An Alert Reader Was Wondering. . .

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An alert reader wrote in a few hours ago with a question. She writes, “Could one of you write about these supposedly inflammatory statements about Catholics that they found in the hacked emails?”

I would be happy to do a little legwork and get back to you, BUT. .  .

It seems that fellow Patheosi Keith Michael Estrada of Proper Nomenclature has in fact beaten me to the punch. In general I don’t hesitate to read anything and everything and offer an opinion if I have one, but I am also happy to defer to the better qualified when the topic merits doing so (as it does here).

Keith writes:

“It isn’t a very thorough e-mail and it is tough to conclude that “Conservative Catholicism” is being bashed, trashed, or mocked by the authors. There isn’t “a contempt” for Conservative Catholics.

I don’t think Halpin knows much about Catholicism, I don’t think Palmieri knows much about Catholicism, and I don’t think Podesta knows much about Catholicism. Their organization is funded by big money capitalist groups of old, some of which also support right-wing think tanks that conservatives love: the common denominator here being economic liberalism (capitalism).

Subsidiarity is something conservatives bring up but don’t seem to understand, but I bet Halpin doesn’t understand it either.

“Thomistic” can mean lots of things, but if it’s tied to “Thomism”  – and not Saint Thomas – then criticism can be justifiable (and, yes, in general plenty of conservative Catholics don’t know what that is).

I suppose I simply wanted people to have a copy of the e-mail to read for themselves, as it isn’t what I’d consider bashing – but you need strong headlines, I guess.

The exchange does make me sad. Considering Catholicism a “politically conservative religion” breaks my heart. This election has foolery written all over it – and Catholics are fooled into playing the game. Some (Priests) are so foolish they’re backing Donald Trump. Others (here and here) are almost foaming at the mouth to offer guidance on voting that disregards essential components of what the US Bishops have offered us.

Let’s call it what it is: a contest, a game, a pageant. The name of the game is also capitalism, and its preference for immorality is blindly ignored – when not supported – by Catholics as they condemn evils the system generates. When are we going to grow up and start figuring out how to move beyond such treacheries?”

It appears to me that this quote covers the most essential elements, but I encourage anyone interested to follow the link above and read Keith’s entire post. He has written further about leaked emails and the Catholic faith here.

While in this instance I thought it was better to direct our readers to Keith’s work, we at Steel Magnificat are always happy to hear from our readers, particularly if there is something you’d like us to write about. (The best way to do that is by messaging our Facebook page.)