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D r a g n e t
Today the World, Tomorrow Ulster
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This Rock
Volume 5, Number 9
 September 1994 
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1521 is an aggressive
anti-Catholic tabloid published in England by the Vocal Protestants
International Fellowship. In a recent issue is a box with a likeness
of the president and the headline, "BILL 'I LOVE
THE JESUITS' CLINTON" The ensuing article makes
hay of Clinton's affectionate remarks about his Jesuit schooling (at
Georgetown University), concluding Clinton to be just another
Jesuit stooge in that order's effort to dominate the world.
"It did not take long before the Jesuit whisper in the
Clinton ear was heard around the world. Via the papist lobby, headed
by (guess who?) Ted Kennedy, the Jesuits are eager to see
their giant silhouette looming large over Ulster."
It doesn't matter to the 1521 folks that Clinton's
actions and political philosophy largely oppose the teachings of the
Church or that Ted Kennedy, besides being relatively powerless in
Washington, has done nothing but hinder the Church's interests
in America. They don't care that the Jesuits are fragmented and can't
get their own house together, much less worry about taking over somebody
else's. And they want us to believe the focus of this whole Jesuit/Clinton
thing is Northern Ireland?
They are convinced, though: "The Jesuits, the cursed
Kennedy family, [Gerry] Adams and Sinn Fein [the IRA's political arm]--the
equation is there for all to see, then why is it not shouted aloud
for all to hear? Because the Jesuits have an interest in the media
too!"
Autumn is just around the corner,
which means it's time for . . . the annual Call to Action National
Conference. To be held in Chicago (where CTA is headquartered),
this year's conference, entitled "We Are the Church: What If
We Meant What We Said?", promises to again be a festival of all
that is angry and ignorant and proud in the dissenting Church.
Speakers include feminist theologians Joan Chittister
and Rosemary Ruether, Matthew Fox (formerly of the
Dominicans, lately an Episcopalian), as well as last year's star of
the show, Edwina Gateley, who will again help "celebrate
eucharist."
Among the more interesting-looking talks scheduled for the
conference are "Body Prayer and Movement," "Spirituality
for Generation X," and "The Right-Wing Religious Movement."
You've probably noticed This
Rock's numerous mentions of and examples from the on-line Catholic
Resource Network. In the same spirit we now commend Cheese Whiz
BBS, an on-line service with the largest collection of pro-life
files in the country and hundreds of files pertaining to Catholic
interests. Cheese Whiz BBS is directed by sysop (system operator)
Sue Widemark. To log on, telephone (602) 279-0793. There is no charge
for membership.
The Book Your Church Doesn't Want
You To Read is the title of the recently-published "textbook
of freethought." Edited by "religious researcher" and
former Hawaii governor's aide Tim C. Leedom, The Book
is an anthology of more than 50 essays purporting to "expose
and challenge" religious beliefs, and all of the essays conclude
that religion is a Bad Thing--especially Christianity: Seven-eighths
of the book is devoted to debunking Christianity, and Catholic beliefs
and practices are given special attention.
The essays range from the tired and conventional ("The
Resurrection: What is the Evidence?") to the curious ("The
World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors,") to the absurd ("Horus:
the Way, the Truth, and the Life"). Reminiscent of Fundamentalist
writing about Catholicism, this last essay argues that Christianity
arose out of pagan religions, so Jesus was nothing special after all,
just one of many "sage/saviors" in religious history. The
same thing is tried with the Trinity: "As far as we go back into
the ancient world, we find that all known cultures had a 'three-in-one'
triune God."
The Book has no kind words for evangelism, claiming
that Catholic missionaries in the New World had killed "50 million
non-Christian natives" within "one century of the 'discovery
of America.'" Nonsense. Look at the mathematics: 50 million
in a century works out to 500,000 natives killed yearly (nearly the
total of four years' of casualties during the Civil War) or 1,400
killed daily for a century--even more if the missionaries took
a break at Christmas.
Besides, the native population of America didn't approach 50 million
during the 1500s. Did the missionaries import victims? If they killed
off everyone, whom did they baptize? Why did they bother to build
missions to bring civilization and Christianity to the New World if
they were going around wiping out the folks who were supposed to be
in the pews?
"From Rome to the Bible Belt, The Book is causing
the storm of the century"--so runs the cover blurb, but this
is just puffery. Poor research and shrill, antiquated arguments (mostly
from the nineteenth century, when this kind of bitter, Ingersollian
atheism was hip) mark this shoddy work, which is typical of the "freethinker"
crowd, whose scholarship falls below that of even most Fundamentalists.
