Bigots & bluster
Carlin, David R. Jr.
Social philosopher Myriam Medzian, interviewed recently in Time (September 16, 1991), points out that young people in this country are surrounded by a culture of violence. "By the time American...
...Thus those who criticize the government of Israel are in danger of being called anti-Semitic...
...conspicuous or expressed adversitiveness is a larger element in the lives of males than females," writes Walter Ong in Fighting for Life (Comell University Press, 1981...
...Patriotism, said Dr...
...A public defender once said to me that if all males between the ages of eighteen and thirtyfive could be locked away, society would be relatively crime free...
...If you disapprove of those beliefs or that code--if, for example, you regard as pernicious the belief in papal infallibility or the ban on abortion--you are under no obligation to have a good opinion of the institution which stands for those things...
...Robert Dornan, Bowie Kuhn, the 11 October 1991:567"If you can't meditate something nice about someone, don't meditate anything at all...
...If it is not, strictly speaking, a religion, it is certainly analogous to one...
...1. Prejudice vs...
...By and large, throughout the entire animal kingdom...
...In discussing this topic it i s helpful to keep a few distinctions in mind...
...It is contrary to common sense and research to think that you can create such a culture and not have any effects...
...Those conservative Protestants who complain that there is a very influential "religion" of secular humanism in America are basically correct...
...You have to redefine masculinity...
...All this may give the impression of prejudice...
...She points out that studies have shown that boys who are involved in competitive sports show less sportsmanship and fair play than those who do not participate in such sports...
...Johnson, is the last refuge of a scoundrel...
...t" Reverend Richard Neuhaus, Cardinal John O'Connor, and Thomas Monaghan of Domino's Pizza...
...Perhaps your disapproval is an error...
...These forms of prejudice are far more dangerous than anti-Catholicism, since the historical record indicates that they are far more likely to pass over into discrimination of a virulent and even violent sort...
...We know from human history that it can be...
...But there is also such a thing as an honest difference of opinion, and the critic should always be presumed innocent of bigotry until proven guilty...
...Thus prejudice is insulting (at least when the prejudiced person is so indiscreet as to reveal his or her feelings), while discrimination is not only insulting but injurious as well...
...ABC-TV correspondent Cokie Roberts...
...The leadership of the Catholic Campaign includes Bennett, Pat Buchanan, William Simon, Hugh Carey, Rep...
...But no one has the right to call you a bigot...
...The cardinal urges Southern Californians to consider withholding contributions to KCET-TV, the Los Angeles PBS station that aired the documentary...
...What am I among so many...
...which leads them to reject the religion of their social inferiors without giving it careful examination: after all, those destined to become secular humanists had come to understand everything anyone needs to know about religion at the advanced age of seventeen or eighteen...
...It is still a task for the church...
...In addition to learning to win at any cost, they become "enormously concemed" with dominance and conquering...
...Whatever the reason, the drive to violence and dominance--aimed as it is at females and the weak--must be reckoned with and controlled...
...I suggested that the bishop was overreacting...
...arlier this year I took issue with a Catholic bishop who criticized a newspaper for being anti-Catholic (Commonweal, June 1...
...and novelistsociologist, Father Andrew Greeley...
...Patrick's Cathedral in New York City--as the "most blatantly" anti-Catholic film he has ever seen...
...You have to begin to encourage boys from the youngest age to be empathetic...to tell them they can be nurturing and masculine at the same time...
...c) that such anti-Catholic sentiment as there is gets directed mainly at the church as an institution rather than at Catholics as individuals...
...But there are those who believe that violence is innate in the male character...
...the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which believes anti-Catholic incidents are growing more numerous...
...discrimination...
...It is not at all surprising," she notes, "that approximately one-third of the sexual assaults on college campuses are by athletes...
...Keeping these distinctions in mind, I would draw the following conclusions: (a) that there is a fair amount of anti-religion sentiment in the U.S., mostly among secular humanists...
...John's University in New York and at Notre Dame...
...and a newly formed group called The Catholic Campaign for America, which announces that it has had "enough of Catholic bashing...
...indeed, if anything, it is somewhat less hostile to Catholicism than to fundamentalist Protestantism...
...My earnest prayer is that Catholics not jump on board this phony and already overcrowded "anti-bigotry" bandwagon, which is one of the most illiberal developments on the American scene today...
...and those who express doubts about the moral rightness of homosexual conduct are in danger of being called homophobic...
...If there is a certain amount of prejudice against Catholics, well, that's too bad...
...A scientist recently told me that in certain forms of animal life, "guards" will protect males attacking a female...
...They carry these attitudeslearned attitudes in her opinion-over into the outside world and into their relations with women...
...But it is the kind of prejudice offensive to the ideal of rational openmindedness, not the kind dangerous to the American ideal of pluralistic tolerance...
