newstands, so we may not appear in their paid circulation statistics. During the week I read the office copy, or else on line, for free. - Romulus Tue, 15 May 2012 08:42:03 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11401 I gave up 30 some odd years of subscribing to Time magazine for the same reasons. I'd justify my subscription by thinking: "I need to know what the enemy thinks." Now I'm glad I no longer support them. I still read my local paper, but mostly for the comics, crossword, and some local news. You'll adjust. I did. - Mark Mon, 14 May 2012 19:49:40 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11400 To Ryan Haber, I don't have a TV for the exact same reason. When people walk through my house, they notice something is missing but can't quite put their finger on it...no TV. I got tired of being sold stuff too. - Alan R. Mon, 14 May 2012 18:45:26 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11399 Janet, you said: "if the United States goes the way of other countries with Catholics having to put their lives on the line for their faith, the decision to cancel a newspaper subscription will have been the easiest one to make. This shows our weakness, our softness, our wimpiness, when the threat to our immortal life is at stake and we complain." I sure hope it doesn't get as bad as all that. But Americans can either wake up and have that long-delayed conversation we need to have about authority, dissent, democracy and liberty or in choosing to wallow in our materialistic consumerism and self-centered secularism, we will turn "God bless America" into a really sick joke to the grim amusement of people everywhere, whereupon our supposedly cherished liberties will have become a hollow lie. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln once pointed out to a journalist who asked if God was on the side of the Union. Lincoln responded, "but are we on God's side?" And if the Catholic Church is truly what she claims to be, and therefore contingent not upon how frail her human members are but upon Christ's promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail, because the Church and her Sacraments are conformed to Christ Himself, then in either of the above scenarios, the Church will win. - WSquared Mon, 14 May 2012 17:18:57 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11398 "America, whatever we may think, is not exempt from human history." Good. Somebody finally said it. It needs to be said more often. American exceptionalism needs to be put to sleep, and put to sleep now. The quicker the better. - WSquared Mon, 14 May 2012 16:50:45 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11397 I gave up on news and newspapers long ago. I am happier, less anxious, no less able to function in the world and probably holier for it....I spend the time I would have spent reading the paper reading things that are far better for my hear and my soul. GOOD FOR YOU!!!! - toadehall Mon, 14 May 2012 15:47:13 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11395 Freedom from the Press: It's time to leave the Post. Set up your own links to the best online news sources. Print out articles (even comics! even videos!) for yourself and family to savor over breakfast. Taste the difference a custom news portfolio can make. - Sue Mon, 14 May 2012 12:33:13 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11392 The response is quite simple. The Bishops should run an ad inviting people to join the Catholic Church. - Marie Mon, 14 May 2012 10:17:26 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11390 We, too, have cancelled our subscription to newspapers, however, it was primarily a financial consideration, and secondarily a moral consideration. When money is tight, you want the most bang for your buck, and the Post's reporting is not worth the subscription. It has been difficult for my husband to adjust his morning schedule now that the papers are not delivered. But there is another thought: if the United States goes the way of other countries with Catholics having to put their lives on the line for their faith, the decision to cancel a newspaper subscription will have been the easiest one to make. This shows our weakness, our softness, our wimpiness, when the threat to our immortal life is at stake and we complain. - Janet Mon, 14 May 2012 08:48:23 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11389 Robert, on second thought, you might want to reconsider. After all, it was the Washington Post's crack investigative team, channeling the spirits of Woodward & Bernstein, that reported Mitt Romney's bullying of a fellow student in high school. It turns out that this may have been only the tip of the berg and the Post is digging further into Romney's indiscreet youthful behavior. For example, allegations are now beginning to surface that Romney may have: 1) Pulled a girl's pigtails in kindergarten. 2) Chewed gum in class. 