Comments on: Sigh

By: Danny Muñiz

Danny Muñiz — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:42:51 +0000

The Time story was so vapid that the quote they took from you, albeit not the subtantive comments you’d rather they had published, was one of the two bright spots of truth in the article. I have reason to hope, in opposition to the likely inclinations of a nun working in the USCCB, that the Sister’s comments were taken out of context also. The two sentences that they ascribe to her were more than likely uttered at least in different contexts and could have even been about two entirely different subjects.

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:08:37 +0000

Oh boy, are you ever right about reporters and the state of journalism. I was once interviewed for a story that turned out to be a hit piece on single parents (which I was at the time). Talk about being livid–and believe it or not I was a reporter at the time. That proved to me that many reporters don’t care about the truth or professional ethics. To be used like that is terribly frustrating. When I left journalism I never looked back. Thank goodness your wonderful books and articles speak for themselves.

By: M. Swaim

M. Swaim — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:16:57 +0000

Wow. Perhaps one of the top five most slanted articles on indulgences I’ve read in the past two weeks. God bless you for giving them a coherent soundbite, even if they were able to twist it to our collective disadvantage.

By: Carl Sommer

Carl Sommer — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:39:42 +0000

Well, my condolences, Mike. To be misrepresented is to endure a form of martyudom, albeit a minor one. A gander at some other articles that author wrote could give you some perspective. FOCA is a “mythical abortion bill”?

By: dim bulb

dim bulb — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:40:21 +0000

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day” (Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, A.D. 1807).

“I deplore…the putrid state into which our newspapers have passed and the malignity, the vulgarity, and the mendacious spirit of those who write for them…These ordures are rapidly depraving the public taste and lessening its relish for sound food. As vehicles of information and a curb on our functionaries, they have rendered themselves useless by forfeiting all title to belief” (Thomas Jefferson to Walter Jones, A.D. 1814)

By: Kyle

Kyle — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 14:55:34 +0000

Yep, our local paper’s religious editor does hit jobs like this — every stinkin’ time.

By: Mike Aquilina

Mike Aquilina — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 14:54:35 +0000

Hi Warren. I agree with you, though it's discouraging when you spend so much time on material that just ends up on the cutting-room floor. In any event, my responses were pale shadows of the beautiful work done by Gary Anderson of Notre Dame in the journal Letter and Spirit.

By: Warren

Warren — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 14:35:36 +0000

I’d love to read the substantive summary of your thoughts on the old testament roots of indulgences, and your familial analogies.

The whole thing about Johann Tetzel and the saying about the “coin in the coffer clings, the soul from purgatory springs” thing was a major plank in my anti-catholicism prior to my conversion.

The mockery inherent in secular writing about the subject deserves an answer.

Warren
[catholic/convert]