From CNA with my emphases and comments:
White House ‘comfortable’ with controversial faith-based council appointee
Washington D.C., Jun 4, 2009 / 06:15 am (CNA).- The White House spokesman has said that President Obama is “comfortable” with the makeup of his faith-based advisory council despite protests alleging anti-Catholic bigotry from one appointee who characterized Pope Benedict as a “discredited leader” and called the Knights of Columbus “foot soldiers” in an “army of oppression.”
Harry Knox, the controversial appointee, is a former licensed minister of the United Methodist Church and a leader with the homosexual activist group Human Rights Council.
Before being appointed to the president’s advisory council on faith-based partnerships, Knox had attacked Pope Benedict and some Catholic bishops as "discredited leaders" because of their opposition to same-sex "marriage." [So, apparently the Catholic Church does not have a right to its own teaching.]
Knox was also critical of Pope Benedict’s comments on condoms and AIDS in Africa. Writing on the Human Rights Campaign’s web site, Knox claimed the Pope’s statement was a “blatant falsehood” which was “morally reprehensible to spread.” He also suggested the Pope was further harming “the marginalized and the downtrodden.”
Though granting that the Knights of Columbus had done good works, he nevertheless has characterized its members as "foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression" because of the Catholic charitable fraternity’s support for the successful California ballot measure Proposition 8. [So… this person seems to filter everything through his homosexual hermeneutic.]
Proposition 8 restored the definition of marriage to being between a man and a woman.
A group of twenty Catholic and conservative leaders wrote a letter to President Obama protesting Knox’s appointment, characterizing him as "a virulent anti-Catholic bigot.” Lamenting what they said was the president’s “failure to act,” they called for Knox’s removal from the council. [Of course the President wants this man on that Council!]
CNSNews.com on Tuesday asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs if President Obama disagreed with Knox’s characterization of the Pope and if the president would take any action regarding requests for Knox’s removal.
“I haven’t seen that letter, but the president is comfortable with the makeup of his faith advisory council,” Gibbs said. [So… this is the sort of reasonableness and dialogue we heard about at Notre Dame. This is the civility we can expect. Didn’t Pres. Obama call for an end to name calling? Let’s review his appointee’s characterization of Catholics such as Pope Benedict and the KoC.]
This marked the White House’s first response to the Knox controversy, CNSNews.com reports.
Knox responded to the letter protesting his appointment in statements to the news site Newsmax. Professing his love for the Catholic Church and his Catholic “brothers and sisters,” he said he has “tremendous” respect for the Catholic Church and “all the good that it does.” [Yah… right. So long as they don’t mention or adhere to Catholic teaching.]
“I do think that we have a real disagreement about the role of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, both in the role of the church and in the role of public service,” he added. [This is his preferred hermeneutic.]
Imagine a person saying those sorts of things about Jews or Muslims.
Then try to imagine a President, of either party, appointing such a person to any position in the administration.
If you can imagine that, can you then imagine the rage that would well up and the attack on that appointment in the press and from Jews and Muslims?
I’m just askin’
But it the object of the appointee’s derision are Catholics… no problem!
They’re comfortable with that.
Let’s be reasonable.
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As long at the Catholic Church is the authentic Bride of Christ, she will be under attack by the world. We should be concerned when anti-catholicism comes to a halt. Bigots like this remind us that we are in this world and not of it.
Father, this is very telling of the times and the directions things are going in. Inside and outside the Church, I don’t believe these are just a “phase” or a “trend” like a river overflowing its banks and then goes back to normal. It seems to me all of is building to a form our own Krystal Nacht, on in our case, a Katholic Nacht. Catholics and Catholicism is the last bastion of assented prejudice and discrimination, to be the butt of jokes and derision and considered quite okay. Look a all the movies, TV shows and books in release.
As you said, no other group or class of people is messed with. The only protest comes from Catholics ourselves. No one else comes to our defense, so when the Dark Days come, sadly, I don’t believe there will be anyone around to protest when we are dragged from our homes and taken to those detention centers which are going up around the country.
http://fundamentaloption.blogspot.com/
This blog has several interesting opinions and observations that seem to have an element of truth concerning the background of Obama’s formation as a child.They will perhaps lead one to make a better informed observations on what to expect or see what is coming down the pike for the Church in America. There are also two very interesting articles about what bad habits can lead to in respect to our spiritual life. M/S Chang is very well qualified to write about such subjects.
