Karl Keating had a moving post on FB

Last updated on: June 10, 2017 at 12:30 am by Mark Shea

Karl Keating had a moving post on FB 2017-06-09T20:33:56-07:00 Mark Shea

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

and he graciously gave me permission to re-post it here:

I don’t use Facebook Messenger, but somehow today I ended up on a page that listed nearly a hundred old messages to me–messages that I hadn’t been aware of, most of them several years old.

One of the newer ones, from January 2016, was from the son of a once-fairly-prominent professional anti-Catholic whom I knew years ago. I even appeared in a debate with the man. The son wanted me to know that he wasn’t like his father, whose anti-Catholicism he deplored.

This is what the son wrote to me. I’ve changed or omitted material that might identify him or his father:

“I have been reading your comments on my late father–the ‘Rev.’ X, founder of [name of anti-Catholic ministry]. I am his first born, went to [a Protestant college] and was groomed to follow on with his ‘mission.’ I remember from the very beginning with the Conversion Center and Alex Dunlap in NYC who was my dad’s mentor as he went down his road to bigotry. I was brought up to help him in open air meetings [. . .] and was brainwashed as a child.

“Fortunately God has granted me intelligence, and as I studied the Scriptures I came to realize what a bigot my father was. Of course one of his best mates in the late 60s was [internationally-known anti-Catholic]–say no more.

“As I rejected his beliefs, he and I became estranged as he was a religious control freak. I had and have many close Catholic friends and refused to believe that they were going to hell. My last conversation with him was in 1997–the week Mother Teresa and Princess Di died. He came to [city] where I lived at the time and proceeded to begin our conversation with his belief that they were both in hell. That was the last straw for me and we never reconciled.

“For the record it has never shaken my belief in God. I couldn’t go near a church for decades but am now a member of [denomination]. Just wanted you to know that his bigotry died with him and unlike Falwell et al. I did not become the ‘Rev. X, Jr.’ God bless you.”

I sent this man a long thank-you message and apologized for not having seen his message until today. I hope that he didn’t think I was rude for not answering promptly.

I hardly can imagine what it must have been like to have such a father, whom I knew only slightly and in what one might call a professional capacity. I didn’t know the father as a family member or even a friend would know him. He died some years ago.

I often have wondered how men such as he thought in their last days about their years of laboring against the Catholic Church, which they so regularly misconstrued and misrepresented. Was there remorse, regret, rethinking? Was there repentance?

Such men led many astray or, at best, confirmed others in their pre-existing prejudices. Did those men ever come to wonder whether they had made a colossal blunder, as though looking through a telescope from the wrong end, so that everything looked distorted? There’s no way to know, of course, absent being present at their deathbeds–and maybe not even then.

I pity the son who wrote to me: so much pain for him, so much disappointment. I hope time grants him healing. It already seems to have granted him generosity.

Be kind to everybody you meet, for we are all fighting a great battle.

Uncategorized

Mailbag

Previous Post

June 10, 2017

Ben Butera from Two Catholic Men and a Blog

Next Post

June 10, 2017 Bernie Sanders is Wrong

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 September 2006 June 2006 July 2005 April 2005 May 2002 April 2002 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz