Syte Reitz

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world…….

Browsing Posts tagged Don’t Diss My Church

Doug Erickson and theWisconsin State Journal Are Up to Their Old Tricks

Smear Journalism in Madison

b6d7090a321aeca0f529ab265a288b1b_XLDespite Madison, Wisconsin’s claim to be very “progressive” and very tolerant, the Wisconsin State Journal (WiSJ) and reporter Doug Erickson have slanted their reporting on the Catholic Church and the Church’s Bishop in Madison in the past.
One of the prime reasons for my establishing this blog was to defend my faith against such “progressives” in Madison who apparently feel the need to malign the Catholic Church.
Many of my articles, including this one, fall under the blog category “Don’t Diss My Church.”

To be fair, there was a time last year when Doug Erickson and the WiSJ appeared to have reformed their reporting on Catholic Madison.  The article written on Bishop Morlino’s tenth anniversary as Bishop of Madison was balanced and reasonable.
Just two days after the balanced article, the WiSJ was back to their old tricks, publishing a misrepresentation cartoon of Bishop Morlino.
To their credit, Doug Ericson and the WiSJ seemed to behave better during the last few months, focusing on promoting their own liberal agenda, rather than focusing on maligning the Catholic Church directly.
But this week Doug Erickson and the WiSJ are clearly back to their old tricks.

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This week an article was published  in the WiSJ with a headline linking Bishop Morlino to a Diocese which is going bankrupt due to sexual child abuse allegations.

  • Never mind that the alleged heinous acts did not occur on Bishop Morlino’s watch.
  • Never mind that some of the alleged heinous acts occurred before Bishop Morlino was born.
  • Never mind that the lawsuits in question were filed up to 71 years after abuse was alleged to have occurred.
  • Never mind that the allegations were only made in 2011, almost a decade after Bishop Morlino was no longer at that diocese.
  • Never mind that Catholic Priests abuse children at a rate far lower than that of other males in the general population and that the priests have been politically and unfairly targeted by critics of the Catholic Church (previously reported by this blogger and acknowledged by Newsweek and by USA Today).

The simple fact that Bishop Morlino worked at that diocese in the past was enough for Madison’s leading newspaper to find an opportunity to link this good Bishop’s name with child abuse scandals which did not happen, nor did they surface, on Bishop Morlino’s watch.

What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander

I say to Doug Erickson and to the Wisconsin State Journal:

Have either the University you attended or an employer you worked for previously ever been the subjects of sexual abuse litigation?
Was a teacher/staff member from your middle school ever accused of child abuse (9.6% of public school students are targets of educator sexual misconduct)?

Have you ever rooted for Penn State, whose football coach Jerry Sandusky is a convicted serial child molester? 

Are you a fan of Woody Allen movies, whose sexual molestation of his family has been in the news in recently? 
Have you ever vacationed in Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Korea, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, or Uruguay, all countries reputed to be involved with Child Sex Tourism?

Slide1If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then we better write an article about YOU, similar to the one you wrote about Bishop Morlino, announcing that this place you were associated with in the past has been accused of heinous acts:

 

Wisconsin State Journal Reporter’s Previous Employer
Filing For Bankruptcy Due to Child Abuse Allegations
or
Doug Erickson’s Previous Employer
Filing For Bankruptcy Due to Child Abuse Allegations

We can pretend that we did not smear your reputation with our suggestive article by publishing a quote from you on how you were unaware, or not involved, or only there in a different decade.

Bishop Morlino wasn’t even born at the time as some of the allegations you write about were said to occur, and the problems did not occur on his watch, yet you include his name in your sensational title. 

Doug Erickson and the Wisconsin State JournalOnce a suggestion is made, whether directly or indirectly by association, it cannot be taken back. 
A journalist should have the integrity not to engage in such smear tactics.
Shame on you.
How unprofessional!

It’s Not About Catholic Priests

The media’s smearing of the Catholic Church is  not about Catholic priests.  It’s about smearing the Catholic Church, smearing a moral authority which encourages citizens to hold government accountable to the laws of God .

Progressives have an agenda.
They want to live their lives centered on pleasure, and want to destroy anyone who suggests that they hurt others with their selfish agenda.
They want promiscuity celebrated, they want the resulting babies aborted, and they want their new morality to be praised and to be taught in the schools.
Media is their weapon.

Wisconsin State JournalWhether it is conscious or not, this is the agenda the Wisconsin State Journal and Doug Erickson are promoting.
Catholics get the most flack because they are the most numerous and organized of Christian groups,  and thus have the most power.
Catholic Bishops are particularly frightening to progressives, and are under particular attack.

