Friday, September 16, 2005

Lions and Friars and Bears, Oh My

We confess that we read the Dig (formerly the Weekly Dig) for entertainment coverage, beer reviews, and their great, great covers. If you do not regularly pick up the freeby rag from the street machine, huge shame on you. Start.

However, this week, we found a grand and well written piece, Catholic-on-Catholic Action. The short of it is a that a blogger, Carol McKinley, with a mega-case of self-righteousness is taking on the brown dressed friars of the Franciscan Brothers of St. Anthony's Shrine in downtown crossing. She is partnered with the uber-reactionary American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP).

St. Ant's is a very successful, very pragmatic church that has worshippers all day, catering to the downtown faithful, particularly commuters. They rake in the cash, soothe souls, and generally do good deed friars pledge to perform.

Not so quick, say TFP members, Michael Whitcraft and Normal Fulkerson, who are "suspicious that the friars weren'’t sufficiently lambasting the sodomites in their flock, arrived in downtown Boston in front of St. Anthony'’s Shrine last year to warn the stream of holiday worshippers about the dangers of the homosexual agenda."

The jolly brothers asked them not to block the door and they screamed, "Help. Help. I'm being oppressed!" When they prevented handicapped parishioners from entering, the cops lent a hand, which further incensed the protesters.

The not-too-Christian blogger told the Dig:
"The friars have a long history of teaching people who come to the shrine to have their adultery religiously affirmed to exclude those of us who want to hear the authentic teachings of the church."” she says. "“Our presence exposes the lies they are teaching and so they incite malice against us. Their souls are in extreme peril as those who hand over Christ to the enemy are guilty of the greater sin."”
I regret my lack of imagination. I couldn't have made this stuff up.

2 comments:

Uncle said...

Ah, but this is what one should be encouraging, endorsing, and achieving through persistent subversion. Talk about a monolithic "religious right" does nothing but counter the centrifugal force of religious obsession. Given the least opportunity, these neurotics will fight each other as eagerly as they fight anyone else. Let 'em, says I.

Say, do these people know about all them pichers of nekkid boys and men in the Vatican? Maybe they could go there and picket: shall we get up a fund to provide one-way airfare?

massmarrier said...

It makes one wonder about the power of a cassock. If I put one on, may I shield myself from all personal responsibility? Say, if I become a Cardinal in perhaps a populous Northeastern state, will it protect me if I protect child abusers?