America: Opinion Trumps Truth
The May 23, 2005 issue of America bids farewell to former editor Thomas Reese, SJ. Reese says "the greatest challenge at America was running a journal of opinion when some in the church do not want opinions expressed".
This seems to be America's new meme -- opinions and discussion trump everything else -- including Truth. Nevermind if the opinions dissent from Catholic teaching or are unjust, sinful, or just plain old evil. The same issue includes a CNS news report that quotes Jose M de Vera, SJ, spokesman for the Society of Jesus in Rome:
The new editor of America, Drew Christiansen, SJ, is later quoted in the same news report as saying "By inviting articles that covered different sides of disputed issues, Father Reese helped make America a forum for intelligent discussion of questions facing the church and the country today." The second meme is "intelligence = dissidence". A letter to the editor printed in this edition echoes this after praising an article by Richard McBrien "Special thanks go to Thomas J. Reese, SJ for the guts to go against the grain by giving some thinking Catholics religious-based food for contemplation."
America seems to be taking a page straight out of the Culture of Death's playbook by coating the poison of moral relativism with a hard-candy shell of a mild sounding term. In this context, "opinion" and "discussion" are synonyms for "choice". It does not matter that we are talking about core issues like the Divinity of Christ in Dominus Iesus, mortal sins hiding under the cover of "same-sex 'marriage'", or the killing of innocent human beings in abortion as long as both sides are presented.
Fr Christiansen, here are some suggestions for future stories:
Enron: Is Greed Really So Bad?
Torture: Who are We to Condemn Abu Grab?
This seems to be America's new meme -- opinions and discussion trump everything else -- including Truth. Nevermind if the opinions dissent from Catholic teaching or are unjust, sinful, or just plain old evil. The same issue includes a CNS news report that quotes Jose M de Vera, SJ, spokesman for the Society of Jesus in Rome:
...articles that drew complaints treated a relatively small number of issues: Dominus Iesus, the doctrinal congregation's document on Christ as the unique savior; same-sex marriage; stem-cell research; and the reception of Communion by Catholic politicians who support legal abortion. On these and other questions, America often hosted commentary that represented a broad spectrum of opinions among Catholics, including those who disagreed with some of the Vatican's positions."The position of [Father Reese] was to present both sides of discussion... He wanted to present both sides within the Catholic community. But that did not sit well with Vatican authorities," Father de Vera said. Father de Vera said that because the articles touched on doctrinal issues, the Vatican wanted the Jesuits to write articles "defending whatever position the church has manifested, even if it is not infallible."
The new editor of America, Drew Christiansen, SJ, is later quoted in the same news report as saying "By inviting articles that covered different sides of disputed issues, Father Reese helped make America a forum for intelligent discussion of questions facing the church and the country today." The second meme is "intelligence = dissidence". A letter to the editor printed in this edition echoes this after praising an article by Richard McBrien "Special thanks go to Thomas J. Reese, SJ for the guts to go against the grain by giving some thinking Catholics religious-based food for contemplation."
America seems to be taking a page straight out of the Culture of Death's playbook by coating the poison of moral relativism with a hard-candy shell of a mild sounding term. In this context, "opinion" and "discussion" are synonyms for "choice". It does not matter that we are talking about core issues like the Divinity of Christ in Dominus Iesus, mortal sins hiding under the cover of "same-sex 'marriage'", or the killing of innocent human beings in abortion as long as both sides are presented.
Fr Christiansen, here are some suggestions for future stories:
posted by iClaudius at 8:06 PM
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