Want to Complain?

COMPLAIN TO:

Want to Pray for Our Bishops?Slide1

Check out the cool global map  at Rosary for the Bishop, a website organized in 2005 to help support Bishop Morlino against the attacks he was suffering in Madison, and which now coordinates 1580 members from 258 dioceses and from 996 parishes, who have prayed 278,300 rosaries for 456 bishops globally since then.

Join the effort by signing up to pray as little as one rosary per month for the bishop of your choice. Note: Pope Francis is also a bishop, and you can sign up to pray for him.

Against odds like this, Doug Erickson and the Wisconsin State Journal have little chance.

Slide2

 See what happened the last time we took to global prayer: Making Sense of Syria.

ObamaCare- the Game

No comments

 ObamaCare- the Game

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Jack.largeYes, Jack LeFeber, an entrepreneur from Kentucky, is raising money to launch production of a game called ObamaCare – the Game.
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He rewards contributions toward his cause with gifts – ObamaCare the Game magnets, coffee mugs and ObamaCare the Game Board Games (for $35 contribution), Delivery is estimated November of 2013, in time for Christmas.

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Promotional Details:OBAMACARE -- THE GAME GAME BOARD

  • Obamacare The Board Game. You’ll have to play it to see what’s in it!
  • Players choose game pieces: Republican, Democrat, IRS, Green Party, Tea Party, or Occupy Wall Street.
  • Everybody has to play. Nobody ever wins.
  • You’re either broke or you’re dead.
  • You can either read the ObamaCare Bill and its ever-expanding regulation and risk an aneurysm, or you can buy this game instead (link to the actual law is provided, for reference while playing the game).
  • .
  • .

Some Suggestions for the Inventor:Slide1

 More Info:

 

Don’t Diss My Church

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Misinformation and Why it Sticks

Satan, commonly known as the Adversary
Satan, commonly known as the Adversary

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Crawling Out of the Woodwork

Adversaries are crawling out of the woodwork already, anxious to damage the Catholic Church.
After all, the Pope has just resigned, and we are in the middle of Lent, a season when Christian-haters and Catholic haters always ramp up their Church-bashing each year.
A very busy time for the Adversary.

 

Slide1On the morning of the day Pope Benedict retired, February 28, 2013, an article entitled The New Inquisition appeared in the online news publication globalpost, together with a cluster of similar false attacks on the Catholic Church:

Slide1Barrage of Lies

These articles represent barrage of lies so overwhelming that it’s hard to know where to begin untangling them.
Here are the falsehoods implied in the headlines alone:

  • LOOMING INQUISITION- There is no “inquisition.” A doctrinal correction is not an Inquisition. A doctrinal correction is more like your teacher correcting your homework.
  • FRACTURED- The Catholic Church is no more fractured than any other institution in society, including the United States.  The whole world is pretty split between liberals and conservatives, so why should the Catholic Church be any exception?
  • TARGETING NUNS- The Vatican is not targeting US nuns; the Vatican simply made a doctrinal correction, as it does to all errant groups.
  • INQUISITION- The original “inquisition” has been grossly misrepresented by opponents of the Church.
  • SEX ABUSE- Despite very regrettable instances of sex abuse in the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church still has a lower frequency of sex abuse than any other societal group, including household members at home, public school staff and doctors.  The only reason the Church is in the news is that again, the liberal media and Church adversaries welcome any opportunity to criticize the Church.  In actual fact, every city in the United States has more child abusers released onto the streets by their own City than any Bishop or Diocese has ever released.
  • THEOLOGIAN HANS KUNG- “Theologian” Hans Kung is not a faithful Catholic, but a Church adversary and heretic. A typical quotation from Hans Kung,on the occasion of Pope John Paul the Great’s beatification:
    • John Paul II is universally praised as someone who fought for peace and human rights. But his preaching to the outside world was in total contrast with the way he ran the church from inside, with an authoritarian pontificate which suppressed the rights of both women and theologians.
  • NUNS HELPING MIGRANTS- The “Social Justice” for which dissident nuns advocate is a screen designed to camouflage their departure from Church teachings on more important moral teachings like abortion, marriage and religious freedom.  Focusing on how “nice” the dissidents are, or on what good deeds they are capable of is irrelevant to the fact that they have abandoned numerous Church teachings, as well as their vows of obedience.  If soldiers in the military or employees of Microsoft should tried similar stunts, public opposition to organization policies, court maritial or firing would be the expected result.  The Catholic Church is much more tolerant than that.  Some “Inquisition!”
  • FATHER DAN WARD- Father Daniel Ward is a canon lawyer who helped two Benedictine nuns who rescinded their vows publicly to transfer the previously Benedictine property to themselves.    Hmmm… how’s that vow of poverty working out for those two ladies who still call themselves “Benedictine women” and “Sisters” after retracting their vows?
  • SOCIAL JUSTICE- a buzz word invented by dissident nuns who ought to acknowledge instead that they have departed from Catholic Church teaching. Substituting service for immigrants and union workers does not let these nuns off the hook on abortion and marriage issues, which are even more important than immigrant and union worker problems.

