By Andrew R. Duckworth
I began writing a very biting critique of American Evangelicalism recently. But I have had to put a pause on it for the moment. It has, to put it bluntly, been very taxing on my time, energy, and emotionally it has been a task that has brought back much anger and a part of me that I despise. I deeply despise the feeling of anger and what it does to the human mind. Sometimes, we have to know when to step away and recollect ourselves. Some know my story of growing up in a Protestant dominant town, being a lone Catholic in a school full of Protestants of both good intent and ill-intent. This history was going to be threaded together with what I see as an issue in evangelicalism, notably the tone and intent in which it is implemented. Perhaps for another day.
Recently, a Catholic priest was conducting Mass in Ecuador. The large crucifix behind him came detached from the wall, fell, and unfortunately the priest did not survive. To make matters worse, the Mass was being live-streamed and, the internet did what the internet does. People clipped the event and spread the video of a priest’s passing from this life to the next all over social media, a video that I am not even sure has been flagged yet on social media circles. The event itself is painful enough for the Catholic faithful. Yet, this event did something else that I hadn’t expected.
Shortly after the news of the event spread, in came a slew of uncharitable Protestant voices that sought to use the event in an attempt to promote themselves. I suppose the thing that surprises me most about this is that even I, who often realize just how sick and twisted many opposing voices can be, thought that perhaps there would be a shred more charity in an already divided world. Clearly, I was incorrect. This is not to say that all Protestants carry this problem. In fact, there were plenty of Protestant voices that quickly came to our defense, and to those voices I say God bless and keep you. In a world so divided, we need genuine charity now more than ever, not just towards those of any particular faith, but to everyone.
But it’s also important to realize that the vitriol and the blood lust is something that seems to be a part of a trend that seems to be a rising problem throughout America. This isn’t to say that it doesn’t exist elsewhere or that vitriol and blood lust are a distinctly American problem. They are not. In fact, it’s a fairly terrible problem the world over. But seeing as I am an American, one who cares deeply about the state of the nation and how we conduct ourselves in discourse, it is very concerning.
Lately, I was scrolling through social media comments (something that I do not suggest to anyone unless you are thoroughly prepared to be outraged). One comment caught me both by surprise and sadness. Someone was expressing that they grew up in an area where they had no knowledge that the Catholic faith was so hated. It was only after they decided to convert to the faith that true colors were shown and they soon learned exactly how deep the hatred goes. It caught me by surprise because here in America, it is hard to imagine a place where Catholics are not hated to some degree by at least some group. The particular poster was replying to a comment in a group post where Protestants were discussing the various ways in which the priest apparently “had it coming” because “idols” and other nonsense. An important point to make: if you are a Protestant and you often preach a message of “Catholics are bad because idols,” you literally have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not saying that you don’t have scripture to back up rejection of idols. If you’re familiar with scripture, you surely do. What I am saying is you have extremely poor understanding of Catholic theology. And, when you don’t understand something, why open your mouth and prove it unless you’re looking for clarity? I say this to say that you look ridiculous to well catechized Catholics, historians, and theologians. At best, you look naive… and that’s being charitable.
One Protestant pastor in particular took to social media to post an entire video on the event in Ecuador, saying that the priest was sent straight to Hell by Jesus and did so with the smuggest smile on his face. Clearly, the priest’s death wasn’t a tragedy in his eyes, but a joyful event! After all, it meant one fewer Catholic voice in the world. What wasn’t to celebrate, according to this pastor? For many, thankfully, this sentiment will seem foreign. After all, no one should celebrate tragedy. But couple it with the idea that it is celebrated because a different perspective lost one of their voices, and it seems even all the more detestable.
As I previously stated, this seems to be a part of a trend, and it isn’t just Catholicism that experiences that brunt of such hatred in the world. Plenty must endure acts of cruelty and malice. But even living in that small town I grew up in, where the passing of Pope St. John Paul II was celebrated by various churches, I couldn’t imagine a world where people would actively celebrate the passing of a person in such a way. It seems that in a lot of ways the problem of hatred has only grown. What is worse is that such hatred often provokes a variety of emotional responses, one of them being more anger and more hatred. I must remind myself from time to time that if I want to see good in the world, it must begin in my own soul. I have to remind myself of this quite a bit, often in recent years. I must be an example of goodness if I wish to see goodness. But these various examples of glee and joy at the idea of death towards anyone only provokes more anger in my own heart. As a society, we are losing our collective soul. The best we can do, as I see it, is respond with charity and the respect that others do not offer us. Yes, it hurts when we are not respected. A part of that, if we must be honest, is a bit of ego playing into that—we want to be respected, we somehow DESERVE to be respected. But ultimately, we must realize that there are those who do not respect us. There are those that, no matter how much explaining you do, will stand with closed ears, closed minds, and closed hearts. It is a reality. Instead of respond with the same, perhaps it should drive us to further example with the love we wish we had been given.
