Fake Dudgeon, Real Totalitarianism

The fake dudgeon over Limbaugh’s repellent screed re: Sandra Fluke reaches a new pitch as Gloria Allred demands his arrest. No word on when Bill Maher will go before the Speech Tribunal.

There something in the Leftist mindset that itches to control free speech. What Limbaugh said inflammatory, repellent, and gross. It was not, however, illegal. And I would far rather live in a country where a Limbaugh is allowed to shoot his mouth off and face the opprobrium of his public, than in a country where Gloria Allred or some other Professionally Aggrieved Grievance Professional can have you arrested if you say something they dislike.

Speaking of which, the dumbest thing we Catholics can do is jump on the “hate speech” bandwagon. So some member of the KKK-Planned Parenthood Mutual Incest Society stick an ad in the NY Times regurgitating canards from Chick Tracts, Richard Dawkins’ Greatest Bag Lady Rants at the Traffic, and the comboxes of the National Catholic Reporter, insulting liberal Catholics for being faithful to their Church and calling them quislings and collaborators with the Great Whore and Rebel against the Zeitgeist and urging them to ditch the Church. So what? It was a classic piece of anti-persuasion, written to medicate the need for spleen-venting on the part of the people who wrote the ad. It will persuade, I reckon, only the stupidest and most unstable people and convince them to leave.

And if they do leave, they are likely doing themselves a favor since it’s rather pointless being a Catholic while hating the Church and her teachings. Per Jesus’ warnings about being lukewarm vs. hot or cold, it’s better to be an enemy of Jesus than a fake friend. Meanwhile, Catholics should actually engage the dumb rhetoric of the ad and demonstrate why it is dumb than rant about “hate speech” as though something has changed since Jesus warned, “If they hated me, they will hate you too.” Of *course* the world hates the Church. What did we expect? That’s part of the deal. What has to happen is for Catholics to suck it up, take the brickbats and patiently demonstrate why the hate speech is rubbish, not whine or go to court demanding speech codes. Because if you give the power to monitor speech to this culture, you will lose the right to proclaim the gospel lickety-split.

I don’t care about hate speech. I care about hate actions. If you kill me, burn my house, harm my income, or steal my stuff, I’m reasonably sure you hate me too. But until the hate becomes action, you are entitled to your opinion.