The open hostility to Catholicism at DU is shocking.

[Padraig18]

Look at the replies in this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1602142

:argh:

[AngryOldDem]

1. Bookmark this and trot it out....

...the next time somebody feigns wide-eyed innocence, shock, and utter disbelief and incredulity that Catholics aren't held up to constant ridicule here. I think I will do just that.

And by the way, if we have to "donate" to DU to continue posting on the groups forums, or whatever, then my days are numbered here.

ON EDIT: I'm feeling particularly bitchy today, so I'm going to go ahead and make the very cynical observation that if this pronouncement came from Nelson Mandela, Howard Dean, or any other idol of the left, it would be heralded from the rooftops as common sense and "it's about time someone said it". The spin that these people have put on these comments is insane. We all know what the Vatican is talking about -- plastic surgery on perfectly healthy body parts, drugs to make body parts work at even higher capacity for (most often) selfish gain...while in the meantime, millions die from diseases that can be easily cured and suffer needlessly because health resources are going elsewhere. Again, I don't think it is the message so much as the messenger. The Pope could find a cure for cancer and it would be met with hate.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Zynx]

3. It's even worse than being around anti-Catholic fundies.

The hate for Catholics at the DU is both shocking and completely baseless. Those who hate Catholics here seem to have an irrational hatred of religion in general.

[DemBones DemBones]

4. I still don't understand why it's allowed. No other group

gets the kind of abuse we do. It's certainly helped me understand WHY a lot of our fellow Catholics have started voting GOP: at least the Republicans keep their anti-Catholicism quiet. And they show respect for some of our views. The Democratic Party continually tells us that our views are wrong, and many who claim to be Dems show up on discussion boards like DU and trash Catholicism.

I'll never vote GOP but it gets harder and harder to vote for a party that doesn't care what I think.

[happynewyear]

5. I agree Dem Bones

I'm very tempted not to renew my star when the time comes up. I feel attacked and hated because of my beliefs on this forum (not this group). And yes, it is bigotry and why it is acceptable (do these people read the rules they write?) is beyond me. Hence, I have a very long "ignore" list because of these individuals that bash Catholics and oh yes, also Irish Catholics. :grr:

And the Democrats wonder why they lost the election - perhaps they have alienated a lot of Catholic voters. Did they ever once think or care about this? Even once?

Very discouraged at best. :(

DTC

[leyton]

6. Perhaps we should all not renew our stars.

I wonder if the mods would pay more attention to anti-Catholicism if we told them that that's why they weren't getting our donations.

[UrbScotty]

7. Channel your anger into action!

http://www.democrats.org/chair/feedback/index.html?psc=front

[DemBones DemBones]

8. I've certainly considered not renewing my star, if not

just leaving DU entirely. I like having the groups but none of them are active enough to really offset the constant ugliness in LBN, GD, and GD-P, much of which has to do with religion, even if it's not Catholicism taking the heat. I've suggested to Skinner that he consider moving all the threads having anything to do with religion to a separate forum, the same way they segregate the threads about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the same way they confine all the gun threads, pro- and anti-, to one forum. Oh, the 9/11 threads are segregated, too.

I don't think there would be much response if we all left, except that some people would no doubt cheer.

[happynewyear]

11. Dem Bones ...

Today sort of did it for me with that Pope John Paul II bash. Can you think of another forum where the likes of us might be perhaps welcome?

I agree with Kleeb, this really does suck.

:(

DTC

[DemBones DemBones]

16. No, I know of no "liberal" forum that doesn't allow Catholic bashing.

Sad, isn't it? :cry:

[happynewyear]

9. Give us this day our daily bash ...

Our daily bash ...

Now the Pope John Paul II is being outwardly called a "liar" and accused of not "remembering" the 10 commandments.

And we all just sit here and complain. I seriously wonder :wtf: is wrong with the moderators of this forum! And gee, that was my "thing" I was going to give up for lent - swearing. Maybe :wtf: isn't swearing being only letters are used rather than the words themselves! :grr: :grr: :grr:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x10633

Pretty/very sick IMO that anyone would start a thread like this especially during lent.