Don’t have time or space here to do all these subjects justice, but there’s a blog article in the pipeline entitled Today’s Catholic Nuns: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.  Stay tuned, article coming soon…

Why are liberals so anxious to damage the Catholic Church?

Why are liberals so anxious to damage the Catholic Church?
Because the Catholic Church is the largest and most organized opponent to the radical immoral “it feels good so let’s do it”  liberalization of the United States and of the world.

And why did globalpost launch the attack now?
Because those who fear the moral standards represented by the Catholic Church seem to think that the Church might be more vulnerable at this moment, as our Pope departs.

Some adversaries are clueless when it comes to Jesus’ promise: And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.- Matthew 16:18

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P.S. – Why Misinformation Sticks

An Association for Pyschological Science publication clarifies why misinformation sticks:

The main reason that misinformation is sticky, according to the researchers, is that rejecting information actually requires cognitive effort. Weighing the plausibility and the source of a message is cognitively more difficult than simply accepting that the message is true – it requires additional motivational and cognitive resources. If the topic isn’t very important to you or you have other things on your mind, misinformation is more likely to take hold.

 

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As is often the case, a Wisconsin State Journal (WSJ) article sent me on an interesting thought trajectory last week.

In a New Years Day 2011 article, WSJ author Chris Rickert wrote, “I approached a handful of more-or-less randomly chosen (Madison) people who aren’t exactly celebrities (but aren’t exactly unknown either) about coming up with resolutions for Madison.”

The Greek word "atheoi" αθεοι ("those who are without god") as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians 2:12, on early 3rd-century Papyrus"

When thus approached, Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) atheist Annie Laurie Gaylor suggested the following resolution for Madison: “just say no to the (St. Paul’s Catholic Student) Center‘s unreasonable demand for a tax-free, 14-story dormitory and religious addition.”  Apparently this Madison atheist’s primary concern for 2011 seemed to be preventing the replacement of UW Madison’s Catholic student headquarters. (!)

Questions immediately came to mind:

St. Paul's from 1909

  • Why would opposition to the Catholic Student center be so high on an atheist organization’s priority list?   (The replacement will be funded by private donations, and replaces an existing Catholic Student center, which has been in existence at that location since 1909.)
  • Why is MY Catholic religion being singled out by the atheists?  (The atheist’s objections did not include other campus religious groups or buildings, or their tax-exempt status.)
  • Isn’t the atheist being inconsistent? Isn’t atheism a religion as well?  Aren’t atheists simply opposing OTHER people’s religions in preference to their own? Why would they particularly single out Catholicism?

Searching the UW Madison student organization website, atheists came up as the second listing under RELIGIOUS student organizations– Atheists, Humanists & Agnostics @ UW-Madison. So atheism is listed as a religion at UW, along with Catholic student groups, Muslim student groups, and others.

If the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is so opposed to religion, what are they specifically opposed to?

According to dictionary.com, religion is “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

  • Is FFRF opposed to exploring the cause, nature and purpose of the universe?
  • Does FFRF deny the right of others to believe in a superhuman agency (as 80% of Madison and 80% of America does)?
  • Is FFRF opposed to a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs?
  • Are atheists not contradicting themselves, since they also adhere to a system of beliefs and are listed under UW Madison religious organizations?

My curiosity piqued, I visited the Freedom From Religion Foundation(FFRF) website  “about” page, where I found the statement:

“The history of Western civilization shows us that most social and moral progress has been brought about by persons free from religion.”

Abraham Lincoln

Hmmm….according to FFRF, so much for considering contributions to Western civilization by Jesus Christ, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Johann Sebastian Bach, Michelangelo, Sir Isaac Newton, Gregor Mendel, Max Planck, Albert Einstein, G.K. Chesterton, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Clarence Thomas, Pope John Paul II, Mother Theresa………?

