That counter cultural religion called Catholicism
By Tom Quiner
Catholics are bad guys.
Their Christ-centric ideology puts them at odds with the power of the State.
The U.S. Army actually listed us and our evangelical Christian brothers and sisters as religious extremists. Our Commander-in-Chief’s Army actually lumps us into the same category as the Muslim Brotherhood, the Ku Klux Klan, and other groups listed above that truly are extremist.
In fairness, Catholics ARE supposed to be counter-cultural. The Commander-in-Chief’s military knows that.
Catholics are called to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to give to God what is God’s. So what belongs to God?
Our children.
Each child is a gift. God entrusts them to us. Nothing is more counter-cultural than for a Catholic to stand up and publicly defend what is God’s.
Many Catholics won’t. They have been seduced by political correctness. They have been seduced by a different religion, Secular Humanism, that dictates that although they would personally never offer up their child to Planned Parenthood, they can’t prevent someone else from taking it and paying Planned Parenthood to dispose of their gift.
Catholics also believe marriage belongs to God. The Commander-in-Chief and the state religion, Secular Humanism, believes it belongs to man. This creates tremendous tension between the establishment’s religion and that of Rome’s.
The difference between the two religions goes even deeper, which may explain why the military does not like or trust us.
The Commander-in-Chief’s IRS evidently doesn’t like Catholics either.
Dr. Anne Hendershott is a Professor of Psychology, Sociology, and Social Work at Franciscan University of Steubenville. She said the IRS came after her in a rather suspicious manner.
They wanted to know about her “business.”
Well, she’s a college professor. She writes on the side. Some of her pieces appear in the Wall Street Journal and various Catholic publications.
They wanted to know “what her politics were,” as if that had anything to do with the amount of taxes she should pay.
The IRS wanted to know about her writing.
They demanded an audit and an interview. Although Professor Hendershott files a joint return with her husband, they would not let him attend the “grilling.” Here’s how The Blaze reported on what happened to her:
The process was a grueling one, including many questions that Hendershott felt were political in nature. Numerous records were requested before the in-person meeting, as well as during and after. […] While asking about the deposits, the agent wanted to know if the monies came from groups and, if so, what the organizations’ politics were.
Professor Hendershott had written a provocative essay titled, “Who are these fake Catholic groups?” The piece appeared on the website for Catholic Advocate.
The Blaze says this article may have been a flash point for triggering unwelcome IRS pressure:
Hendershott told the Blaze that she occasionally freelances for various Catholic publications and the Wall Street Journal but is paid very little and often makes no profit from it. She said she has regularly written negatively of President Obama and various liberal groups including Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Catholics United, and Catholic Democrats. Just a few months before she was contacted by the IRS, she had written an article alleging that Chris Korzen, a co-founder of the liberal group Catholics United, was secretly receiving money from George Soros.
So how did pressure from the IRS affect Professor Hendershott?
“I haven’t written for [the Catholic advocate] since the audit, because I was so scared.”
In other words, IRS politically-motivated intimidation produced its desired affect by chilling conservative free speech.
The IRS went after the Catholic League (CL) as well, as president Bill Donahue recently reported. The CL was investigated for allegedly violating the IRS Code on political activities as it relates to 501(c)(3) organizations.
The investigation was triggered after the IRS received a letter from Catholics United who called on them to launch a probe against the CL. Catholics United is a George Soros funded, left-leaning group that is Catholic in name only. This is the same group Professor Hendershott had been so critical of.
Because of their thoroughly liberal and anti-Catholic credentials, the IRS was evidently receptive to Catholics United.
Like the military, our Commander-in-Chief’s IRS viewed Catholics in an adversarial light.
Perhaps we are subversive. Practicing Catholics DO want to subvert the faith and morals of the Secular Humanists.
We DO want to convince them that children are a gift from God, not a disease.
We DO want to convince them that marriage is a beautiful sacrament between one man and one woman.
We DO want to convince them that sexuality should be saved for this beautiful sacrament.
We DO believe that our very salvation may be determined by how we live out these very issues. We want the Secular Humanists to end up in heaven and are concerned that their religion sets up grave impediments.
Yes, Catholics are very counter-cultural. It is no wonder the Commander-in-chief doesn’t like us.