Anti-Catholic Catholics attacking the Pope

I saw this drivel two days ago. Here's Fr Z's take on it:

Newsweek posted an op-ed of anti-Catholic religious bigotry on the Guest Spot of "On Faith" written by Robert S. McElvaine, a professor at Millsaps College, associated with the United Methodist Church.

Arter reading this, ou will probably agree that this man’s pastor should deny him Holy Communion until he issued a public statement of apology.

My emphases and comments.

Impeach the Pope

By Robert S. McElvaine
Professor of Arts & Letters, Millsaps College

Enough! No—Too much!

Amid all the justified outrage we all feel at Bernie Madoff and the AIG bandits, let us save some intense outrage for Pope Benedict XVI. [If the writer thinks there is any moral equivalent here, it would be legitimate to ask how he got a doctorate.]

After insulting Muslims by declaring in 2006 that Muhammad had brought "things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," [Pope Benedict didn’t declare this. It was a quote of someone else in his Regensburg Address.] after reiterating (through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) in 2008 that the subject of the ordination of women is not even open for discussion and declaring that anyone involved with the ordination of women will be automatically excommunicated, [So the Catholic Church doesn’t get to say what the Catholic Church believes?] after lifting in January of this year the excommunication of Holocaust-denier Richard Williamson, [Irresponsibly obtuse: that is not why the excommunication was liften. And this is a professor writing this. Tisk.] now Benedict XVI opens a visit to Africa by telling the people of a continent decimated by AIDS that the distribution of condoms "increases the problem" of the spread of AIDS. [But… it does.]

I am a Catholic [?!] and the idea that such a man is God’s spokesperson on earth is absurd to me. [This is a Catholic… talking in this manner… in public… in print… about the Pope.]

There are, of course, no provisions in the hierarchical institution set up, not by Jesus but by men who hijacked his name and in many cases perverted his teachings, for impeaching a pope and removing him from office. But there ought to be. [insert your chosen invective here]

As I detail in my latest book, [Ahhhhh! NOW we get to what this is a about. It isn’t about Pope Benedict at all. This is all about talking about himself and his book! I am reminded of the false outrage some congressmen display during hearing when they know the cameras are on.] "Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America" (Crown), the cardinal sin of the Catholic Church—a literally deadly sin, if ever there was one—is its opposition to birth control. [So, he as called the Church sinful. And he dissents from Catholic teaching on birth control.] Far from being, as the Church contends, part of its moral doctrine, this policy [Policies can be changed right? That is why he weasles his way into this language.] is, plainly, the immoral doctrine of the Church. The use of condoms is a pro-life position. [uh huh]

Why does the Church persist in such a manifestly immoral doctrine? [Now he is starting to sound like a kook.] One suspects that it must be the usual twisted thinking about sex and women. The Church’s opposition to birth control is largely an outgrowth of its all-male composition and those males’ attempts to degrade women’s physical powers [not just kooky, but maybe not very up to date on what the Church has been teaching for decades] by asserting that women and the intercourse into which they supposedly tempt men are necessary evils ("It is well for a man not to touch a woman," Paul instructed the Christians of Corinth), the only purpose of which is procreation.

Misogyny may not be "the Church’s one foundation," but it is a major part of the base on which it was constructed. [Not just kooky, but a also little thick.]

It should be obvious that the sin in an over-populated world [HUH? He is also a zero-sum disciple of Erlich too? I wonder if he is a Malthusian or, perhaps, in favor of eugenics.] is not attempting to control birth, but attempting to control birth control.

And now for the pope to go so far as to indicate that condom use worsens the spread of AIDS [Umm… it does.]—there’s an outrage that tops Madoff and AIG!

Let’s start a movement within the Catholic Church to impeach Pope Benedict XVI and remove him from office. While we’re at it, let’s replace him with a woman. [Thus confirming the thick element mentioned above.]

He reversed the excommunication of a Holocaust denier. Will he excommunicate me for pointing out that he is a misogyny denier? [No… worse! He won’t buy your stupid book, which is really what this is a about, isn’t it.]

If this be heresy, make the most of it.

Robert S. McElvaine is Elizabeth Chisholm Professor of Arts & Letters at Millsaps College. His latest book is Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America (Crown).

Guys like this are really just flapping their arms around so that you will notice them and maybe.. just maybe… a few people out there will buy their books.

There is no real need to get overly excited about this fellow. This is simply a useful exercise in what we are going to be seeing a great deal more of in the next couple years.

Satan has the crowbar in right now and he’s prying hard.

Progressivists, most of whom don’t a clue what they are talking about but excel at puffing up in indignation about things they label "not fair", will in the manner of Lenin’s useful idiots broaden more and more the scope of the last acceptable social prejudice.

They will make the true anti-Catholic movement which is coming down the road a lot more acceptable to a lot more people.