Blessed are the Merciful

for they shall obtain mercy. My discussion of the Beatitudes continues at Inside Catholic with, perhaps, the most unpopular beatitude of them all up to bat today. All the predictable category mistakes, evasions, excuses and objections are starting to emerge in the comboxes. We will shortly be informed that we don’t have to extend forgiveness to anybody who does not repent, as well as discover that I believe Hitler is in heaven, that our prisons should be flung open, that no child should ever be punished, and that we should just let Osama bin Laden destroy every American city.

None of these delusions have the slightest contact with reality, nor with what I actually say about Christ’s unconditional demand that we forgive absolutely everybody against who we have a grievance, but they seem to be a sort of reflexive defensive mechanism employed by thousands of Christians to ward off the radical nature of what Jesus has to say in Mark 11:25.