Third Intermezzo: Recommended Reading (The Catholic Right, Forty in a Series).
Frank Cocozzelli printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 02:49:51 PM EST
This seems to be a good time to take another breather from the Catholic Right and their neoconservative allies.  Instead, I would like to discuss several Catholic-American writers worth reading. They are all independent thinkers who loyally dissent from some of the prevailing ideas in Catholicism and who are opposed to the neo-orthodoxy of many of those I have written about in his series.

Why are they important? Simply because they all present reasoned, cogent arguments that can be employed by Catholics and non-Catholics alike in refuting the mendacity and revisionist history often employed by the Church's neo-orthodox proponents. I present below a sampler of their works -- and a taste or two of the information and arguments readers may find helpful in our wider conversation about the religious right and what to do about it.

They are Angela Bonavoglia,  Father Charles Curran, and Garry Wills.

Angela Bonavoglia

Angela Bonavoglia offers something that is often missing from on the subject of Catholic culture-a woman's point of view.

As her web site biography tells us:

Her feature articles, investigative reports, op-eds, personal essays, and profiles have appeared in Ms. (longtime contributing editor), the Chicago Tribune, Redbook , Mirabella, Cosmopolitan , Newsday, and The New York Times, among other publications.

Her article, "The Church's Tug of War," about women as an invisible force for reform in the Roman Catholic Church, was the lead article in The Nation in the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandals of 2002. It provided a fresh analysis of the role of women in the progressive Church reform movement at an unprecedented moment in American Church history.

Her 2005 book, Good Catholic Girls: How Women Are Leading the Fight to Change the Church details the role of women in returning the Church to the process of  "aggiornamento" or bringing things "up to date" (to read an excerpt, click here).

Bonavoglia also wrote about abortion in her 1991 book The Choices We Made: 25 Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion.

I have only recently discovered Bonavoglia's works, and am pleased that she is never afraid to tackle Church hypocrisy:

In the face of outrage over the pedophilia crisis in the Catholic church, one might have expected the hierarchy to back off its rigid, unrealistic sexual prohibitions. Instead, the hierarchy has chosen to brutally enforce those prohibitions and to purge the church of transgressors.

This new inquisition is actually a very broad one. The Vatican regularly denounces Catholics in gay relationships, who use birth control or condoms to prevent AIDS, who support assisted reproduction or abortion under any circumstances, who divorce without an annulment, or who dare even speak of women's ordination. Some of those Catholics may even be refused holy Communion. All are being abandoned by a church founded by a man who abandoned no one.

Angela Bonavoglia's work helps to empower the vast majority of American Catholics with the information and analysis we need to better engage the neo-orthodox Catholic wing of the religious right.

Father Charles Curran

One of the most refreshing books I've ever read on the state of contemporary Catholicism is Father Charles Curran's Loyal Dissent. The book's web page tells us:

In this poignant and passionate memoir, Curran recounts his remarkable story from his early years as a compliant, pre-Vatican II Catholic through decades of teaching and writing and a transformation that has brought him today to be recognized as a leader of progressive Catholicism throughout the world.

Father Curran is valuable because he is a Catholic theologian who has been through tough battles with the reactionary forces that now control the Vatican. Among other things, he has argued on theological grounds against the Church's opposition to birth control and homosexuality. For his principled stand, in 1986 Father Curran was removed from his position of teaching theology at the Catholic University of America, a move primarily orchestrated by then-Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict.)

Most importantly, Father Curran shows us how to argue more effectively. Instead of resorting to rank demonizing, he uses religious principles to effect necessary change.

Using the doctrine of stance--or historical consciousness , Father Curran argued that present realities constantly shift thus requiring a similarly constant reappraisal of certain moral teachings. In a 1988 essay, he explained:

Historical consciousness is often contrasted with classicism, which understands reality in terms of the eternal, the immutable, and the unchanging. Historical consciousness gives more importance to the particular, the contingent, the historical, and the individual. ... The Catholic theological tradition has recognized historicity in its rejection of the axiom, Scripture alone. Scripture must always be understood, appropriated, communicated, and lived in the light of the historical and cultural realities of the present time. The church cannot simply repeat the words of Scripture. Catholicism has undergone much more development than most people think. Creative fidelity is necessary for any tradition, and such fidelity is consistent with the philosophical world view of historical consciousness.

Father Curran currently teaches at Southern Methodist University.

