Putting a “Positive Light” on Murder?
The Liguorian is one of those feel-good Catholic periodicals. It even has a subtitle: A Catholic Compass in a Changing World. Does that clarify anything? Whose Catholic Compass? There are so many these days. On the masthead it says: “Liguorian is an award-winning member of the Catholic Press Association.” Puh-leez! Every member of the Catholic Press Association wins an award for something eventually. Winning an award means nothing – and that’s just one reason we don’t belong to it.
The Liguorian Editor, Fr. William J. Parker, C.Ss.R., weighs in with an editorial called “To Dialogue or Demonize” (Feb.). Fr. Parker tells us that his Mom said, “If you can’t say something nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all.” Parker thinks this is great wisdom. In other words, if you can’t say something nice, refrain from speaking the truth. (And, indeed, the Liguorian is full of niceness.)
Apparently, the Blessed Virgin Mary did not give Jesus such advice. Jesus said some pretty nasty things to the Pharisees – and they were all true.
Parker says, “We need to find a way to dialogue with our opponents instead of demonizing them.” But Jesus didn’t dialogue with His opponents. Moreover, Jesus called the Pharisees “sons of Hell” (Mt. 23:15). That is demonizing to the max.
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A good mother teaches her children but knows that her teaching will not be well received if she does not also love her children with a vigorous and generous love.
A Protestant need not fret about a clash between religion and culture; for him, the two have generally been inseparable.