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It has been observed by many in both the ecclesiastical and secular world that American society is dynamic and ever-shifting in its attitudes to what is called "political correctness" . There is today a very strong "PC police" mentality about what is, it is not acceptable, from the most obvious "hate speech" to what many people still regard as an acceptable observations of religious or social convictions.
However there is one enduring and, indeed, "acceptable" prejudice.
Years ago the liberal economist and social commentator ( and non-Catholic)John Kenneth Galbraith observed that the single most enduring prejudice in America was, in his opinion, anti-Catholicism. Anti-Catholicism has also been termed " the anti-Semitism of the intellectuals". Any remark even remotely seeming to express mere disapproval of aspects of African- American, Jewish, or Gay culture is met with a withering blast of hysterical condemnation from all the "right thinking" elements of society. Even when the poor ex-Miss California ventured a respectfully phrased belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, she was destroyed by a concerted campaign of hatred, scorn and ridicule as if she were the Grand Dragoness of the Ku Klux Klan.
Recently President Obama appointed a Mr. Harry Knox to the White House office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Mr. Knox is also a gay-activist ( I wonder what would happen to someone who described himself as a "hetersosexual activist"?) and has said and reiterated that Pope Benedict XVI is "hurting people in the name of Jesus" by ( you guessed it) opposing the use of condoms to contain AIDS in Africa and elswhere. You can find a good discussion of this ( and possible action) on http://stmichaelsociety.com/
Now, it is, as they say, "a free country"; and it's not so much that Mr. Knox is what he is, and says what he says; but the fact that he can do it from a Presidentially appointed position that bothers me.
Could you imagine if, let's say, Mr. Knox was a self-described "Catholic Activist" who asserted that "Islam is hurting people in the name of Allah" by not strongly and universally condemning terrorism committed by Muslims? Or asserting that "the current group of secular Jews running Hollywood studios is undoing the good work done by their predecessors like Goldwyn and Mayer" ?
You know the answer as you read this.
Not only would such a man not be appointed to any post at all; but would be hounded out of public life.
But Mr. Knox can....
The single most perduring prejudice in American society is anti-Catholicism.
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