Madison’s Media Continues to Diss the Catholic Church- Just in Time for Christmas
Background
The past week has produced a barrage of media attacks on the Catholic Church in Madison.
Should not be too surprising; it is common for media to attack the Church immediately before Christmas and immediately before Easter. Happens every year. Happens nationally. Happens globally.
Satan seems particularly resentful of these most important celebrations of Christ’s birth and Resurrection, during which the Christians of the world strengthen their commitment to Christ. Satan becomes particularly active at these times.
While the rest of us are engaging in sacrifice, prayer and charitable works for Advent, trying to make ourselves more worthy to celebrate the miracle of Christ’s birth, the secular media fills that time with attacks on our beliefs. Must be some guilt worm eating away at their insides. Or something. 😉
I’ve only addressed the worst one of the Madison media attacks this week, the attack by Madison’s previous ex-Mayor Dave, but the attacks have been numerous, and Dave’s was not the first one.
Doug Erickson, Dave Ceislewicz and Chris Rickert
The attacks started with Doug Erickson and the Wisconsin State Journal (WSJ), folllowed by
The Nuns
The springboard for these attacks on the Church was the fact that Bishop Morlino of Madison directed Madison Catholic parishes not to enlist the services of two aged nuns who were trying to hold “retreats” in which heretical beliefs, contrary to Catholicism, were promoted. The nuns were teaching “indifferentism,” the belief that all faiths are equal.
What’s Wrong with Indifferentism?
The rejection of indifferentism is not unique to the Catholic Church; most religions reject indifferentism and by definition, most religions believe that their own religion represents the truth more accurately than others do. If they did not believe this, they would have no reason to stay in their own church. Duh.
Indifferentism poses a logical impossibility, since religions contradict each other in some areas, so they cannot all be true simultaneously. Indifferentism attacks all religions, not just Catholicism, by implying the invalidation of all contradictory beliefs, essentially dismantling the veracity of all religions at the same time.
It’s the first domino used by militant atheists who try to discredit all religious belief.
A more correct position would be to acknowledge that all religions hold varying degrees of truth, and that some religions err in some areas. Religious individuals obviously believe that their own religion is the most accurate one and holds the truth. If they did not believe that, they would switch to a more accurate religion. So attempts by anyone, media or nuns, to insist that all religions are equally good would be about at logical as insisting that all schools and universities are equally good. They are not.
And most religions hold enough of the truth to realize that religions should respect each other and should focus on the important truths they hold in common, rather than infighting over the elements over which they disagree.
Atheists Reject Indifferentism
Even atheists reject indifferentism, insisting that their beliefs are more true and more “rational” than those of religious people.
Some even go to the extreme of wanting to ban public espression of Christain beliefs and ridiculing Christian beliefs publicly themselves.
Madison’s media has written numerous sympathetic and positive articles about Madison atheists, without criticising their rejection of indifferentism.
How can Madison’s media be so biased when they represent the Catholic Church?
So WSJ Leaked the Bishop’s Letter
So the WSJ leaked the content of the Bishop’s letter, which warned Catholic parishes not to enlist the services of the two nuns who taught indifferentism, as well as teaching other heresies.
The letter was leaked to the Wisconsin State Journal (WSJ) by an unnamed person.
-Violation of confidentiality.
Doug Erickson published the details of the Bishop’s directive.
-Violation of charity.
How would you like it if the WSJ published the private details of your reprimand from your boss? The Bishop’s correction of the two nuns was meant to be private, and nobody, including nuns, want their mistakes and sins laundered in public.
Spin as Usual; It’s Madison
Doug Erickson’s article gave a very sympathetic spin to the two aged nuns, minimizing the heretical nature of their teaching and emphasizing their wonderful and sweet qualities.
This generated the usual WSJ-anonymous-discussion-forum-free-for-all, in which Madison’s Church haters reliably crawl out of the woodwork, spewing hateful vitriol towards Catholicism and Madison’s Bishop, while simultaneously bringing a landslide of web traffic to WSJ’s website to view the circus. Revenue is always useful, particularly at the expense of the Catholic Church’s reputation.
Catholics Fight Back
This Catholic-Church-attacking phenomenon has become so predictable in Madison, WI, that numerous real Catholics in Madison (as opposed to the two dissident nuns whom WSJ seems to favor), have even developed an alert system to watch for WSJ attacks on the Church, and numerous faithful Catholics flock to join the WSJ discussion forums in defense of the Church.
In my case, my indignation at this treatment of Catholics in Madison over the years, particularly by the WSJ, the Capital Times, and the Isthmus, inspired me to establish a website three years ago for the sole purpose of defending my Church, my religious beliefs, and my conservative political beliefs which stem from my faith.
Apparently my voice reflects the views of numerous faithful people, since my humble amateur blog, with sparse and sporadic posting, has already received over half a million hits this month, as of December 14th.
But of course, the faithful Christians/Conservatives whose views I represent are of no interest to Madison’s media. They are more interested in two dissident nuns. Madison’s Progressive media’s only interest is the rampant spread of progressive culture in Madison.
List of Madison Articles on the Two-Nun Issue in Less Than One Week
Not satisfied with their initial attempts to mis-portray
and embarrass the Bishop of Madison, Madison’s newspapers continued to publish a series of articles and letters related to the initial article all week. Granted, some of the letters printed by WSJ were supportive of the Bishop, but often support was quickly followed by insult, as in Chris Rickert’s article published on December 13th.