The FFRF “about” page goes on to claim ownership of prison reform, humane treatment of the mentally ill, abolition of capital punishment, the end of slavery, women’s suffrage, and more, for people who are “free of” religion.

Johnny Cash

A brief historical tour of these topics does not support FFRF’s claims—no one group had a monopoly on reform in these areas, and numerous religious people were involved, including famous names like Abraham Lincoln and Johnny Cash.

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A visit to Wikipedia’s entry on FFRF indicates that FFRF maintained a sign in the Wisconsin State Capitol during the Christmas season, which reads:

FFRF sign at Wisconsin Capitol

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“At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world.
Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens the heart and enslaves minds.”

-A disturbingly intolerant statement about many religions, particularly for a city like Madison, which prides itself on its University, its intellectualism and its tolerance!

Consider a simple substitution in the last sentence of the sign:                                    Atheism is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.” instead of Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens the heart and enslaves minds.”

How would FFRF tolerate the exhibition of that in the State Capitol on a gold sign for children to view?

The first line of the FFRF verse is also inconsistent with FFRF’s supposed mission; Winter Solstice, capitalized, refers to pagan celebrations, which are religious.  Is FFRF promoting pagan holidays, while opposing Christian ones like Christmas?  Hardly sounds like freedom from religion.

The FFRF Christmas season sign is an inconsistent curiosity at best, and surely would not be appreciated by 80% of Madison, who are Christian, when they bring their children to see the Christmas tree at the Capitol each year!

How many atheists are there, anyway? Wikipedia claims 2.5% of the world’s population, 2% of the U.S. population.

And of these, how many are so militant that they cannot tolerate a Christmas tree or a “Merry Christmas” wish?  The couple of atheists/agnostics I know have no problem with Christmas, and they participate in Christmas celebrations and Christmas giving with enthusiasm.  They are quite tolerant of the Christian majority in America, and enjoy the spirit of the occasion.  So what percentage of Americans does the FFRF really represent?  It is certainly lower than the total of all atheists, 2%.  The FFRF website lists their North American membership of 15,500, which is 0.003 of 1% of the population, or one in 33 thousand people.

City-data.com demographics list Madison as 53% Catholic, 22% Evangelical Lutheran, and only 10% of the population outside of Christian denominations.

So as we delve further into the facts, we discover that in the City of Madison, which is 53% Catholic and 80% Christian, and in the State of Wisconsin, which is 29% Catholic and 80% Christian, the insignificant number of militant atheists want to prevent Catholic students from replacing their Catholic student center at their own cost when membership swells.

Catholic students in front of St. Paul's

Perhaps it is the tax-deductible status of the Catholic Student Center that offends FFRF?  The Catholic student center is located between its brethren structures, Calvary Lutheran Student Center, and Pres House, the Presbyterian Student Center.  All three are religious institutions and all three are tax-exempt.  The FFRF is also tax exempt, and the UW Madison atheist student organization (listed under Religious Student Organizations) is tax exempt. So tax exemption cannot be the problem.

Does FFRF think that UW or the City of Madison will be paying for the new structure?

FFRF’s Annie Julie Gaylor stated:“(St. Paul’s Catholic Student) Center’s unreasonable demand for a tax-free, 14-story dormitory and religious addition.” — but St. Paul’s Catholic Center is not demanding anything from anybody.  They already own the location since 1909, and the new building will be paid for by private donations.

So the Catholic Center is not unique in its tax-free status. The Catholic students are not demanding anything from anybody.  Perhaps it is the expansion that FFRF is opposed to?

St. Paul's today

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The expanded taller structure reflects the increase in Catholic students participating in the Catholic Center, and this is not surprising in a town which is 53% Catholic and a State which is 29% Catholic.  29 to 53% of the UW campus would represent about 11,000 to 21,000 students.  Does the FFRF, representing between 0.003% and  2% of the population (this would correspond to between 1 and 800 students), wish to deny the 80% Christian majority access to religious organizations and dormitories to support the student population’s interests and priorities?

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In a world in which litigation has much power to intimidate, small groups such as the FFRF have made some headway toward abolishing the rights of self-expression guaranteed to us by the Bill of Rights of the United States:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

The FFRF, with their $5 million fund balance, their half-million dollar yearly income, and 15,000 (North American) membership, is a small organization at best.  Yet FFRF has made some inroads towards stifling the freedom OF religion guaranteed to us in the United States– primarily by filing lawsuits against public expressions of religion.

