I came across this video in several places - Denis Leary singing a song that mocks (and mocks is too soft) the Church.
Before you watch it, a lot of caution. The video starts with Leary making a cross out of two middle fingers, and he goes on to say some of the most unbelievably horrible things about the Church, the Holy Father, the priest abuse crisis, etc.
Freedom of speech is in the constitution, but this can't be what the framers had in mind.
I and many of priests and Catholics I talk to believe that Catholics will, in the not too distant future, be persecuted again. Watching this might be a day I'll always look back on as some kind of turning point.
This video is not made by some guy in his mom's basement - Denis Leary is the spokesman for Ford Trucks for crying out loud! This video was done by Comedy Central, not MTV 7.
There are a few things I'd urge you to do to protest this - the time is running out in my mind to speak up as a faith and say - "we don't support this!"
1) Email the woman who appears to have direct oversight at Comedy Central at renata.luczak@comedycentral.com
2) Send an email to Ford here: https://secure.corporate.ford.com/footer/contact-ford/contact-us-email?contactMainTopic=PublicAffairs My next car will not be a Ford unless he is let go and there is some kind of apology.
3) On Youtube, engage the people in the comments section. The world needs to hear what we are about in a positive way, and I think we go right to the source of wretchedness and we present who we are and we talk to people who think this is a good idea. It may not be pleasant but it is needed. If you don't do it for your sake, do it for the sake of your kids.
Finally, if you can stand it (not all of you will be able to) the video is here. If you want to engage people on the youtube site, double click on the video below and your web browser will open the Youtube page directly.
God bless!
WOW....I am on it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I could find of this video was actually pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteOrganized Religion is a coping mechanism and nothing more.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAnother coping mechanism is posting anonymously on blogs but shying away from entering into an actual discussion. How about a little more depth than "religion is a coping mechanism".
ReplyDeleteWho should I look to in order to see the benefits of living life without such a coping mechanism; who shows the rest of the world the benefits of atheistic humanism?
The benefits of atheistic humanism--or secular humanism, as I would prefer to call it--lie mostly in the absence of the deleterious potential outcomes of theologic humanism: imprisonment, torture or genocide inspired by religious differences; social subjugation based on race, gender or sexual orientation with theologic dogma cited as justification; consumption of a nation or state by a specific religious ethos--or a perversion of a religious ethos--leading to unchecked aggression and imperialism.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, Fr. Hollowell, I can't cite specific examples of individuals who have shown the world the benefits of atheism. An argument for Darwin may be viable in that he did not allow strict adherence to a creationist perspective to hinder his work, but I will cede that as grasping at straws.
Works of great charity and great evil have been done in the name of religion. For every Mother Theresa or Pope John Paul II there is a Fred Phelps, an Adolf Hitler, or a Slobodan Milosevic.
As for my own agnosticism, it was developed over 12 years in the Catholic school system. I guess one could say I developed an aversion to the teachings as a result of the employed methods. I'd welcome any further discussion you wish to engage in.
J. Maxwell Roncalli '98
Mr. or Ms. Maxwell,
ReplyDeleteyour comments immediately brought to mind an article I recently shared with my students entitled "True and False Humanism" by James Hitchcock. I think you would find it a compelling read, but you should certainly take note of this observaiton Hitchcock makes:
"In the twentieth century, mass slaughter has been perpetrated not by religious believers in opposition to heresy but by secularists convinced that their plan for a worldly utopia is the only possible one."
J. Maxwell, so there is no one who can show us the benefits of atheism? I find that odd. I'll stick to the path that the saints describe then.
ReplyDeleteI can see totally how the way the faith was presented to us created an aversion in you. The question I'd ask is this - was the faith we were presented the faith at all? I'd say no. I always tell people I was raised Catholic but I also converted to Catholicism around the age of 22.
Father Hollowell,
ReplyDeleteFirst I would like to say that I enjoy your blog which I came across after reading your memorial for David Moore (job well done by the way -- great memorial for a great man). I would also like to applaud you for your vocation and thank you for the positive influence you have had on me (as well as St. John's Parish, Ritter H.S., and St. Malachy Parish). I am proud of you.
