Everything is “Egypt” all of a sudden. The Wisconsin protests are just like Egypt. Indiana is just like Egypt. And now it seems that the Catholic Church too is just like Egypt, according to one writer.
I’ll get into the particulars in a sec but can we all just agree that nothing right now is like Egypt. We don’t even know what’s going on in Egypt yet but all of a sudden everything is being compared to Egypt. Anytime a few people have a gripe it’s Egypt all over again.
At least the Nazi metaphor is getting a much needed break.
I guess it’s no surprise that progressives in the Catholic Church who’ve been unhappy with the Church since the 1960’s would like to compare themselves to the people in the streets of Egypt who toppled a dictatorship in a week. The progressives have been trying to topple the Church for 40 years but no dice. I shudder to consider the particulars of what a sit in at the Vatican by leftover hippies would look like. All the faded tie dye, walkers, canes, knee high socks crammed into Birkenstocks, attending nurses, and the dinner break at 3:30 p.m. would be just too horrendous to watch – even for C-Span. Something tells me the sitting-in would be easy but the getting back up could take a while. If these guys are like Egypt it’s a really slow motion Egypt.
Anyway, this piece by Richard Taylor in the Philadelphia Inquirer is the official jump the shark moment for the Egyptian metaphor.
He writes:
The Catholic Church isn’t an Egyptian dictatorship, but its authority structure has many similar features. It is autocratic and totally top-down. It fears and crushes dissent. It disdains democracy, at least in its own structures. It is not accountable to its members, nor does it consult meaningfully with them.
When Catholics try to offer helpful ideas, we are rebuffed or ignored. More often than not, our leaders treat us like children who are to be seen but not heard, rather than thoughtful adults with talents, intelligence, and experience that the church desperately needs. Our protestations about priestly sex abuse and leaders’ cover-ups fall on deaf ears.
Won’t our beloved church continue to be held up to scorn for its actions until this medieval structure changes?
I think we can all agree now that the Egypt metaphor has been beaten to death. To continually beat something over and over like this it’s like…well…an Egyptian dictator…or something.
February 23, 2011 at 7:10 pm
I wonder what some of Mr. Taylor's helpful ideas would be? Women priests, gay marriage,a woman's right to choose?
How about not trashing your beloved church at every turn? How about being a faithful Catholic?
February 23, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Hey Richard Taylor! Don't let the Red Sea hit you in the ass on your exodus from the Church.
February 23, 2011 at 7:38 pm
I'm tried of people like Taylor griping that the Church isn't listening to "the people". Ah, balderdash! It's because the Church has listened to his kind of "people" that we're in the mess that we're in now! Let's hope that a great liberal leader will arise and say "Let my people go" and they will go, and leave us alone!
February 23, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Chris 2-4…thank you for that much-needed guffaw! Awesomeness.
And good for the Church that it fears and crushes dissent…better than to promote heresy and allow thousands to lose their souls.
And yes, the Church treats these "protestants" like children when they offer "help." Just like I say "No, honey, you can't 'help' me cook on the stove" to my young child…because she doesn't know what she's doing, and neither do they!
February 23, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Most people who call someone beloved don't think their beloved needs to rethink everything, redo everything, or that their beloved has been wrong from the beginning of time and needs to be redirected.
February 23, 2011 at 8:31 pm
AZLori – very nice analogy.
February 23, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Dear Mr. Taylor,
The Church has historically very adequately defended itself against bigger threats than your hissy fit. There's a reason it's thrived and survived for two thousand years without your input.
Sincerely,
The Church
February 24, 2011 at 3:08 pm
The progressives have been trying to topple the Church for 40 years but no dice.
It's probably been going on for 2000 years. I recall the progressive Judas having "great" ideas on how money should be spent and Jesus needing an opportunity to speak truth to power (while Judas picked up some loose change in the process).
February 24, 2011 at 9:37 pm
I'm sure the Docetists, the Gnostics, the Manichaeans, the Arians, the Albigensians and such all meant well, and that they were proceeding from the best of motives. If the Church had just listened to Martin Luther ….
Mr. Taylor, either try to think with the Church, or join a thriving progressive community, like the Anglicans.
February 25, 2011 at 12:02 am
I can see it now…. Mr Taylor sitting down in the front pew, listening to his parish priests homily, with his eye brows scrunched down, and his hand raised like a kid in class trying to get the teachers attention. "Excuse me father!! Excuse me!! You failed to mention that the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, was destroyed by the old cruel, misguided God, and Jesus His politically correct Son, came and set the record Straight…I mean Gay. And don't talk that procreation garbage…We can artificially create life as we need it; so we don't even need a God anymore!!!!"