Some Sweet Reason from Fr. Dwight Longenecker...

...on the question of whether immigration and asylum-seeking is a prolife issue, and on the question in general.

Contrast it with the increasingly hysterical rhetoric from Mark Shea, who I used to admire. It's worrying seeing so many of his fanboys agree wtih him in the comment box. I won't link to his blog.

In the last year or so, I have realised with increasing dismay that there is a very powerful left-wing contingent in the Catholic church, even amongst people with whom I had previously thought myself to be more or less on the same wavelength. Now I realise that, though we are brothers and sisters in Christ, I am very deeply in disagreement with them on most other matters. And, quite often, I even believe them to be in error on what constitutes orthodoxy and what does not.

They look to politicize the Faith, which I think is very wrong, and they seek to elevate prudential matters to matters of solid doctrine-- while, ironically, they are very often less-than-enthusiastic about defending orthodoxy itself. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing them for their left-wing views. I'm criticizing them for suggesting that not agreeing with those views makes me a bad Catholc.

Now, on this blog I present many views which are my own and for which I don't claim warrant from my religious faith. I was very enthusiastic to see the UK leave the European Union, for instance. That is my own view. I don't expect other Catholics to share it. My dislike of free-verse poetry is another example. There are any number of other examples. I always try to be clear on this distinction.

I must admit that this experience-- of realising just how insidious and pervasive this left-wing current amongst Catholics really is-- has truly shaken me. I had come to think of the Church, even taken as a human institution, as a sanctuary from the secular world. Now I find myself, instead, pondering on St. Teresa of Avila's wonderful image of the Christian: a warrior who must keep his weapons beside him even as he sleeps, so long as he remains on Earth.