{"id":1955,"date":"2013-04-21T09:04:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-21T09:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/04\/why-the-catholic-blogosphere-matters.html"},"modified":"2013-04-21T09:04:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-21T09:04:00","slug":"why-the-catholic-blogosphere-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/04\/why-the-catholic-blogosphere-matters.html","title":{"rendered":"Why the Catholic Blogosphere matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Being busy right now, I\u2019ve not had that chance to keep up with things, though I appreciate the steadily increased traffic, and some new folks commenting. \u00a0Keep up the good work, reading my stuff can\u2019t be easy! Anyway, I was thinking on the post about \u2018three types of Catholics<\/a>\u2018, and the comment that I needed to get out more.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing about the blogosphere. \u00a0And any communication for that matter. \u00a0The post itself was an afterthought. \u00a0Basically it was setting up for a discussion on the rise in\u00a0prominence\u00a0of the Catholic blogosphere, and the ascension\u00a0of Catholic bloggers into positions of instruction and leadership within the American Catholic community (can\u2019t speak for other countries). \u00a0The \u2018below the waistline\/above the waistline\u2019 was just supposed to be a humorous way of saying conservative\/liberal. \u00a0The Church, like Protestants and any others in Western culture, is divided by this new revolutionary approach to the universe. <\/p>\n

My point wasn\u2019t that all Catholics fit neatly into one of these scientifically established\u00a0categories\u00a0 \u00a0My point was that while you have the two big divisions that everyone knows, there is a new approach emerging, obviously common across the blogosphere. \u00a0That approach seems to see fealty to the Vatican as above all whenever\u00a0convenient,\u00a0 is often willing to play fast and loose with how Church teaching is interpreted, and tends to fall into that Internet pit of basing morality on lofty issues not connected with ourselves, not on how we as individuals should act in our own personal lives (including how we treat others on the Internet). <\/p>\n

Certain trends seem to emerge: I could be a sexually active homosexual and who\u2019s to say? \u00a0But take the wrong position on what our policy should be in Iran and poof!, it\u2019s off to Hell I go (assuming Hell still exists, another debate on the Internet). \u00a0Voting? \u00a0Just because it appears the Bishops go with a \u2018you should vote\u2019 perspective, clever bloggers have been able to show that we shouldn\u2019t vote for either major party, or vote at all, because that\u00a0jeopardizes\u00a0our souls (that\u2019s what the Bishops really secretly meant to mean). \u00a0And so on.<\/p>\n

The reaction across some Catholic blogs to the Boston bombings is a good example. \u00a0 Of course a strong anti-Americanism has emerged in some of the Catholic blogosphere. \u00a0Sad to say, there have always been Catholics who see opposition to America as a fundamental Catholic teaching. \u00a0The blogosphere, gathering bad ideas like a\u00a0locker room gathers fungus, has become a breeding ground for encouraging this. \u00a0Just watching some of the conversations shows what hollow, almost deathly rotten, spiritual and ethical life this blogosphere can encourage. \u00a0From focusing on\u00a0the\u00a0bombers to the detriment of the victims, to ensuring it\u2019s all a\u00a0vast\u00a0government conspiracy, to mocking the methods used to apprehend the perpetrators, to boldly\u00a0declaring\u00a0our\u00a0righteousness\u00a0for a willingness to forgive the bombers when they never did anything to most bloggers anyway, all show very, very dangerous forms\u00a0of\u00a0Christian morality and\u00a0spirituality.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unlike what one gets in little isolated churches in the back hills of Kentucky. \u00a0As I\u2019ve said before<\/a>, the Internet, far from broadening our horizons, can actually isolate us if we\u2019re not careful, and can\u00a0become\u00a0exclusive\u00a0communities of\u00a0incestuous\u00a0thinking. <\/p>\n

Now, all of this matters because, over\u00a0the\u00a0past couple years, there has been an\u00a0effort\u00a0by Catholic leaders to point Catholics to the\u00a0glories\u00a0of social media and the Internet, including the blogosphere. \u00a0Many of these bloggers have become little celebrities in their own rights. \u00a0And they are being endorsed by Catholic leaders. From Pope Benedict to the USCCB, there have been moves to get the Church up with the times. \u00a0This includes bringing many bloggers in as bona fide<\/i> experts on Catholic Faith. \u00a0I\u2019ve seen pictures, and read accounts, of these bloggers being given the high five by Bishops, Archbishops, even a Cardinal or two. \u00a0The UCCSB has included discussing ways to open up Catholics to the blogosphere in\u00a0particular\u00a0 and\u00a0the\u00a0Internet in general. <\/p>\n

Either this means that the leaders are unaware of what these bloggers teach. \u00a0Which is a\u00a0possibility\u00a0 since sometimes various bloggers are quite different when they speak to a parish, conference or meeting with Church leaders. \u00a0Or they know exactly what they teach, and the Church is moving into a phase of spiritual living whereby the above qualities are exactly what the Church leaders advocate. \u00a0I hope not. \u00a0I hope it\u2019s the former. \u00a0But in any event, as Catholics are encouraged to go to the Internet, Social Media, the Blogosphere, and other forums, it\u2019s worth taking a long look at what is out there. \u00a0Not all are this way of course. \u00a0There are many great blogs that are inspiring and hit that balanced path that seems to reflect what the Church has actually taught. \u00a0But the bad are hardly the rare exception. \u00a0And sadly, not all were that way to begin with, but have become that way due to the increase of fans who cheer them on, encourage them to judge and declare Raca, and assure them that this \u2018let it happen to others as long as it doesn\u2019t happen to us\u2019 ethic is just what Jesus would have done.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Being busy right now, I\u2019ve not had that chance to keep up with things, though I appreciate the steadily increased traffic, and some new folks commenting. \u00a0Keep up the good work, reading my stuff can\u2019t be easy! Anyway, I was thinking on the post about \u2018three types of Catholics\u2018, and the comment that I needed […]<\/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-1955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy the Catholic Blogosphere matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Being busy right now, I've not had that chance to keep up with things, though I appreciate the steadily increased traffic, and some new folks\" \/>\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\/2013\/04\/why-the-catholic-blogosphere-matters.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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