3) Went to the bathroom without a hall pass. There may have been more or less egregious acts that may or may not rival President Obama's admission that he snorted cocaine and used other drugs during his schooldays but we ought to suspend judgment on whether Romney is fit to be president until all the facts are in. For that we'll have to wait until the Post and its comrade-in-arms, The New York Times, unearth new information on the alleged misdeeds of young Romney. - Grump Mon, 14 May 2012 08:47:43 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11387 People are astounded when I say that I don't have a television, and for similar reasons. I do not want to be propagandized that I am short, fat, ugly, nerdy, lonely, tired, unattractive, inadequate or whatever so that I can be manipulated into buying chewing gum or a particular brand of underwear. Just not interested. That's what TV is for. It entertains us to keep us watching the commercials. - Ryan Haber Mon, 14 May 2012 07:52:08 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11386 Too right. Too right. Only mistake in the piece, though in its implications only: "But it’s not good when a primary source of news and information in a free society is evaporating, whatever the cause." Of course the evaporation of news sources is a bad thing. People aren't buying the Post, etc., any more though, because we realize that it has long since stopped being a news source. The MSM is a propaganda machine that uses current events as its mode of persuasion and a source of advertising revenue. That's all. What the MSM print outlets are undergoing is literally a judgment, a setting things aright, a re-balancing. Hillaire Belloc's "The Free Press" is more prescient than ever. Thanks for the tip about Vaclav Havel’s essay. - Ryan Haber Mon, 14 May 2012 07:44:51 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11385 The editorial in the Standard, too, is not a response by the archdiocese. It's an editorial by the editors of the newspaper. And I'd say a "response in love" is the equivalent of a sign "kick me." The American bishops once understood that you meet this sort of assault with action. - Robert Royal Mon, 14 May 2012 07:36:06 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11384 The Archdiocese of Washington did have a response, in its Catholic Standard newspaper. See: http://www.cathstan.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=19&ArticleID=5139 - Dan G Mon, 14 May 2012 07:03:40 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11383 Pete, okay E.J. commented, but only to say that the Church is more liberal than FFRF thinks and that he doesn't want to leave the Church to conservatives. But that's a different matter entirely. The central fact is this: both of the country's main papers have now been willing to take money for attacks on the Catholic Church. Howard, I've read WT for years and wrote for it a couple of times a year for quite a while. But it's not in the same leagure with the big papers, unfortunately. - Robert Royal Mon, 14 May 2012 06:41:42 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11382 Finally! I don't feel so alone. I, too, after having subscribed to the Washington Post since moving to the DC area in 1979 cancelled my subscription after seeing that vile and disgusting advertisement. It literally pushed me over the edge. I will miss the morning ritual of savoring my second cup of coffee while browsing through the paper. But I will not give them another penny of my money. - Bailey Walker Mon, 14 May 2012 06:34:28 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11381 Here's Dionne's piece: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/im-not-quitting-the-church/2012/05/13/gIQAw3vMNU_story.html I get what you're saying Bob...but I cut my teeth in college in which outrage was everywhere on the left except of course at leftwing tropes directed at conservatives. It's one of the things that ironically lead me into the Church in the first place. So, for my part, I'm instinctively reluctant to spend time taking personal offense at stuff like this or making public arguments on the basis of umbrage. And if it is true that "these people won't stop until they've essentially eliminated the Church from American life" I suspect they have a long way to go, and are going to have to do much better than recycle tired 40-50 year anti-Catholic cliches in paid ads in a paper whose print edition only reaches around 500,000 people-- a good chunk of whom probably already agree with them anyway. Again..I think it says much less about the Post than it does about professional atheists and dissident Catholics. If atheists are willing to pay good money to place an ad like this in the dead tree edition of a declining big city newspaper, believing that dissident Catholics are the largest and most promising source of new converts to their cause...what does this say about dissident Catholics? - petebrown Mon, 14 May 2012 06:33:00 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/to-fellow-fanatics.html#comment-11380 There are two things I read or view daily: 1. RealCatholictv.com's THE VORTEX and CATHOLIC NEWS ROUNDUP and 2. THE CATHOLIC THING. The mainstream media have shown they are more propaganda distributors than anything else. Nothing made this more clear than when each year you have 300,000 pro-life people at the Washington March for Life vs. a few dozen pro-abortionists and you have CNN put the camera on 15 pro-abortion activists and have the news anchor say to the reporter on the ground "so the numbers of the two groups are about equal, huh?" This and the fact that the Washington Post completely ignores the March each year. You would think maybe some of their readers might like to know what that crowd of people was doing on Capitol Hill. - Mark Mon, 14 May 2012 06:31:01 +0100