Two people being buried in the same grave is a common practice in England. For readers outside of the UK this may sometimes seems strange but graves there are often deep enough to take two or more coffins. I have witnessed the burial of a lady who had no relatives but requested that she be buried in a grave four caskets deep so that any poor person who didnt have the funds could be buried on top of her. She knew they wouldnt be relatives or necessarily even friends in this life but recognized that the reverent burial of the dead is an important work of mercy. I was very glad that the grave didnt cave in as it was very deep!
Tsk, tsk. The Knights aren’t “foot soldiers”, surely. A knight is a member
of the cavalry. :)
Sigh. Yeah, we Catholics are always marching up and oppressing people, I’m sure. Why, I remember the Lower Slobovian campaign, where we managed to enslave everyone and install a totalitarian government in six months! I still have a trunkful of Lower Slobovian jewelry and objets d’art from that war, and it wasn’t as good as when we took over Slartibartfast City. You guys all remember that one, right? Our holy water rifles spread blood and fire everywhere, yeppers.
Sigh. I roll my eyes at this kind of stupidity, especially since this kind of person normally has a lot of love and admiration in his heart for real oppressors and slavers. But somebody always manages to swallow this kind of stuff.
Just another part of the Marist Wun’s effort to undermine what is potentially his most formidable opponent–the Catholic Church. The man is evil and has surrounded himself with those of like kind.
Apparently the Church in America must needs take a seige mentality against the diabolical orientation in the White House, lest we risk further deterioration of the faith in our beloved country.
Lines of demarcation must be drawn and sacred ground must be defended.
I am very proud to be a member of the Knights of Columbus. Few organizations can claim to do as much good as we do. I encourage all Catholic men to join. http://www.kofc.org There is a reason that John Paul II called us the strong right arm of the Church.
Fr.
Two people being buried in the same grave is also common in military (at least it is in Arlington National Cemetary) cemetaries, although I am not sure how this fits in with a discussion about Harry Knox. Am I missing something?
I think that practice is common in very many places, especially “old world” countries were there is less land near populated areas available for cemeteries.
Michael J,
Check the “Some ammunition in defense of Ven. John Henry Newman” entry. I re-posted his Fr. Bob’s comment there. He might have clicked on the wrong post.
Harry Knox is in the White House because he is an anti-Catholic bigot. This should come as no surprise when considers that the President of the United States is, in fact, an anti-Catholic bigot.
If Harry Knox is anti-Catholic, why is he at the White House?
I think the answer is obvious!
Hating Catholics faithful to the Churches teaching and the Catholic Church is now the right thing to do! Come on everyone is doing it. Just jump on in……
Just ask the Emperor, or watch his actions. Hating Catholics is best for all concerned, and it is good for America too. It is just politically correct, and the American way.
Jim Dorchak
B.O. can always point to his “tame” Catholics as evidence of his inclusiveness and lack of bigotry. The “tame” ones start with his VP and go down the line into our parishes where all too many have voted for this agent of “change” and “hope”.
With quislings such as these by his side he can safely marginalize those of us who are faithful to Rome and Christ.
BTW, don’t look for it to end with the election of 2012. B.O. is merely syptomatic of our times. We can expect interesting times for years to come.
Sorry, “syptomatic” should read “symptomatic”.
As a Knight of Columbus, I am wondering how this man could form such a biased view against the Pope and against the KofC. Maybe it’s as simple as bash Catholics, it’s under Freedom of Expression. Bash Muslims, Jews, Gays… it’s bigotry! Knox admitted that the KofC did a lot of good things yet he continues his bashing of the Order simply because we define marriage as between man and woman. That’s natural law! Find me a gay couple lion living together and I’l change my views. As if the volunteer work the Knights do is not enough…
What about the Muslim stance on homosexuality? How soon until the press gives that any attention?