But if you a reason to call him “bigoted” please share. Remember Peter Damian used the term “Gomorrah” to refer to what he found among the priests.
Since, as with almost all Protestants, you probably know little about history, you might want to read this before you post anything that cites Lea as an authority:
This is from a classic, unfortunately there is only the beginning of the article: http://archive.catholic.com/thisrock/1996/9605clas.asp
You can read more of it here at the beginning of chapter 7: http://books.google.com/books?id=uWkbfkIQqpQC&pg=PT61&lpg=PT61&dq=How+history+is+miswritten:+a+test+applied+to+the+work+of+H.C.+Lea+at+the+instance+of+Dr.+Coulton&source=bl&ots=-4QB4m_dZQ&sig=k25rf_GGmJuZL10pAaPN3RO0KWo&hl=en&ei=N9OUTp6kHaSCsAKekOXvAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=How%20history%20is%20miswritten%3A%20a%20test%20applied%20to%20the%20work%20of%20H.C.%20Lea%20at%20the%20instance%20of%20Dr.%20Coulton&f=false
Unlike most people I have actually read the works of Lea. I know about his sources, methods, and his anachronism which was so pronounced that it was tantamount to bigotry.
If his mother had not left the Catholic Church in 1822 who knows what might have happened. Maybe he would not have swallowed so much bilge water about the Church being such a threat to liberty that he would not have read that threat BACK INTO MEDIEVAL HISTORY. And to think, his grandfather published the first Catholic Bible in the USA!
I always wondered why he had a nervous breakdown in 1847.
He’s a typical WASP historian who thinks celibacy is unnatural. I have no problem with honest portrayal of sins, by celibates and non-celibates. I do have a real problem with those who start from the assumption that celibacy is unnatural
Cuz it’s not. Only those who understand that celibacy is possible, that continence is possible, will truly experience the real joy of marital sexuality. Because even in marriage one has to be continent sometimes.
And only those who truly honor and value sexual expression can be healthy celibates. Each needs the other.
Lea entered his research with a chip on his shoulder the size of Mount Rushmore. Then he gathered anecdotal evidence from the original sources to support his pre-judgments.
Yeah, he’s inaccurate. Any sociologist will tell you that anecdotal evidence is not sufficient.