Catholic discourse on a downward spiral

This post by Jesuit Father James Martin is too good, too funny, and too on target not to share. Unfortunately there's more than a fair bit of truth here. No matter what side of the liberal-conservative divide we fall on, it's likely we'll hear a bit of ourselves somewhere in the fictitious exchange.

For the record, #1 on his list is the comment I hear most frequently, usually in reference to anything that has to do with yoga or centering prayer. Although, I'd have to say that between blogging, Facebook, Twitter, email, and face-to-face conversations, I've heard variations on all of these responses in one form or another over the years, even the one about obedience, and I'm not even a vowed religious.

From Father Martin's post over at In All Things, the blog of America magazine:

I wonder if you can say anything about the Catholic faith without people taking offense. No matter how benign, no comment on the web about Catholicism goes unchallenged. That goes for blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and pretty much everything else. Moreover, the idea of trying to understand a person by reading carefully what they're actually saying, or giving them the benefit of the doubt, is fading quickly from Catholic discourse. No matter what you write, there are Catholics ready to take immediate offense, to explode in righteous anger, to threaten to report you to the proper authorities or, most of all, to correct. The most common responses are these five: 1.) Your soul is in mortal danger. 2.) You’re uneducated and need to be schooled. 3.) I hate the church and so I hate you. 4.) You’re an unthinking tool of the Vatican. 5.) You’re disobedient and must be reported.

Here is a not-so-farfetched exchange, based on some very, very real experiences. Believe me, it would be hard to make this stuff up.

Me: I love Jesus.

Father Martin, with all due respect, I don’t mean to be critical, particularly to a priest, but I am compelled to point out that in your most recent post, you didn’t say “Jesus Christ.” As you know, Christ, from the Greek word Christos, meaning the Anointed One (years ago, all Jesuits understood Greek, but perhaps no longer), is the nomenclature that Holy Mother Church uses to signify Our Lord’s divinity. Father, do you somehow not believe in the divinity of Our Blessed Lord? I am terrified to conclude that you are also denying the Resurrection here. Father, I will fervently pray that you are not dwelling in error, as I have feared for you since I read this post and reread the definition of “heresy” in a theology reference book that I always keep handy. I pray every evening for gravely misled people like you, Father, and I must say this: my conscience obliges me to correct your errors. Do you fear for your soul? ...Continue reading HERE.