Scanning a few articles and comments on alt-right Catholic blogs lately, I am surprised by their Breitbart-style nativism, their cognitive dissonance, and, yes, their (oh, the horror!) moral relativism. Their views, in terms of disrespecting the dignity of the human person, are fanatically anti-Catholic.
These were the punitive theocrats of the Clinton era who were reaching for the smelling salts ("Think of the children!") when Clinton had a consensual affair with an apparently eager and willing intern. They are scandalized by Harvey Weinstein's misdeeds. However, these same people manage to convince themselves that Trump's claims of sexual assault ("Grab them by the pussy!") are an admirable symptom of being a virile alpha male. They unquestioningly believe every claim against Clinton, yet they insist Trump's many accusers are lying and that his own bragging about sexually assaulting women, caught on tape, was merely "locker room talk". Some suggest that the women themselves initiated the situations. And they try to justify their support for Roy Moore's predations, when he was a man in his thirties, on teenaged girls by saying that Joseph was much older than Mary when the two married. As if that makes the sexual assualt of a 16-year-old somehow acceptable.
I recall being scolded by more than one of these people for opposing Pope John Paul II's rigidly conservative beliefs about birth control and his reactionary attitudes toward the spirit of Vatican II. I was told I should have a "spirit of obedience" toward the "Magisterium" and that I was arrogant and uppity for presuming to believe that the dictates of my own conscience could be given a feather's weight against the pronouncements of (all genuflect) the pope. Now some of these same people are praying for the death of Pope Francis because he believes in climate change😮
One of their major shibboleths is immigration. Some of them claim that 2 John 9-11 justifies refusing entry into the U.S. to Muslims (for some reason, all other non-Christian religions get a pass) because, according to this epistle, one "partakes in an evil deed" by inviting someone who does not have "the doctrine of Christ" into one's home (or even if one wishes the person "God speed"). The interpretation of one was that it is a "mortal sin" to allow any Muslim into "his country". What about "welcoming the stranger" and the parable of the Good Samaritan? Why these xenophobes think they are somehow upholding "the doctrine of Christ" when they are so hostile to much of the human race, is beyond me.
There is no end to the list of people they hate: Muslims, "feminazis", "libtards", "snowflakes", Hillary, "the secular left", gays, Pope Francis, immigrants, "Mexicans" (meaning Latinos), and so forth. As unattractive as I find these people, I don't want to fall into the trap of feeling about them what they feel about Muslims. I wonder what is going on with them to make them so angry and rejecting? Are they looking for scapegoats because they feel inadequate? Are they likely to have some sort of character disorder(s)? Is it fair to be intolerant of the intolerant? I'm remembering one of Russ's favorite sayings now: "Everybody matters!" Even people who hate half the human race? Well, yes, but how does one address their hostility?
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