- Bishop Robert Morlino cracks down on Madison nuns for espousing ‘New Ageism’ and ‘indifferentism’ WSJ, Dec 11
- In the Spirit: More on the nuns banned by the bishop WSJ, Dec 11
- Monsignor James Bartylla: Catholic Church must protect truth of Gospel WSJ, Dec 12 ***
- In the Spirit: As readers react to banned nuns, Bishop Morlino applauded, denounced WSJ, Dec 12
- Citizen Dave: Bishop Morlino is failing Madison Isthmus, WSJ, Dec 12
- Chris Rickert: Bishop just keeping the faith in nun criticism WSJ, Dec 13
- Ted Voth Jr.: Morlino’s narrow view of righteousness gives him much to answer for – Cap Times, Dec 13
- Letters to the editor for Dec. 13, 2012 Cap Times, Dec 13
- Soglin blogs on achievement gap; Cieslewicz slams Bishop Morlino Cap Times, Dec 13
- Lucy Keane: As voices are pushed out, donations will follow WSJ, Dec 14
- Rev. Dr. Jerry L. Folk: Bishop’s actions are like a slap in Jesus’ face WSJ, Dec 14
- Letters to the editor for Dec. 14, 2012 Cap Times, Dec 14
- Kim Tschudy: Sinsinawa Sisters’ standards higher than Morlino’s own WSJ, Dec 14, 2011
- Vincent Kavaloski: Rebuked nuns are defenders of common good, dignity WSJ, Dec 15
- Marcia McCaughey: God gave us minds, expects us to use them WSJ, Dec 15
- Greg Wagner: Catholic faith, alive for 2,000 years, will endure WSJ, Dec 15
- Lee Haas: Catholic faith now about authority, not spirituality WSJ, Dec 15
- Denise Beckfield: Nuns criticized, but not work for School of Americas WSJ, Dec 15
The Diocese Offered Information
Of course, the Diocese offered accurate information as soon as the the Bishop’s private letter was leaked, but as usual, Madison’s media paid little heed to that.
Here are the links to the Diocese information:
Also: Monsignor James Bartylla: Catholic Church must protect truth of Gospel WSJ, Dec 12
Back to the Media Attacks
Chris Rickert’s WSJ Article; Pretense of Support Cloaks Deceptive Attack
Nobody could keep up with the barrage of old and false accusations listed above, which is cleverly interspersed with just a few supportive letters, to camouflage the thrust of the attack.
Not going to tackle each one, but Chris Rickert, a WSJ reporter, should know better than to write what he wrote in his Dec 13 article which pretends at first to support the Bishop.
Here’s my online forum response to Chris Rickert’s deceptive attack on the Catholic Church:
Chris Rickert-
You claim to defend the Bishop’s decision, yet you end with a doomsday forecast on the future of the Catholic Church, and a personal pronouncement that “official Catholicism is a regressive and controlling throwback in a modern world.”
That’s not even accurate reporting. It also borders on hate speech.
FYI, Catholicism is growing in Madison (30+ seminarians vs. 4 ten years ago), is growing in the United States, and is growing worldwide.
If you want to distinguish Catholicism into orthodox and heterodox, orthodox Catholicism is also growing. And it’s growing in Madison. Madison should look outside the bubble and face reality. And religion reporters should report on that reality.
Incidentally, creating categories of Catholicism is ridiculous; do we have orthodox and heterodox math?
Heterodox math is wrong math, and heterodox Catholicism is wrong Catholicism.
There is only one kind of Catholicism, and then there are different faiths, which are not Catholicism.
Speaking of orthodox Catholicism, I hear that one of the nation’s top Catholic bloggers, Father Z, is celebrating a Latin Mass in the Diocese of Madison this weekend. I’m sure that event will be packed.
It’s historic, it’s new, it’s Catholic, it’s orthodox, and it’s popular.
Is the WSJ planning to cover that story, and to cover it respectfully, or does that not fit your political agenda?
Or perhaps WSJ religion reporters prefer to sleep in on Sundays?
If you are serious journalists and interested in covering that event, information can certainly be obtained from the Bishop’s Office.
You also call Catholicism an uncompromising faith.
Are you advocating that truth should be compromised?
Or do you have no interest in truth?
The WSJ has not been reporting on religion, it has been dissing religion.
That is not the job of religion reporters.
Got to wonder where WSJ finds its religion reporters and what their qualifications are.
Syte Reitz
WSJ, Capital Times and Isthmus Tactics
The tactics used by Madison’s left in attacking the Catholic Church are immoral, dishonorable and repugnant.
They violate the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.
They resemble deceptive and unChristian standards of behavior like Alinsky Tactics and the Thirty-Six Strategems, such as:
- When the enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, then attack something he holds dear.
- Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west.
- Create something from nothing.
- Hide a knife behind a smile.
- Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief.
- Sow discord in the enemy’s camp.
- Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon
- Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.
Sadly, in Madison, Wisconsin, this is nothing new.
Syte Reitz grew up in Queens, New York, in a family of Lithuanian immigrants who fled Nazi and Soviet domination during World War II. Her education includes a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, and post-doctoral work at Princeton University. Syte left her job as an Assistant Professor at Oakland University, Michigan, to devote herself to raising her children, and ultimately homeschooled them through the end of high school. She is a member of Madison's Cathedral Parish.
