"An Appalling Level of Cultural Tone-Deafness and Insensitivity"
Rich Leonardi thinks that
[t]he time has come for Pope Benedict to summon Cardinal Martino to the papal apartments, thank him for his service to Mother Church, and reward him with a quiet parish in the Italian countryside.At the very least, an apology by Cardinal Martino is warranted. As I noted over at Rich's blog:
... it takes an appalling level of cultural tone-deafness and insensitivity for a Cardinal of the Church to invoke Godwin's Law and hurl the concentration camp analogy at a Jewish state.
Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
German Bishops' Offensive Remarks Hit Jews Hard
posted by Pro Ecclesia 4:24 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
God forbid a minister of the Church point out that when a group of people has been so oppressed throughout history there is a tendency for them to then do the same thing to others. Yes, it would be much much better to ignore reality.
I am well aware of the deplorable conditions in Gaza, and have absolutely no objection to Cardinal Martino calling attention to such. What I object to is the loaded words he used to describe the situation, which, in my view, evidences a lack of sensitivity regarding the Shoah. As deplorable as the Gaza situation is right now, it comes nowhere close to what the Jews suffered in Europe's concentration camps.
I am in wholehearted agreement with the Holy Father's assessment of the situation in Gaza. Yet he has managed to describe the atrocious plight of the Palestinians in Gaza without being overtly offensive towards our Jewish brethren.
As deplorable as the Gaza situation is right now, it comes nowhere close to what the Jews suffered in Europe's concentration camps.
Why? State-sanctioned killing is state-sanctioned killing.
Martino is only saying "you are doing the same thing to the Palestinians that was done to you." And he is 100% right.
No he's not. It's categorically NOT the same thing. And if it were, I'm quite certain the Holy Father would be the one leading the outcry against this outrage that was functionally equivalent to the Shoah.
Come talk to me when Israel begins systematically rounding up all the Palestinians and roasting them in ovens.
So... because they are being killed in a different way, that amounts to "categorically different"? Um, no.
The systematic killing of a people is what we are talking about.
Come talk to me when you are ready to stop preserving Israel from critique simply because of the obvious atrocities committed against them. Israel is not beyond critique, and if their national policy against the Palestinians amounts to a systematic assault against an entire people, then we need to be willing to say so. It goes both ways.
Israel pulls out of Gaza and the reaction of Hamas was to make almost daily rocket and mortar attacks on Israel. Here is a list for 2008 alone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rocket_and_mortar_attacks_in_Israel_in_2008
No nation on Earth could put up with this, and the idiots who run Hamas and Gaza have led their people down a path to destruction.
So... because they are being killed in a different way, that amounts to "categorically different"? Um, no.
Um, yes. You may have heard about a book called "The Catechism of the Catholic Church." It's hefty, about 700 pages or so, and it contains the definitive teachings of the Catholic Church in an organized format. It might be worth your time to obtain a copy and review the section on the Fifth Commandment.
You may have heard about a book called "The Catechism of the Catholic Church." It's hefty, about 700 pages or so, and it contains the definitive teachings of the Catholic Church in an organized format. It might be worth your time to obtain a copy and review the section on the Fifth Commandment.
Please point out to us the relevant passages in the Catechism.
... stop preserving Israel from critique ..."
Someone needs to learn to read. I already told you I am in wholehearted agreement with the Holy Father's assessment of the situation in Gaza, which is hardly a position of "preserving Israel from critique".
FYI:
http://www.zenit.org/article-24733?l=english
Post a Comment
<< Home