When Biases Trump Brains

Newsweek seems to be trying to outstrip even itself in its anti-Catholic, secularist biases.  Why else would they employ someone as thick as Lisa Miller as a religion editor?

Miller has only one view of the Catholic Church: a secular institution like any other man-made construct.  Therefore, it can be changed in any way, must be as a matter of fact, to suit prevailing pressures and mores.

Only someone who is a little thick can write story after story about how the Church has to get with the times and ordain women and not understand that the Catholic Church can’t ordain women.  No matter what other Church and ecclesial communities do, the Church does not have the authority from her Founder – GOD – to ordain women.

It would be far more intelligent simply to rail on about how backward or stupid the Church and Pope are than to waste time proposing things that are impossible.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in SESSIUNCULA and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

11 Comments

  1. Marcin says:

    I wonder if she understands that Hindus don’t eat beef and will never do? It’s time for some questions.

  2. Gail F says:

    That sort of writing makes no sense to me. A religion editor ought to be making sure that the stories about religion explain what the religion teaches, not complain about it. Even a bunch of stories along the lines of “aren’t these people weird?” would be better than constantly harping about the religions you are supposed to be covering. Or does she just harp about us? I don’t read Newsweek any more. Does it do similar stories about the Jews, and the Mormons, and the Episcopalians, and the snake-handlers, and the Hindus, and the Buddhists, and the Jains?

  3. Newsweek’s editorial slant, first and foremost, is a reflection of the personal anti-Catholic bias of the decision makers who employ Lisa Miller.

    But it is also the case that Newsweek is tapping into a perennially lucrative and recession-proof market where high demand for anti-Catholic rhetoric, no matter how ludicrous, endures. Is this a more lucrative market than telling the truth? I don’t really know, but the Newsweeks of the world are operating from the standpoint of ideology so it wouldn’t really matter to them if it is.

    What I do know is that there are huge numbers of people – Catholic and non-Catholic alike – who have rejected the Church’s moral teachings. These people – especially the self-proclaimed Catholic and former Catholic ones – in addition to having a certain hatred for the Church have a gnawing sense of unrest inside that stems from being disconnected from the Truth. Rather than fill this void in the only way possible – through humble submission to Christ and Holy Mother Church – they attempt to placate their unrest with confirmation from sources like Dan Brown, John Cornwell, Newsweek, etc.

    Otherwise highly intelligent people will accept the most ridiculous and baseless of claims solely on the condition that it meet their need to justify their own decision to reject the Church and Her teachings.

    So… Lisa Miller and the editors at Newsweek are feeding their own need to justify the choices they’ve made while simultaneously meeting the ravenous needs of the broader secular culture in the process.

    Long story short – for Miller and the editors, it feeds the personal beast, but it also pays the bills.

  4. chcrix says:

    “Why else would they employ someone as thick as Lisa Miller as a religion editor?”

    The answer I suspect is easier to come by than you think.

    Major premise: Few if any Newspeak writers have interest in Religion. Some of this is due to instutitional bias in how they select their staff. That bias is anti-religious to be sure, but it is also anti-intellectual. That is to say, they are hiring people who adhere to a party line, not people who are interested in parsing out meanings.

    Minor premise: The talented and intelligent among the staff will always chose other “beats” than Religion – after all, why write about something you are not interested in?

    Conclusion: Someone in their bottom quartile is almost certain to be assigned to this beat.

  5. robtbrown says:

    Has anyone actually looked at a Newsweek lately? There’s good reason why it’s about 1/4 as think as it used to be.

  6. mfranks says:

    After reading her bio, I looked up the college she attended,Oberlin College. Here is a snippet from Wikipedia that shows clearly her radical liberal formation:

    “Oberlin students have a reputation for being notably liberal or progressive. The college was ranked among the Princeton Review’s’ list of “Colleges with a Conscience” in 2005. Recent activism among the student body has resulted in a campus-wide ban on sales of Coca-Cola products.”

    “Oberlin is also known for its liberal attitude towards sexuality and gender expression. Oberlin was ranked among the 20 friendliest campuses for LGBT students in The Advocate’s College Guide for LGBT Students. The school hosts a Sexual Information Center, where students may receive STI tests, free or heavily discounted condoms and lubricant, and counseling on sexual issues. The Sexual Information Center sponsors Safer Sex Night, originally started in the 1980s as a response to the AIDS crisis, as well as Drag Ball, which marks Transgender Awareness week. Both these events are well-attended by students, although they have drawn criticism from some social conservatives.”

  7. New Sister says:

    Hindus eating beef – LOL, Marcin!

    I had a nice chat with an Episcopalian “priest” who said he has YET to meet a woman in his faith community who pursued ordination out of a genuine conviction of vocation and humble yearning to serve Our Blessed Lord… by his experience, they have all been motivated by anger & feminist ideology. (no surprise…if you’re so inclined to join me in prayer for his conversion to the Fullness of Faith, which seems quite plausible, his name is Mark)

  8. AnAmericanMother says:

    New Sister,

    Fwiw, I can back up what the Episcopal preacher says.

    I was a Piskie myself for some 47 years (a sixth generation one at that). My home parish after I left school was the “training parish” for the diocese – in other words, every newly ordained seminarian spent six months to a year learning the ropes there, so I saw every female ordained in the diocese from around 1983 until 2004.

    With one exception (although she was still an extreme liberal and supported “bishop” Robinson) every priestess who went through the place was motivated by feminism, lesbianism, or an attempt to exorcise her own psychological demons. That experience soured me on priestesses, and Robinson was the final straw. Hopefully Mark will reach the same conclusion — but the further you are in, the harder it is to make the break.

  9. Sandra_in_Severn says:

    It seems that Miss Miller, like many others dislikes being told “No that is not responsible or moral behavior. Stop it, now!”

    In fact, among my small group of friends, several people can directly point to a singular incident with someone readily identifiable as having “authority from the Church” that either told them something they were doing was wrong and to stop, or performed an act of public humiliation (that the authority was wrong about – but did not matter).

    Many times these occur at one of three points – baptism, marriage or death; all points where the representative of the Church should be bringing GRACE, not acting as a toll collector or a gatekeeper.

    Another friend years ago compared the popularity for the use of either Jewish or Catholic Rites in popular media, when otherwise there was never any sign of anyone being either, let alone practicing their faith. And how much the anti-Jewish attacks are mirrored in anti-Catholic attacks, and many times from the same source.

    Both religions share a common core of moral teachings (the Ten Commandments), that are finite good works and finite evil ones. Good draws us to G-d and evil pulls us away.

    Evil is very visible in our Society in 2010; “Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” Isaiah 5:20.

    Pray for those like Miss Miller, they need it.

  10. TJerome says:

    “Newsweak” is on life support. I can’t imagine a sentient person taking this publication seriously anymore. I once subscribed to it, but cancelled it about 6 years ago because I got sick and tired of the lefty pablum. These loons will be unemployed soon enough.

  11. Norah says:

    The most common form of child abuse is committed by married men – familial incest.

Comments are closed.