|
TUESDAY February 4-6, 2000 volume 11, no. 25 |
To print out entire text of Today's issue, go to |
SECTION ONE SECTION TWO SECTION THREE | |
|
|
TUESDAY February 4-6, 2000 volume 11, no. 25 |
To print out entire text of Today's issue, go to |
SECTION ONE SECTION TWO SECTION THREE | |
The natural reaction when one reads such drivel is to dismiss it as prejudice and go on to the next story, saying a silent prayer "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!" But first of all, they do know what they're doing, and secondly on first impression the lead sentence sends shockwaves through the reader's mind. Consider the words "Hundreds of Roman Catholic priests across the United States have died of AIDS-related illnesses, and hundreds more are living with HIV, the virus that causes the disease." For those who don't realize it's all a lie, the first thought is "wow, it's worse than I thought! The Catholic Church is nothing but a haven for homosexuals posing as priests." The next reaction: mistrust. "I'm not going to my parish priest for confession; he might be gay." "In fact, he's being a hypocrite by letting us think he's holy while he's really a homosexual so I'm not even going to go to church." They immediately lump the number with the profession and voila, guilt by association. Our heart aches each time a report about one priest gone bad comes out for it is always blown out of proportion and automatically gives the assumption that it is inherent with the priesthood. "If one priest is gay, then many must be, therefore the Church is really messed up and wrong."
We know so many good priests compared to bad ones. So many good priests suffer because of the sins of a few but then, because of their commitment to holiness, they suffer in silence accepting these setbacks as their cross that they willingly carry for Christ. People are so quick to cast the stone, forgetting their own humanity and faults and that priests are human too, susceptible to temptation and sin. Are there priests who are gay, who practice homosexuality? Sadly, yes, but thankfully they are in the vast minority. There is unfortunately proof that homosexuals have infiltrated the Church since Vatican II with the intent to destroy her from within both through communistic implementation and the gay agenda. Thankfully new discipline in the seminaries is weeding out these infiltrators, but there have been problems in the major orders because of their lax discipline in the past and bishops who turned their backs on the problems. Such consequences have reared their ugly heads in Dallas where the Rudy Kos trial garnered sensationalized tabloid news in trying to dig up all the dirt they could. They tried to crucify Bishop Charles Grahmann who actually inherited the mess from the previous bishop who was really kept in the dark by the real culprit, the former Vicar General who is an avowed liberal and has since been disciplined by Bishop Grahmann. The same circumstances have occurred in other dioceses where bad apples have surfaced. There was a major problem in the Diocese of San Diego decades ago when homosexuality was running rampant, but it has been curbed and the cancer eliminated since. But the numbers pale in comparison to the general public. In fact an accurate news story reported a while back that Baptist ministers had more pedophiles than any other group. Did the media blacklist Baptists and spread it throughout the country? No, it was an article buried in the back. Proof, that the Catholic Church remains the only target where there is an open season bullseye in this "politically correct" society.
