 |
|
August
1, 2003, 1:15 p.m.
Tolerance
Has Its Limits
People
of faith have some secular work to do.
|
|
n
the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Philip Jenkins
was talking with some academic colleagues about the recent history of
anti-American terrorism. He mentioned that one Islamist plot in the mid-1990s
had planned the assassination of the Pope. The remark inspired high humor
— "not because my listeners doubted that such a scheme had existed,
but because everyone else present agreed that killing such an obviously
pernicious figure would be a highly desirable act."
"I make no assertion
that this depth of hostility is in any way representative of academe,"
Jenkins adds, "but it is a useful reminder of the incredible loathing
that the Church and its leadership inspire in some liberal circles."
In The
New Anti-Catholicism, Jenkins, a professor of history and religious
studies at Pennsylvania State University, marvels at the American media's
tolerance for swipes against the Catholic Church — especially in
a time otherwise marked by hypersensitivity to possible offenses. "What
sometimes seems to be limitless social tolerance in modern America,"
he writes, "has strict limits where the Catholic Church is concerned."
Jenkins is an unlikely
defender of the Catholic Church: He left it for Episcopalianism in the
late 1980s, albeit "without any particular rancor." But he's
on something of a roll with the theme. His 1996 book Pedophiles and
Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis was a rare and somewhat
daring study, documented the relative uncommonness of pedophilia in the
priesthood. (While every single abuse of a child is abhorrent — perpetrators
must be punished and rectories and seminaries need be cleansed of any
and all apologists for such criminal, terrible sins — the fact remains
that the media rarely have the whole or true story.)
In The New Anti-Catholicism,
Jenkins points to numerous episodes in which media coverage has clearly
been swayed by a bias for anti-Catholic story lines. But his chronicle
of the virtual inculturation of anti-Catholicism never descends to whining:
He's not arguing that the Catholic Church is beyond reproach. "Of
its nature, the Catholic Church is … more exposed to criticism because
of the breadth of outlook that in other respects is one of its proudest
boasts," he writes.
Nor does he encourage
Catholics to cry foul over every negative portrayal of their beliefs and
practices. He seems more interested in exposing the shifting societal
attitude as a force the Catholic Church must reckon with — or confront
— if it is to maintain a voice in the public square: "Contemporary
anti-Catholicism is not usually directed against Catholics as individuals
or as population groups … but rather against the ideas and teachings
of the Church."
What's so new about
the "new anti-Catholicism" is that it is no longer based on
a know-nothing, nativist, xenophobic fear. Now it's more ideological:
The left-leaning powers that be are too sophisticated to take Catholics
seriously. In fact, Jenkins argues, the critics aren't so much interested
in theological disputes but simple politics. Women priests. Abortion.
Homosexual unions. The
hot political topics of the day.
Curiously missing
from Jenkins's latest is a prescription. He's well-diagnosed the problem
of anti-Catholicism but offers no strategy for combating it. Then again,
that's not his job. Catholics need to get to work on that. And Jenkins
has already done the bulk of the research. With The New Anti-Catholicism
as a guidebook, faithful Catholics can get to work on making their presence
known with new vigor.
—
This review originally appeared in The
National Catholic Register and is reprinted with permission.
|
<% dim printurl
printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%>
