Doing dumb on the Catholic Blogosphere

Last updated on: May 4, 2014 at 10:49 am by Dave Griffey

Doing dumb on the Catholic Blogosphere 2014-05-04T10:49:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

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Like so many things, the Catholic blogosphere ain’t what it used to be; not what it was when I began my journey into the Church all those years ago. In just ten years, the capacity for the Internet to engender amazing amounts of dumb is beyond imagining. Combined with the gradual erosion of classical liberal education, we’re a truly the most educated idiots in history.

And nowhere shows that more effectively than the Catholic blogosphere. For the rich and deep philosophical traditions of Catholicism should allow the arguments and defenses, even by the most marginally educated Catholics, to rise head and shoulders above the din of the Internet market.

But alas. Instead I’ve read some of the most egregious, stupid and unbelievable things in Catholic blogs over the recent years, so stupid that it can almost surpass the most ludicrous rants on a daytime talk show. And since I like to expect the best from us followers of Christ (including myself), simply falling to the same level as everyone else is its own indictment. Going lower is inexcusable.

And it’s not just an occasional post here or comment there. It is ongoing threads of thought, opinions which so many in the Catholic blogs seem to latch onto. So for instance, we have the whole ‘better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert’ motif. Or in modern Catholic blog terms, ‘why couldn’t we go back to the glory days of monarchy instead of flirting with Democracy, which is the form of government that gives us Barabbas.’

Uh huh. Because monarchies were always so wonderful, as opposed to mean and vicious and evil U.S. Granted, it’s not uncommon in Catholic circles to trash (beyond constructive Christian criticism) the U.S. Ironically in more hardcore traditionalist circles you can really see this. In liberal circles, as in liberalism in general, it’s also popular. And naturally a good monarchy is better than a bad democracy. That goes without saying. Anything good is better than anything bad. Duh.

But think of it. Back to the glory days of monarchy? And it isn’t just your typical combox fare. Years ago I remember a link to a Catholic Bishop saying how warfare in the glory days of monarchy was always better than now. Why? Because some convoluted reason about it not being about land. WTH? Monarchies. There’s a reason republicanism and representative democracies rose out of such governmental structures.

Yep, the Catholic tradition is rich indeed, and I defy anyone to find a broader and more profound expression of the Christian heritage anywhere else. But the Internet has allowed us to, as with everything else, find ways to ignore that depth and instead pop off some unbelievable, if not typical, levels of dumb.

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