...It is a worldview hostile to supernaturalistic religion in general, hence to Catholicism...
...When I say this, of course, I do not mean to suggest that there is no such thing as bigotry in the world...
...as it is, it is only a sign of boorishness...
...The Times article cites a number of organizations that are convinced of the danger of anti-Catholic bigotry: the Center for Media and Public Affairs, which released a study last April concluding that there is significant anti-Catholic bias in the media...
...But it is apparently a much larger, more complicated task than Dolores Curran's family-life director envisioned...
...But your views are certainly well within the bounds of legitimate dissent in a pluralistic society...
...Medzian believes that masculinity and violence are linked in our country: "Eightynine percent of the violent crimes in the U.S...
...In both cases there seems to have been little or no religious enculturation strong enough to deter these young men from this violence, a violence shamefully experienced as fun...
...The article quotes a number of prominent Catholics who believe anti-Catholicism is a significant problem in the United States today: former secretary of education and drug czar, William Bennett...
...It is quite something else to be hostile to Catholicism as an institution...
...OF SEVERAL MINDS David R. Carlin, Jr...
...institutional antiCatholicism...
...But Bowie Kuhn...
...On September 9 of this year the Los Angeles Times ran a story headlined, "Under Fire...
...If someone objects that by this logic there is also no need to be anxious about anti-Semitic or anti-black feeling, I disagree...
...This is the prejudice I just referred to: deplorable but not particularly worrisome...
...but it is usually no more hostile to Catholicism than to other religions...
...but as long as it does not show signs of passing over into discrimination, it is nothing to get overly anxious about...
...Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony is quoted as d e s c r i b i n g " S t o p the Church"--a controversial TV documentary that shows the gay rights group Actup disrupting Mass at St...
...By the time American kids are eighteen years old they have watched 26,000 murders on television alone...
...Since secular humanists are on average better educated and of higher social class than the typical American, they tend to take their own intellectual superiority for granted...
...If America were Northern Ireland, then anti-Catholic feeling would be a menace...
...In addition to education she urges the regulation of films of violence and the selling of toys like guns that inspire games of violence...
...I don't mind disagreeing with Robert Dornan and Pat Buchanan, even William Bennett...
...2. Personal vs...
...Nor did Dr...
...She cites the success of conflict-resolution programs in schools: for many boys who go through such programs, violence goes from being a first reaction to a last resort...
...In America today the accusation of bigotry is all too often the first refuge of those who would rather not debate the positions they hold...
...Some say yes and declare they're not going to take it anymore...
...are committed by males...
...Taking out a player means injuring a player so badly that he can no longer play...
...Catholics can call you a heretic or an infidel, if they like (and if such language had not gone out of fashion...
...that is, they tend to be a bit snobbish...
...Boys are often "taught to 'take out' players from the opposing team...
...BIGOTS & BLUSTER IS THERE AN ANTI-CATHOLIC PROBLEM...
...and if your error is one you fell into without sufficient rational reflection, we can call it a prejudice...
...and (e) that outright anti-Catholic discrimination is still exceedingly rare...
...those who question affirmative action are in danger of being called racist...
...Medzian believes that the alarming violence in our culture can be reduced by education and regulation...
...d) that prejudice against Catholics as individuals is more boorish than dangerous...
...3. Anti-Catholic vs...
...It is particularly disturbing that the most glaring incidents of the most ugly form of sexual assault by athletes--gang rape-have allegedly occurred on Catholic campuses, at St...
...It is one thing to dislike Catholics as a class...
...that the cartoon fell within the boundaries of fair play...
...with the sub-head: "Is antiCatholic sentiment increasing...
...Prejudice has to do with feelings and attitudes, discrimination with overt action...
...antireligion...
...568: Commonweal...
...He was offended by an editorial cartoon that twitted Catholic bishops for being prochoice on schools and antichoice on abortion...
...those who condemn abortion are in danger of being called sexist...
...b) that little of this sentiment is specifically anti-Catholic...
...Near its conclusion the otherwise alarming article momentarily changes direction, saying, "Some Catholics caution against hypersensitivity"---but the only person cited is yours truly, as my June 1 Commonweal article is briefly quoted...
...It looks as ifI am badly outnumbered in my belief that anti-Catholicism is not a significant problem in America today...
...And in a sense it is prejudice...
...Johnson mean there was no patriotism in England...
...Heavy metal and rap lyrics encourage rape and bigotry...
...She sees this linkage as strengthened by the way sports for the young emphasize competition and winning at any cost...
...The Catholic church stands for, among other things, certain beliefs and a certain moral code...
...I said that I hoped Catholics would not pick up this illiberal virus...
...and that in America today there are far too many people who refuse to debate their critics--who instead try to stifle criticism by charging their opponents with bigotry...
Vol. 118 • October 1991 • No. 17
