I have no problem understanding the Catholic sense of persecution. They have always been a minority in this country and were often treated very harshly in the 19th and 20th centuries.
There is a Catholic Community near to us with whom I am very friendly. They have been punished by the town because of their strong anti-abortion and anti-homosexual letters to the editors in local papers in in their preaching. I agree with them four-square on these matters.
When they appllied for a building permit to expand their school and their chapel, the town imposed absurd requirements upon them that nobody else has to meet. Even the town doesn’t meet such requirements on its own property!
The Catholic community sued, and eventually prevailed in court, but during the controversy, a Boston TV station came up to interview the clergy of the community and people in the town. I was away on business that week and was unable to participate. We don’t have a TV, so we did not see the news segment, but one of the clergy from the community called me almost in tears. They had butchered his interview.
FOr example, the TV interviewer asked him if he believed that Jews will go to hell. Antagonistic townsfolk have been trying to paint the community as anti-semitic for years. The brother pointed-out that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were all Jews, and that almost all the first Christians were Jews, but he added, “Without Faith in Jesus Christ, anybody, including the Jews, will go to hell.”
They excerpted his response so that the only thing aired was, “Jews will go to hell.” There were other edits made to paint him as an anti-semitic, raving bigot. At the end of our call, choking up, he asked us to pray for them.
Another time, the Catholic school was having a music recital of their students. They rented an auditorium at a local State college. When I arrived to attend, there were goons outside singing, “We Shall Overcome” and passing out literature decrying the “CULTure of Hate”, with CULT capitalized and boldfaced.
I am NOT making this up!
Inside the auditorium, the children, dressed in their modest and tidy school uniforms, were singing, playing fiddles, guitars, mandolins, and piano, step-dancing, and reciting prose and poetry.
I asked one of the brothers what was going on with the demonstrators outside, and he said it was a reaction to the TV “special”. I learned later that it was organized by one of the pro-abort, pro-homo, global warming goons here in town.
When I exited with five of my 11 children (I only brought the ones who could attend), I saw the same goonery outside. I was so incensed I said sarcastically, “Thank you for your expression of love.” Whereupon one of them said, “Thank you for teaching your children to hate.”
I told them that I teach my children the words of Jesus to love our enemies and pray for them who hurt us, and asked my children to verify, which they gladly did. At that point, one of the policemen approached me and said, “They’re not worth it, sir.” To which I heartily agreed and started to leave.
I heard shouts of, “Sir! Sir!” behind me, so I turned to see two young women running towards me. They said they were journalists and asked if they could get my name and interview me. I told them, “I don’t trust journalists,” and walked away with my children.
Thank you. You do indeed “get it.”
I'm talking about how I have seen Catholics say they are persecuted here on FR because other posters take a dissimilar stance on matters of theology. Not on every thread but enough times that I have noticed a pattern.
Yet, I see more and more of these types of threads where they invite debate.