The question here isn’t whether Glenn Beck is a delusional idiot. The real question is WHO at the Washington Post decided that this hogswallop was worthy of publication in any serious newspaper?
Why we are all Catholics now
By Glenn BeckPhoto: Beck meets the newly elevated Cardinal Timothy Dolan in the Vatican.
I am a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but today, I call myself a Catholic. Why? Because the state is telling the Catholic Church to violate its principles and teachings. So if you are a person of faith, you must call yourself a Catholic.
Today, the Catholic Church is defending a historic American freedom. We tend to forget that many of America’s earliest European settlers were religious refugees. Europe was not a kind place to the faithful if the state didn’t approve: Jews in Spain, Puritans in England, Protestants in France and so on. You were cast out, or worse…
Self-righteous, pseudo-persecuted moron.
This is a hilarious internal contradiction, when you realize that the Jews in Spain and the Protestants in France were being PERSECUTED BY THE CATHOLIC CHUCH!
Here is the Catholic Church’s position on Mormonism (note the “Nihil Obstat“ and Imprimateur at the bottom of the document.):
Distinctive Beliefs of the Mormon Church
Are Mormons Protestants? No, but their founder, Joseph Smith, came from a Protestant background, and Protestant presuppositions form part of the basis of Mormonism.
Still, it isn’t correct to call Mormons Protestants, because doing so implies they hold to the essentials of Christianity—what C. S. Lewis termed “mere Christianity.” The fact is, they don’t. Gordon B. Hinckley, the former president and prophet of the Mormon church, says (in a booklet called What of the Mormons?) that he and his co-religionists “are no closer to Protestantism than they are to Catholicism.”
That isn’t quite right—it would be better to say Mormons are even further from Catholicism than from Protestantism. But Hinckley is right in saying that Mormons are very different from Catholics and Protestants. Let’s examine some of these differences. We can start by considering the young men who come to your door.
They always come in pairs and are dressed conservatively, usually …
And, at the bottom of the page:
NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors.
Bernadeane Carr, STL,
Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004IMPRIMATUR: In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted.
+Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004
I don’t have a dog in this fight: I am neither a Mormon nor a Catholic, but, if both are honest intheir commitment to “truth,” then the plain facts need to be stated.
Glenn Beck is not a Catholic, and the church considers the Mormon faith to NOT be Christian. (There is a wealth of additional material here. If you are further interested, just put “MORMON” in the search box at the top of the page.)
And there is a difference between “freedom of religion” and imposing your religious beliefs on others.
“Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition …” — M. Python
But that is a topic for another day. Here’s the explanation for the doctinal purity of the aforementioned piece from “Catholic Answers“:
If the Catholic writing the book is a member of a religious order, the manuscript is first sent to his religious superior before it is sent to the Censor and Bishop. If the religious superior finds no impediment to publication, he will give the book his stamp of “Imprimi Potest,” which means “it can be printed.”
Nowadays, after the Imprimatur, you might see these words:
The “Nihil Obstat” and “Imprimatur” are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and the Imprimatur agree with the content, opinions or statements expressed.
Please know that the presence of an Imprimatur does not mean that a book is an official text of the Church. It doesn’t make the book the equivalent of an encyclical, say. It’s not the approval of the work by the Pope or a dogmatic Council, and it’s not a stamp of infallibility. It doesn’t even mean that everything in the book is accurate, only that there is nothing in it that contradicts Catholic dogma.
[…]
SUMMARYReligious Superior’s stamp: IMPRIMI POTEST “it can be printed”
Censor’s stamp: NIHIL OBSTAT “nothing stands in the way”
Bishop’s stamp: IMPRIMATUR “let it be printed”
Chief Justice John Roberts attends “Red Mass”
I hope that this clarifies the situation somewhat.
Good grief.
There is a foolish notion that “religious tolerance” means that one should never criticize ANY religion, no matter how bizarre, hateful or strange their means or ends, but that is NOT religious tolerance, that is intentional self-blinding.
I can easily and happily tolerate Catholicism and Mormonism, and I can love my Mormon and Catholic friends (and I have loved a few, if you get my drift), but that does NOT mean that I blindly accept every notion advanced by the representatives of either faith.
There is a difference between religious freedom and religious license. Check the founders.
No word, yet, on whether Beck is a jelly donut.
Courage.
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A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog His Vorpal Sword. This is cross-posted from his blog.
A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog, His Vorpal Sword (no spaces) dot com.