Oy. I just got done writing about the stupid way our discourse is warped by those who shout "anti-Semite" in a crowded theater, and I came across this from On Faith at The Washington Post.
Now, I will admit that I have not read the references letter from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Nor did I read the criticism of that letter, so I have no way of judging the veracity of the claims of Sister Mary Ann. I can say, from my own experience at The Catholic University of America, that for all it's America's largest denomination, it is quite quick to claim "anti-Catholic bias" whenever someone criticizes some public position the Church or its surrogates take. I was the only Protestant in some of my classes, and my criticisms of some point of Catholic teaching was usually labeled the result of my own anti-Catholic upbringing. I was agog the first time I heard this; by the last time it was uttered, I just shook my head and smiled. What else can you do?
In any event, it seems that some people just can't take criticism. In truth, it is no more anti-Catholic to criticize the public stance of the Catholic Church on social issues than it is anti-Methodist to claim the denomination is a hair's breadth away from Karl Marx. No one, on individual, no institution, is above reproach or beyond criticism. To shout "you hate me for being me!" every time someone says that an institution of which one is a member is criticized just doesn't cut it for me.
Please, stop.
Virtual Tin Cup
