Some of you may have noticed that the House of Representatives chaplain, Father Connolly, was just summarily fired by Paul Ryan, without explanation. This has caused something of a stir among Catholic members of the House, of whom there are a number on both sides of the aisle, as they say. Two speculative explanations have been offered. One is that on the day the House voted to pass the tax bill, the good Father offered an opening prayer in which, among other things, he expressed the hope that God would guide the members to "guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans," clearly a radical call for revolution worthy of the far left fringes of the Latin American Church.
However, a new explanation has surfaced, and it is at this point that I claim a point of personal privilege, for it was my very own Representative Mark Walker, of the North Carolina 6th CD, who gave voice to it. He expressed the hope that the next chaplain would be a man with a wife and children who could draw on that experience to guide the members of his flock.
And then the scales fell from my eyes. It finally made sense. This was a good old authentically American revolt of the Protestants against the upstart Catholics who had long since seized control of the big city Democratic Party machines and were now bringing their popish heresies to the floor of the People's House.
As an atheist of culturally Jewish heritage, I do not have a dog in this fight [if I may use a Southern colloquialism], so I am free to sit back and enjoy the spectacle. What makes it all the more delicious is that Paul Ryan is a Catholic disciple of Ayn Rand, who hated all religion.
You can't make this stuff up.
Worthwhile and apt commentary from Charles Pierce at Esquire on the same matter: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a20084129/paul-ryan-congress-chaplain-resign/
ReplyDeleteHe quotes Madison: "The establishment of the chaplainship to Congs is a palpable violation of equal rights, as well as of Constitutional principles..." Whose rights might be violated? Among others, those of "Roman Catholics & Quakers," a clergymman for which could "[n]ever hope to be appointed a Chaplain."
Is Ryan going to replace the Rabbi and the Imam too? Inquiring minds of the church-state separation faction want to know.
ReplyDeleteBut I like Prof. Wolff's optimism in "...Paul Ryan is a Catholic disciple of Ayn Rand..." because that assumes Ryan's mature enough to know the implications of Rand's objectivism.
It surprises me that Mark Walker wants a chaplain with more life experience, since I would have expected that he would prefer a chaplain with more or better knowledge of the Bible.
ReplyDeleteThat religious believers want clergy with life experience, in this case, of having a wife and children (no gay clergymen need apply for the job nor should women members of the clergy), instead of one who knows scriptures indicates how decadent the whole religious racket is these days.
In the good old days of religion, wisdom was found in the Bible, not in experience.
Is there a reason you used "popish" rather than the traditional "papist"?
ReplyDeleteYes. "papist" simply means "Roman Catholic" [as an adjective] whereas "popish" is derogatory, and I was trying to speak in their voice.
ReplyDeleteHere we have the atheist Wolff trying to increase division amongst the believers by using terms he feels are more derogatory? By speaking in the 'voice' he imagines the Protestants would be using if they actually cared about this issue?
ReplyDeleteAs a sort of Roman Catholic, I don't care for either papist or popish as a description. But if anyone actually called me either of those, I would probably laugh.
But I do admit I like the current Pope more than the last few...does that make me more popish now?
Oh dear. It appears you might have taken my comment seriously. That was my own feeble attempt at humor also- conjuring the image of the wolf amongst the flock cynically employing the divide and conquer strategy so often used in the past.
ReplyDeleteOh well, I guess it isn't all that humorous. My apologies.