Ooooooh, a must read! Damon Linker deftly smashes "journalistic" stupidity in his piece:
Rolling Stone's ignorant statements and Linker's responses begin:
1. "Against the absurd, impossibly baroque backdrop of the Vatican...Francis' election represents...'a scandal of normality.'"
Cardinals in red robes and silly hats, acres of marble, secretive conclaves capped by smoke signals — to non-Catholics there are many features of Catholicism that can seem odd, strange, out of touch with modern life, etc. But here's the thing: This could be said about almost any foreign institution or set of practices. And yet, journalists normally wouldn't freely denigrate a foreign institution or set of practices by calling them "absurd." Catholicism apparently belongs in a different category.
2. "After the disastrous papacy of Benedict, a staunch traditionalist who looked like he should be wearing a striped shirt with knife-fingered gloves and menacing teenagers in their nightmares..."
Let's pass over the fact that, strictly speaking, Pope Benedict XVI wasn't a Catholic "traditionalist," which has a specific meaning in the church, but rather a consistent and tireless defender of (a conservative interpretation of) Vatican II. Instead, let's ponder the spectacle of a journalist likening a head of state and the spiritual leader of about 1 billion people to Freddy Krueger. Not because he made a habit of terrorizing teenagers, mind you. But because of what he "looked like."
3. "By devoting much of his first major written teaching to a scathing critique of unchecked free-market capitalism, the pope revealed his own obsessions [as opposed to Benedict's] to be more in line with the boss' son."
So Francis is more Christ-like than the man who wrote a three-volume book about the life and teachings of Jesus? Maybe. But what this statement really reveals is a surprising degree of ignorance of the history of papal pronouncements about economics. Which brings us to…
Want the next six? Read the whole worthy piece, here.
A Rolling Stone gathers no moss. Just a superficial gloss that's really dross.
ReplyDeleteHa, so much excitement around the fact that a Catholic Pontiff will appear on the cover of the Rolling Stone for the first time ever....and we just all could have suspected...should have known rather... that this can't be good!!! You know they're gonna bash hateful lies on the Catholic Church no matter what, even if they seem to be friendly to our new Pope. God bless these people...there is no other hope for them.
ReplyDeleteRolling Stone put a photo of the Boston bombing "suspect" on its cover and tried to elicit sympathy for him, i.e., "he 'fell into' terrorism." That's all one needs to know to determine the validity (none) and agenda (left-wing) of its "journalism."
ReplyDeleteThe Freddy Krueger crack was beyond the pale, and it should have never gotten past an editor. Truly sickening.
ReplyDeleteHaven't commented in a LONG time, but I'm so glad you shared this. I was so saddened when I read the Rolling Stone piece (I made the same face Pope Francis is in the photo Linker used!). My favorite part of Linker's response is, "Francis' words don't resonate like an bomb. They resonate like an echo." Amen!
ReplyDeleteBut take heart in the virtue of hope - my bishop (Conley) just wrote on this too: http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/02/our-pop-culture-moment
"In short, we take risks because we trust in the eternal victory of Jesus Christ."
CathyBB, great link! And that line ("Francis' words don't resonate like an bomb. They resonate like an echo.") totally struck me, too! Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteHere is another great piece. It pretty much expresses what I would say, if I were as good at saying it:
ReplyDeletehttp://nypost.com/2014/01/31/meet-the-new-pope-same-as-the-old-pope/
Freddy Krueger? Wow......I can't even respond to that.
ReplyDeleteI've said it before and I will say it again, despite what we pretend this country does not like Catholics.