Catholic Fascists

Who are these three men? No, they are not the "before" mugs of a Nutri-system commercial. (In just 40 days I lost 45 lbs by fasting during Lent and eating these delicious meals!).

The dude on the right is SLU's basketball coach who had the gall to appear at a Hillary Clinton rally and espouse his pro-choice and stem cell research views. The dude in the middle is the STL's Archbishop who went apeshit decreeing, it's "not possible to be a Catholic and hold those positions" and called for the University to discipline said coach. He then retired to his quarters with Eva Braun and his German Shepherds And the guy on the left is the President of SLU, who really should be in the middle as he has to deal with this crap.

This whole episode is emblematic of a not-so-subtle change that has occurred over the last 20 years. Growing up, I attended school taught by priests very similar to the Jesuits. They instilled values of working for social justice, thinking critically and making informed decisions consistent with your conscience. Religions classes would speak to many points of view on a particular subject, but not dictate which viewpoint was the "correct" one.

It seemed to me that the Catholic Church at that time was the faith of working class people and immigrants - a force against injustice in inner cities and Communist countries alike. Somewhere along the line that has changed. A decision was made, maybe not even consciously, to align more with right wing politics. Ask yourself if you can you envision the Archbishop getting his Mitre in a bunch about a pro-death penalty supporter? No chance.

The reasons for doing this are unclear to me. Are yesterdays working class and immigrants today's strip mall going, SUV driving ex-burb dwellers? Perhaps. Is it a money grab caused by the decline of churchgoing parishoners forcing the Church to rely more on rich, conservative suburbs? Maybe.

I don't have answers, but the whole thing is very sad to me. Church leaders have resorted to threatening the very people it should be embracing: socially active Catholics trying to make a difference. I'm afraid that Catholics have sold their souls to the money changers in the moral majority.