Garry Wills

A Pulitzer Prize winner, perhaps no one is as prolific at writing on Church politics, Catholicism and American history with an independent mind than historian Garry Wills. He is one of a handful of writers with the necessary background (an extensive Jesuit education that included being a novitiate as well as earning PhD in classics from Yale ) that allows him to authoritatively discuss subjects as diverse as Saint Augustine and Abraham Lincoln. In his most recent book (which I will be review in a forthcoming post) Head and Heart Wills gives us a valuable term, "Enlightened Religion," to describe the interdependence of thought and faith. He defines it as having "...its emphasis on reason, benevolence, tolerance and secular progress." And

...professes a belief in "the laws of nature and of nature's God." It holds that reason is the tool for understanding those laws, and that humane conduct is what those laws teach

He then contrasts this with "Evangelical Religion":

Evangelicals, by contrast, emphasize an experimental relationship with Jesus as their savior, along with biblical inerrancy and a mission to save others.

Among his important works on the Church are Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit as well as Why I Am a Catholic.

But beyond his engagement with modern Catholicism, Wills is also indispensable at this point in the conversation on religion's role in government. He is an historian with an expertise in the American Constitutional experience-a vital asset in combating the revisionist historicism so prevalent on the Religious Right. Because he has authored in-depth books upon George Washington, James Madison, The Federalist Papers as well as religion and American politics he speaks with authority when taking on the likes of neoconservatives Michael Novak, Richard John Neuhaus and George Weigel.

Consider this passage at pages 176-177 from Head and Heart:

It is absurd to deny the prejudice of the Deists. From Peter Gay, a celebrant of the Enlightenment, does not (and cannot) deny its anti-Semitism. The anti-Catholic posture of the Enlightenment was an adaptation to the Age of Reason of the Puritan belief in Rome as the Antichrist. John Adams began his writing career with an attack on the canon law of the Catholic Church. He is probably the one who pressured Jefferson to put a reference to Catholic tyranny in the Declaration of Independence and wrote many things to this effect: "A free government and the Roman catholic religion can never exist together." Yet what Marty calls "special pleading" led by John Courtney Murray to argue that America was really founded on Catholic principles-an idea that would have made Adams and Jefferson snort with derision. Christian scholars have denied that America is a Christian nation-so, a fortiori, it is not a Christian nation.

The Deists are often not allowed to speak for themselves. When they are not being denounced as infidels, men like Michael Novak dress them up as crypto-Evangelicals, crypto-Jews, or crypto-Catholics. But enough. Whatever their faults, the Deists delivered us from the horrors of pre-Enlightenment religion, title enough to honor. They also founded this country.

These are just a few of the American Catholic writers who have the courage to stand up to the neo-orthodox bullies who are now threatening to make the Church more reactionary, and abandon her social justice mission. And there are others whose bodies of work also deserve higher visibility, Thomas Cahill, James Carroll and Sister Joan Chittister to name a few. They will also be discussed in a forthcoming post.

In the meantime, if you haven't read any of the authors mentioned above, they have a treasure-trove of information to offer anyone interested in containing the Religious Right.

The Catholic Right: A Series, by Frank L. Cocozzelli : Part One  Part Two  Part Three  Part Four  Part Five  Part Six   Intermezzo   Part Eight   Part Nine  Part Ten   Part Eleven   Part Twelve   Part Thirteen   Part Fourteen   Second Intermezzo   Part Sixteen   Part Seventeen   Part Eighteen   Part Eighteen   Part Nineteen   Part Twenty   Part Twenty-one   Part Twenty-two   Part Twenty-three   Part Twenty-four   Part Twenty-five   Part Twenty-six   Part Twenty-seven   Part Twenty-eight   Part Twenty-nine   Part Thirty   Part Thirty-one   Part Thirty-two   Part Thirty-three   Part Thirty-four   Part Thirty-five   Part Thirty-six   Part Thirty-seven   Part Thirty-eight   Part Thirty-nine




Display:
Instead, we must be able to best the Religius Right their own ballpark. All these writers help provide us with the knowledge to do so.

by Frank Cocozzelli on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 02:53:44 PM EST

I have Angela Bonavoglia's "Good Catholic Girls" and Garry Wills's "Papal Sin" and "Why I am A Catholic." Sometimes, as now, the hierarchy makes it very trying. Unfortunately, the neo-orthodox seem to have the upper hand in the present papacy, the Curia and in the American church.

I agree with Sister Joan Chittister that ultimately Catholic laymen and laywomen will need to decide what Church they want. My concern is that the neo-orthodox will start pushing away the people they view as insufficiently orthodox.

Kathy

by khughes1963 on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 04:02:03 PM EST

...we need these folks to show us how tp push back.

Remember one constant about bullies: they keep pushing until they meet resistance.

While not a pushover by any means, I'll bet that they're not as tough as they make themselves out to be.

by Frank Cocozzelli on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 06:03:34 PM EST
Parent




WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (375 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (203 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (111 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (251 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (65 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (177 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (109 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (164 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (180 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (331 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (149 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.