Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vytautas on January 20, 2013 at 5:27pm

Being tolerant of diversity does not demand tolerance of intolerance... that's just stupid.

Permalink Reply by Will on February 16, 2013 at 2:29am

Perhaps not. But honoring tolerance of diversity does require one to call those one wishes to oppose "intolerant," to avoid looking intolerant oneself.  It's easier than actually tolerating those with different views.  But maybe that's something for another thread.

Permalink Reply by Vytautas on January 20, 2013 at 11:07pm

The whole concept of this thread is based on striving to be a victim of some (mostly imagined) persecution.

Let us focus on those who are truly persecuted. The poor. Minorities. Women. Let us not sit around finding ways to pity ourselves.

Permalink Reply by Mike M. on January 27, 2013 at 4:46pm

I think that it's important to be aware of how close we could be to real persecution.  Anti-Catholic persecution, including horrific acts of violence, are certainly present in our nation's history.  We haven't been free from it for all that long, and the current national rhetoric is reviving anti-Catholic elements.

We don't have it that bad now, but it's foolish to ignore the threats on the horizon.

Permalink Reply by Vytautas on January 27, 2013 at 6:20pm

Perceived threat is perceived. It's much harder to be black, or a woman, or an immigrant, or poor, than it is to be Catholic.

Permalink Reply by Tim on January 28, 2013 at 7:46pm

Perceived threat is perceived. Regardless of what group you are in or a part of. Some have it worse, but I don't think it's fair either to denigrate individual perspectives by saying "your life could be worse." All our lives could be.

Permalink Reply by Mike M. on January 31, 2013 at 9:12pm

You pulled "oppression" into this discussion.  It's not normally something I whine about.  But, if you don't see the threats on the horizon, you're blind.  As a student at a secular university not too long ago, I was subjected to acts of violence on a couple of occasions on account of being Catholic.  On another occasion I was spit on.  The row house where Catholic student activities were held was vandalized with anti-Catholic imagery.

I didn't wind up with a bruise on my face from the perception of a threat. 

Don't get me wrong... I've had an overall pretty easy life so far, and that handful of events aside, I basically enjoyed college where most people were very nice, and I don't and have never spent my days walking around in fear.  I don't feel particularly oppressed.  I'm not under the illusion that we face anything Jim Crow like or anything like that.  But, there is a lot of intense hatred of Catholics out there from hateful and sometimes even violent people.  There are a lot of people who would love to be able to harass us in public, destroy our property, and physically assault us.  If you choose to keep your head in the sand about that, I think that's kind of foolish.

Permalink Reply by Native Son on February 2, 2013 at 11:20am

What sort of "anti-Catholic imagery"?  Cartoons of priest with horns, hooves & tails?  And where was this secular bastion of higher education?  I'm not so sure it was "secular", from your posting, it sounds like there was some folks influenced by one of the more fundamentalist evangelical denominations that doesn't think Catholics are Christians.

Amigo, if you think we're heading towards some sort of religious war, two notes:  1.  Read some history, antebellum US 19th Century and Europe from the 15th through the 18th Centuries.  You'll find real religious prejudices.  2.  You could be Jewish...think about it. 

Permalink Reply by Rebekah on February 15, 2013 at 8:26pm

Being Jewish really isn't so bad these days, in the West. At most you get back-handed compliments about being a lawyer and the foods you like.

But, if there's going to be violent religious prejudice in the US, consider that Jews make up about 2% of the population, and Catholics about ten times that.

Permalink Reply by Shane on February 15, 2013 at 8:35pm

back-handed compliments about being a lawyer and the foods you like

You brought that on yourself asking for a Roman Jewish cookbook.

Permalink Reply by Native Son on February 16, 2013 at 6:48pm

Sorry, Mike M., but you seem to want to live your live in fear of some unspecified anti-Catholic secular hate group that wants to punch you in face again.

To paraphrase the late Paul Harvey, where's the "rest of the story?"  In the secular collegiate communities I've inhabited, one's religious beliefs never came up. 

 

Permalink Reply by Vytautas on February 16, 2013 at 7:20pm

My views agree with Native Son. Mike M seems to be trying to find persecution where there is none. It's so paranoid-delusional that it is justifying it's own paranoia and delusions. I've been to a lot of secular places, as well as non-catholic institutions, and never faced any thing of that kind.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page