FFRF should be reminded that the preposition used by the founding fathers in the Bill of Rights is freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion. They should be reminded that they are the guests among a majority of religious people in this country, who exhibit more much tolerance towards FFRF than is reciprocated.  And in preparation for the next time our freedom OF religion is threatened by frivolous FFRF lawsuits, we should start a Freedom OF Religion Fund to pay for the defense of the Bill of Rights against militant atheists like FFRF.  We 80% Christians and 90% religious people in this country, as well as the 8-10% tolerant atheists/agnostics/unsure believers, would prevail against the aggressive and intolerant attitudes of groups like the FFRF if we woke up, got organized and took action.

FFRF should take a lesson in tolerance from Bishop Morlino, another one of the people consulted by WSJ for this article’s New Year’s resolutions for Madison.  Bishop Morlino did not suggest stifling FFRF’s plans, challenging their tax-exempt status, or interfering with FFRF in any way.  Bishop Morlino suggested some daily quiet personal introspection for everyone in Madison– which Annie Laurie Gaylor would be wise to consider.

Anti-Catholicism is the last politically correct prejudice still unquestioned in America.

For fear of lawsuits and reprisals, Madisonians have stopped challenging most groups on exercising their freedom of choice – they do not challenge racial groups, non-Catholic religious groups, or ethnic groups for their choices and lifestyles.

Why do you expect Catholics to defend their choices and beliefs? We do not attack you demanding you to defend why you like to go to the Overture Center, the Chazen Museum, the Capitol Building, or to Taste of Madison.

Some of the criticisms of the Catholic Church in Wisconsin State Journal discussion are preposterous.

  • Madison’s Capitol building is very grand and imposing, as are numerous affluent banks around the Capitol Square and the Overture Center. Yet some suggest that Catholic Churches in Madison are too extravagant. Catholic Churches are very humble by comparison. Apparently you respect government, money and entertainment sufficiently to tolerate imposing accommodations for these activities, but you want to require people who hold God in high esteem to grovel in humble surroundings.
  • There is a similar double standard in the criticism of statues in Catholic Churches. The display of photos in one’s living room, of paintings in the Chazen Museum, and of portraits and statues in government buildings seems to be acceptable in Madison, yet when the Catholic Church honors the memory of important people with paintings and statues, suddenly you decide that this constitutes idolatry.
  • Finally, the portrayal of the Catholic Church as an institution laden with money is completely false. The Diocese does not receive one penny from Rome, nor is Rome wealthy (except for the value of her “Capitol building,” which requires maintenance, just as Madison’s does). Those who sue the Catholic Church are suing the Madison citizens in the pews today. When Diocesan coffers are depleted by lawsuits, the same critics attack the Church for insufficient charitable service to Madison (which still exceeds the charitable service provided by the City of Madison).

This double standard constitutes bigotry and generates false and vile urban myths about Catholicism.

“Not a hundred people in the United States hate the Roman Catholic Church, but millions hate what they mistakenly think the Roman Catholic Church is.”

-Bishop Fulton J Sheen

Here goes TIME Magazine again, dissing my Church………

June 7, 2010 TIME Magazine cover:

Why would the June 7, 2010 TIME Magazine cover lie so blatantly about Pope Benedict?

  • Pope Benedict HAS apologized about the scandals ( what a saint! — he is innocent of all the charges that were thrown at him starting during Holy Week).
  • The terrible problem of sexual abuse of children is rampant in all sectors of our society, but the Catholic Church has the lowest incidence of offense of all groups. Children are (and have always been) safer in the hands of the Catholic Church than they are at government schools or in their own homes.
  • Finally, Pope Benedict has been at the forefront of developing procedures for the safety of children, which now make the Catholic Church a model for all other institutions on how to deal with child abuse prevention.

So WHY is TIME Magazine (and the NYTimes, as well as other extreme liberal media) attacking the Pope so blatantly, with old charges which have already been disproved?

They do this because the Church is the single largest, most centralized and most powerful voice threatening to undermining their extreme liberal agenda in the world today. The Church does this by proclaiming the truth courageously, and by standing up for the innocent and downtrodden. Most recently, the courageous actions of the US Bishops in opposing abortion in health care have irritated the extreme left.

Since the extreme left has no valid ammunition, they attack the Church with lies. And so the persecution of the Church continues…. ironically, the last round started up during Holy Week, with attacks peaking on Good Friday. Why TIME Magazine is trying to resurrect these now outdated issues on their June 7 cover is a good question.

More information:

Setting the Record Straight-Zenit

George Wiegel

Syte Reitz, April 28 ’10

Revealing Statistics – National Catholic Register

12 Things You Should Know About the U.S. Scandals – NCR

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