I absolutely love your comment about converting to Catholicism around age 22. For me it was more like age 32. I have found myself back in the Catholic Church (in large part due to my wife and kids) and have found myself hungry to find meaning in the traditions of the Catholic Church (e.g.- do they have references in Scripture and are they similar to the early church of Jesus and his disciples, etc.)
Although I can attribute much of my faith formation and personal relationship with God to my early Catholic educational years I can look back and see where my faith stumbled or "stalled" in the high school/college years. I found the Catholic Church an easy target for these "bumps in the road" and often criticized the Church for my issues. Looking back I had no one to blame but myself for these stumbles...isn't it great to know that, despite our misdeeds, errors, and transgressions The Lord will always welcome us back?
Keep fighting the good fight Father Hollowell!! (I know you will)
Take Care, David Himes
J. Maxwell-- Take care brother, you will be in my thoughts.
Dave - great to hear from you and I appreciate you sharing your story very much! I've run into your grandma at St. John's a few times and she seems like a very strong woman - maybe your "conversion" had something to do with her prayers too!
ReplyDeleteThanks again Dave for the kind words and hopefully I'll run into you soon. Maybe we can grab lunch or coffee sometime too. Anyways, my best to your family.
Fr. John H.
Father Hollowell,
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you too. I would love to grab lunch or coffee sometime. It sounds like you have a busy schedule! Give me a shout if you are ever on the south side and have some free time. Take care, David
(317) 223-4705
davidnabby@earthlink.net
P.S. -Loved the blog about Notre Shame!
I can't watch the video. Do you know where else it might be located?
ReplyDeleteTell me "FATHER" do you truly read the bible? and if u do... please show me any verse that uses the word TRINITY? NONE in there... Oh.. also please show me the verse that ACTUALLY IS in the bible that states.. "You received for free, give for free" So y do u charge people for "purgetory" and quite a few other things!!!!!! LMAO ur religion is a JOKE
ReplyDeleteSorry for the paleo-comment, but I thought I would encourage our last anonymous commentor to read up a little more becuase you seem to have some misapprehensions about the Catholic Church. Not your fault really. There is alot of misinformation out there. Some of it malicious, some of it mere third-hand ignorance. So briefly,
ReplyDeleteTell me "FATHER" do you truly read the bible?
I'm not sure why Father is in scare quotes because it is a perfectly legitimate office and title. (See here.) as far as reading it, at a minimum, he reads it most every Sunday
please show me any verse that uses the word TRINITY? NONE in there
One of the biggest problems is that people are under the impression that any Christian doctrine must appear explicit, whole, and often in the pages of Scripture. An even bigger problem is that the idea that every Christian doctrine must appear explicit, whole, and often in Scripture isn't in Scripture. The first thing to learn about Catholicism is that Scripture is a remote rule of faith. The proximate rule of faith is the witness of the Apostles. A subject too large to tackle here, but for a defense of the Trinity, see here.
Oh.. also please show me the verse that ACTUALLY IS in the bible that states.. "You received for free, give for free" So y do u charge people for "purgetory" and quite a few other things!!!!!!
See the above for the "show me in the bible" approach. For purgatory, I believe you are referring to the medival abuse of indulgences. Briefly, yes, there were abuses, but abuse does not proscribe use. (See here) I don't what other things you are referring to that Father charges for you had in mind.
LMAO ur religion is a JOKE
Hopefully, I have given you at least a starting point for exploring why very intelligent men and women for the past 2000+ years have taken this religion to be more than just a joke.
God bless,
Scott W.
I am a fallen away Catholic and just started watching it. It is probably the most sacreligious thing i have ever heard. I watched the series Rescue Me and thought that there was a lot of sacreligious comments made on there. Dennis Leary has no shame. His Ugly mouth matches his ugly face. No woman would give him a second look if he didnt have money.
ReplyDelete