Why is that? Simply because the Church remains the only conscience against the amoral and immoral ways of society today. Holy Mother Church remains the only steadying influence in a world gone mad and sinking in the vortex of the seven deadly sins. Since misery loves company, the afflicted ones rage out against the one institution trying to save them, striking and flailing while clinging to their sinful ways rather than reconciliation. The media is a major partner in this struggle for they too are drowning in the cesspool of pride and power. Therefore, they become knowing partners in crime in trying to bring the Church down. We have documented so many times on these pages the how, where, why, when, who and what of their scheme as have many other Catholic sites such as the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. If we don't, who will? The natural reaction to being accused is to take a low profile and sadly, many priests have done that as well as bishops, choosing not to face the problem or refute it with facts. That, folks, is the only kind of way to combat the media: with facts they cannot deny. So let's look at the facts:
The Star mailed their survey with questions slanted toward their objective of finding that AIDS was prevalent in the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church. Think about it, why else would they have sent the survey? Secondly, they sent it out to just over 3,000 priests nationwide when there are 47,199 priests in the United States according to the 2000 Catholic Almanac published by Our Sunday Visitor. That's only 6.4% of the representation. Then consider that they received replies from only 801 which is slightly more than a quarter response and only 1.7% of the total population of priests in America. Yet they made it sound as if it represented all the priests and the reader would naturally assume there were tens of thousands who had AIDS or were gay. There is a natural aversion to anyone who has AIDS simply because of the danger of infection, so this is only magnified moreso with priests after reading the report which is so flawed it reeks of bias...as are most polls that are taken. We say that because when one asks for a poll it is not because they don't know the answer but because they want to forge an idea and already have the outcome formulated. They just want some evidence to back it up. Therefore, in order to get the results they are looking for, they word their survey questions in such a way that they will get the response they want. It's one of the oldest tricks of public relations and yet people still buy into it lock, stock and barrel. It was that great PR genius P.T. Barnum who first said, "There's a sucker born every minute."
In respect to Kansas City Star survey, David Murray, a leading statistician, and S. Robert Lichter, president for the Center for Media and Public Affairs, both exposed it as greatly flawed. They wrote that "few survey researchers would consider a 27 percent response rate to be 'very good.'" They also wrote, "Given that the survey was confidential, after this self-selection, it is impossible to know if all the respondants came from one part of the country or shared some other demographical trait. It is even possible that priests who weren't HIV positive would have felt that the survey didn't apply to them and ignored it." We would think most priests would ignore such an invasion of time and trash. The retort went on to say, "All of these factors make the results at the very least questionable." They then proceeded to pick the survey's numbers apart. The article can be found in today's NEWS & VIEWS. The point of all this is how by claiming confidentiality and then exaggerating they can fabricate anything they want. This is just what the Star did and, in so doing, caused a great disservice to the Church and to the perception of others regarding priests. William Donohue of the Catholic League replied curtly, "Murray and Lichter's analysis of Kansas City Star data demonstrates the unscientific nature of the sex survey. When coupled with the obvious political agenda of the survey, the only unqualified conclusion that can be drawn is that the Kansas City Star deserves the Maria Monk award for fabricating stories that demonize the Catholic Church."
Several reporters for other major publications have had their jobs terminated because they fabricated articles. Isn't it time those responsible for this travesty in Kansas City received the axe? It would only seem consistent with the supposed great "code of ethics" the fifth estate brags about upholding. This includes the reporter Judy Thomas and the editor Mark Zieman who claims to be Catholic but his rationalization begs to differ. But they won't be fired and the reason is simple. Once again the subject is the Catholic Church and, as we've seen for so long, the Church is fair game for anyone wanting to take potshots at her and this includes Catholics as well. After all, Kansas City is also the home of the National Catholic Reporter.
While Murray and Lichter acknowledge the Church must face the AIDS epidemic "with compassion" and through a concerted effort of education and the seminary formation, they deduce that the "sensationalistic slant on the data provided by the Kansas City Star, however, would tend to impede, rather than encourage, serious dialogue and study." Did you ever think that was the goal of the Star? To encourage dialogue? Never! Their main objective was to sell papers through sensationalistic, sadistic, and satanic inference. We've already seen this disregard for fact and truth consistently from the NCR headquartered near the Star and whose liberal, modernist diatribes have labeled it the "darling of the dissidents." Now the reptiles are rejoicing because there is another serpent in the snakepit as they contribute to dragging down more souls in this Year of the Dragon. Kansas City is a long way from China, but the Star's reputation is as brittle as porcelain china for the tarnished Star's hot breath has scorched decency, proving not everything is up-to-date in Kansas City!
|
February 4-6, 2000 volume 11, no. 25 CATHOLIC PewPOINT
To print out text of Today's issue, go to: |
Search for anything from the last three years in past issues of the DailyCATHOLIC:
| |