{"id":1681,"date":"2014-05-04T10:49:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-04T10:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2014\/05\/doing-dumb-on-the-catholic-blogosphere.html"},"modified":"2014-05-04T10:49:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-04T10:49:00","slug":"doing-dumb-on-the-catholic-blogosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2014\/05\/doing-dumb-on-the-catholic-blogosphere.html","title":{"rendered":"Doing dumb on the Catholic Blogosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Like so many things, the Catholic blogosphere ain\u2019t what it used to be; not what it was when I began my journey into the Church all those years ago. \u00a0In just ten years, the capacity for the Internet to engender amazing amounts of dumb is beyond imagining. \u00a0Combined with the gradual erosion of classical liberal education, we\u2019re a truly the most educated idiots in history.<\/div>\n
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And nowhere shows that more effectively than the Catholic blogosphere. \u00a0For the rich and deep philosophical traditions of Catholicism should allow the arguments and defenses, even by the most marginally educated Catholics, to rise head and shoulders above the din of the Internet market.<\/div>\n
But alas. \u00a0Instead I\u2019ve read some of the most egregious, stupid and unbelievable things in Catholic blogs over the recent years, so stupid that it can almost surpass the most ludicrous rants on a daytime talk show. \u00a0And since I like to expect the best from us followers of Christ (including myself), simply falling to the same level as everyone else is its own indictment. \u00a0Going lower is inexcusable.<\/div>\n
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And it\u2019s not just an occasional post here or comment there. \u00a0It is ongoing threads of thought, opinions which so many in the Catholic blogs seem to latch onto. \u00a0So for instance, we have the whole \u2018better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert\u2019 motif. \u00a0Or in modern Catholic blog terms<\/a>, \u2018why couldn\u2019t we go back to the glory days of monarchy instead of flirting with Democracy, which is the form of government that gives us Barabbas.\u2019<\/div>\n
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Uh huh. \u00a0Because monarchies were always so wonderful, as opposed to mean and vicious and evil U.S. \u00a0Granted, it\u2019s not uncommon in Catholic circles to trash (beyond constructive Christian criticism) the U.S. \u00a0Ironically in more hardcore traditionalist circles you can really see this. \u00a0In liberal circles, as in liberalism in general, it\u2019s also popular. \u00a0And naturally a good monarchy is better than a bad democracy. \u00a0That goes without saying. \u00a0Anything good is better than anything bad. \u00a0Duh.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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But think of it. \u00a0Back to the glory days of monarchy? \u00a0And it isn\u2019t just your typical combox fare. \u00a0Years ago I remember a link to a Catholic Bishop saying how warfare in the glory days of monarchy was always better than now. \u00a0 Why? \u00a0Because some convoluted reason about it not being about land. \u00a0WTH? \u00a0 Monarchies. \u00a0There\u2019s a reason republicanism and representative democracies rose out of such governmental structures.\u00a0<\/div>\n
Yep, the Catholic tradition is rich indeed, and I defy anyone to find a broader and more profound expression of the Christian heritage anywhere else. \u00a0But the Internet has allowed us to, as with everything else, find ways to ignore that depth and instead pop off some unbelievable, if not typical, levels of dumb. \u00a0<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like so many things, the Catholic blogosphere ain\u2019t what it used to be; not what it was when I began my journey into the Church all those years ago. \u00a0In just ten years, the capacity for the Internet to engender amazing amounts of dumb is beyond imagining. \u00a0Combined with the gradual erosion of classical liberal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDoing dumb on the Catholic Blogosphere<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Like so many things, the Catholic blogosphere ain't what it used to be; not what it was when I began my journey into the Church all those years ago.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2014\/05\/doing-dumb-on-the-catholic-blogosphere.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doing dumb on the Catholic Blogosphere\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Like so many things, the Catholic blogosphere ain't what it used to be; 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