Christianity really bugs these people, but all the thinking in the
world can't "free" them from the Hound of Heaven.
The Let's Go series
of travel guides has been one of the most popular among budget travelers
for the last 20 years. What sets these guidebooks apart from others
has been the quality of writing. The Let's Go books are often
humorous, anecdotal, and offbeat. This renegade streak has taken a
nasty turn of late.
Although in the past Let's Go has turned up its Harvard-published
nose in the direction of the Church (for instance, declaring apodictically
that, although the Coliseum in Rome is venerated as a place where
Christian martyrs met their fate, "only pagan gladiators died
in the games"), an anti-Catholic bent is more in evidence in
the latest Let's Go series.
In Let's Go: Austria 1994 we find an expanded "health"
section with detailed information for "travelers in need of an
abortion" in Austria, Hungary, or the Czech Republic.
"In Austria, all female citizens have access to legal and risk-free
abortions." Ah, but "legal, risk-free abortions" is
a catch-phrase that arises from a certain political and moral attitude--and
it's also false, since no abortion is truly risk-free for the mother,
and abortions are intended to be maximally risky for the unborn children.
The section on abortion is strikingly cold-blooded: It might have
been titled, "Travelers in need of an aspirin."
Immediately preceding the abortion section (unintended symbolism?)
is advice on contraception: where to get it, what to use, what has
the best "quality." Cheekiest of all is the exhortation,
"[Y]ou might want to stock up on your favorite brand at home
. . . in case you need some on the flight over."
In addition to snide remarks aimed Church-ward (many of them
critiques of Austria's "bizarre folk [read: Catholic] rituals"),
Let's Go fudges history and in doing so creates a direct affront
to the Church, with which the history of Austria is inextricably intertwined.
The writers of the "Osterreich 101" section try their
best to present an Austrian history free of Catholicism. They can't
quite pull it off and have to settle for mentioning the Church in
passing or, better yet, in unflattering connection with political
and social oppression.
Read Let's Go and you'll think the Austrians considered
the Reformation the best thing since sliced Brot. "Burghers
and nobles were drawn to Protestantism because it affirmed rationality
[even though Luther called reason "the damned whore"] and
freedom from Habsburg despotism. Peasants found the Protestant doctrine
attractive because it freed them from onerous tithes to the Church.
Social hierarchies, though, kept the two groups from forming a united
front against the emperor and Church."
The ultimate in chutzpah comes with the mention of
King Gustavus Aldophus of Sweden, who, according to Let's
Go, was the only thing that "saved the Protestants from further
persecution" after Archduke Ferdinand "decided to forcibly
convert Austria to Catholicism. But Austria already was Catholic,
and it was Gustavus Adolphus who, funded by Cardinal Richelieu
of France (who feared a unified Austria), tried to convert Austria
to Protestantism. Adolphus, perhaps the greatest military
strategist of his age, eventually made his way to the gates of Vienna,
where he was killed after getting lost in a fog. His forces were beaten
back to the north, and the stalemate was drawn. Today central Europe
remains divided along almost the same lines as then: Protestant Scandinavia
and northern Germany giving way at Bavaria to the south which, to
the apparent chagrin of the editors of Let's Go, has remained
Catholic.
A popular Fundamentalist accusation
(one of Jack Chick's favorites) is that Catholic devotion to Mary
comes from pagan worship of the goddess Isis. When confronted
with the charge, we do our best to dispel this notion, but a defense
of Marian devotion was made no easier by a recent article in the National
Catholic Reporter:"GODDESS
ISIS ALIVE AND WELL
IN COUNTY WEXFORD"
This was part of a series of articles surveying the state of the Church
in Ireland.
"At the end of an Aeon and the beginning of the space
age, the Goddess Isis is manifesting as the feminine expression of
divinity," explains Olivia Robertson, co-founder in 1976
of the Fellowship of Isis. Isis has returned in this age to "restore
harmony" to a universe divided by "the principles of patriarchal
religion."
Isis worshipers accept, even promote, the alleged link between
Isis and Mary. "Isis kept the flame of compassion alive during
the Christian era as the Virgin Mary: Isis bore Horus as a virgin
birth." Marian titles such as Star of the Sea and Seat of Wisdom
originally belonged to Isis, say Isis's followers.
According to Robertson, many Catholics (this is Ireland,
after all) are getting in on the act, including two priests: one,
a Jesuit who makes no secret of his association, and another who won't
reveal himself and whom Robertson describes as a "higher-up."
The article concludes, "[I]t's hard to deny that Isis has somehow
come back to life down there. It's a typical Irish religious story."
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