Catholics and Catholicism are at the receiving end of a great deal of startling vituperation in contemporary America, although generally, those responsible never think of themselves as bigots... What is striking about [anti-Catholic comments] is not any individual phrase or accusation, but the completely casual way in which these views are stated, as if any normal person should be expected to share these beliefs.... Complaints about anti-Catholicism are likely to provoke counter charges of oversensitivity, much as complaints about racism or anti-Semitism did in bygone generations. As Andrew Greeley writes, anti-Catholicism is so insidious precisely because it is not acknowledged, not recognized, not explicitly and selfl-consciously rejected. The attitudes are so ingrained as to be invisible.
-Dr. Philip Jenkins,
The New Anti-Catholicism
From the above quote, it should be fairly clear to what July's meeting is about.
We live in a pluralistic society. In the market place of ideas, it's very often that the values of any one person or group are going to be debated, that sometimes toes are going to be stepped on, it's inevitable. But sometimes debate moves into derision, and for much of our history and experience Catholicism has suffered such derision albeit subtle or nuanced. It's how we handle such situations that matter most.
Unlike African Americans and the Jewish Community, two groups where such derision has come to be termed bigotry and looked down upon, Catholicism isn't an immutable quality of biology as in the case of race, and for better or worse is not a single monolithic culture as with the Jewish Community - it's a free association, though an association that carries qualities not unlike both.
As the quote above notes, because one's Catholicism isn't an immutable fact of your nature nor is Catholicism limited to a cultural minority AND because Catholics haven't, unlike African-Americans or Jews, been overtly oppressed it's considered OK to take it further than friendly debate - without any regard or deference afforded as to other groups in that very market place of ideas.
Interestingly enough as Catholics the assault is three fold, we get get chided from the Left - usually associated with Atheists, pro-Identity groups (Feminism, Gay Movement are only two examples); from the Right - from Protestant Religious Groups, the "Gun Lobby" (an umbrella term here), Capitalists, and anti-environmentalists , and then again from the inside - from the person in the pew over who may subscribe to any of the above listed ideologies and more.
Being attacked from all sides and even under friendly fire it begs the question how do we handle such situations? Since our Religion is a free association perhaps the first (two part) question to ask is -
Why am I Catholic and what does being Catholic mean to me?
After we determine the answer to that question we can then address the discourse, debate, and mud slinging that is coming from all around us. Whether it's a Pastor demeaning Roman Catholicism as the whore of Babylon, or your Protestant friend asking you if you've been saved. Whether it's a co-worker who says that Catholicism denigrates women because she won't ordain Women and is anti-abortion, or perhaps the cousin who believes that the church is anti-gay.
What about the "NeoCon" who believes the church protests too much about waging war, Or the local NRA chapter questioning why the Church cares so much about guns. The list of supposed grieved goes on and on and on.
This folks is the art of apologetics.
So we look forward to seeing you all on July 9, 6pm for drinks and discussion at Delaney's in 5 points. Cheers! ~ Matt
PS: So after all that seriousness - here's the reason for the title of the post and what made me think of the "Apologetics" theme for this meeting - Eddie Izzard "picking" on the Church of England.
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