Those who follow the often-angry comments on Catholic Fundamentalism on Facebook see a pattern in the thousands of questions and comments from Anti-Catholics.
1. There is a lot of very hostile, anti-Catholicism in the world.
2. Many anti-Catholics are proud of being Anti-Catholic. They believe they are “enlightened” and “intellectual”, a glorification of self that is a form of idol-worship. Extreme concerns about “The Environment”, another form of idol-worship, replace thinking about their souls. Their concept of souls reinforces such silliness: “Souls are an idea invented by The Church to scare people into obedience. If, by some remote chance, I do have a soul, I am going to Heaven because I am a good person.”
3. Others are anti-Catholic because The Church is so big, so old, and so consistent that She attracts the most knowledgeable people from their own schisms and cash flows. “You don’t want to be a Catholic.”, they say with a straight face. “Catholics take things too seriously.”
4. Those most hostile to The Church tend to be lapsed Catholics. Dislike of The Church is often accompanied by a surprisingly deep desire to justify having turned away from what was usually the religion of dozens of generations of their ancestors. They think, grimly and repeatedly, “I need to let people know how bad The Church is.” as they stride purposefully down the broad path to destruction. Many have left The Church after finding themselves in sexual relationships that keep them from The Sacraments. “The Church simple does not understand my needs.” they announce frequently, little understanding that The Church understands them all too well.
6. Anti-Catholics have little sense of perspective and proportion. They are unable, for instance, to see that the murder of 3,500 unborn babies a day is a far, far greater crime than 20,000 allegations of molestation over sixty years.
7. Anti-Catholics blame The Church for the sins of those who seek to destroy Her. Communists, who corrupted and seized the governments of entire continents, infiltrated 1,100 men into the Catholic clergy. Those evil individuals, scattered throughout countless dioceses, brought in those who embraced every kind of theological, intellectual, and sexual disorder. The Church survived. Anti-Catholics do not blame the evil saboteurs for attacking The Church, but they blame The Church. Her crime? Standing firmly, a target of evil destroyers.
8. Politically, Anti-Catholics tend toward two extremes. Those on the left believe in Public Transportation, Housing, Welfare, Health, and Education and in the Imaginary Problems invented to justify and fund such collectivist beliefs. Anti-Catholics on the right tend to worship at the rough-hewn shrine of rugged individualism. Neither group pays as much attention to saving their souls as they should, though those on the right are more likely to help you change a flat tire.
Anti-Catholic thoughts and habits. We should be thankful for Anti-Catholics. The grotesque shallowness of their thinking makes us more thankful to God for saving us from it.