DTC

[JohnKleeb]

10. It sucks don't it

Sigh. I hate being an open Catholic here sometimes.

[happynewyear]

12. you must never be ashamed of who you are

I like you am an Irish Catholic and it yeah it sucks and are we being singled out for some reason?

It sickens me and we should never have to apologize for our beliefs nor our ethnicity.

DTC

:dem: :kick: and yes, I too will always be a Democrat!

[JohnKleeb]

13. Irish Catholic here too actually Irish-German-Slavic

I dont feel ashamed, I just hate being one here sometimes because of the intolerance :(.

[Matilda]

14. If you count the responses, almost half (10 out of 22)

are in support of what the Vatican is saying (the numbers include
follow-up posts of both sides).

I understand what disturbs you - those who are anti-Catholic are
very virulent, and completely one-eyed - nothing you say would ever
influence people like that. Unfortunately, I think there is a great
deal of hypocrisy in the Vatican on certain issues, and from the
conservatives amongst the hierarchy, often far too much focus on the
letter of the law rather than the spirit of compassion. I can
understand why there are people who have no time for some of the
attitudes, but it's sad that they lump everything into one basket
and condemn the good along with the bad.

There is nothing you can do about people like that - they're out in
our society as well, but I believe they're not in the majority, so
we should just try to put the case for what we think is right, as
you have done, and not allow them to get under our skin.

[Nashvilliberal]

15. I get sick of it too...

and I admire those of you who engage and defend. You do see the same idiots and bigots, all of whom swear by the DaVinci Code, taking the same cheap shots. The only consolation I find is that many of these people are obviously either nuts or miserable, and even though it knots my stomach to see someone taking pot-shots at the Holy Father, I think most of them are just trying to bait us.

And, as I read this thread and thought about it, compared to many of the Saints (you know, stonings and decapitations for the faith), a few ugly words from ugly people don't quite have the same effect.

[DemBones DemBones]

17. Oh, the DaVinci Code, what a load of codswallop!

It amazes me to see people enthusing over how "deep" it is. :eyes:

[Stunster]

18. If you think that's bad...

... have a look at this one:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x10633

The bile, the vitriol, and the sheer incomprehension of God's ways are kinda scarey. The comment that got me was the one about God not saving other shooting victims----yeah, he put an end to their suffering in this life, while compelling poor old JP2 to carry his cross and soldier on for another 24 years (so far).

What gets me about this kind of hatred for "the Catholic Church" is that the Catholic Church is not merely the pope, the Vatican bureaucracy, and the episcopacy. No doubt those echelons will attract their portion of ambitious, power-hungry, and even wicked men. Are secular governments really any better? I doubt it, but in any case we shouldn't be too surprised at the follies of Church government.

But there are other stories which are just as much or more about the Catholic Church---millions of them, and mostly untold. Among the recent 'told' ones, we have Sr Joan Chittester bashing Bush's budget. We have Sr Dorothy Stang martyred for social justice in Brazil. We have activist sisters challenging the military-industrial complex. We have Catholics prepared to go to prison to challenge the human rights abuse academy formerly known as the School of the Americas.

There's so much more to the Catholic Church than the 0.01% at the top. Nobody listens to them anyway, except the anti-Catholic crowd. ;-)

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cuban_Liberal]

21. Please take this sort of post somewhere else.

We voluntarily choose to belong to groups to be free of posts such as yours. Thank you.

[IndianaGreen]

22. Sorry, no offense intended

[Cuban_Liberal]

23. Apology accepted.

The concept of groups is still relatively new, and we're not always clear about the purpose of new things.

:hi:

[Skinner]

24. This is not an appropriate use of the DU Groups.

The purpose of the DU Groups is so that you can be free from interacting with people of differing viewpoints. Please do not use the DU Groups to organize this type of organized action to try to influence the moderators, or to complain about Democratic Underground.

If you have a concern about DU policies, procedures, or enforcement, please feel free to address your concerns to the Admins directly.

We strive to provide a community that is both free from bigotry, and open to a wide range of viewpoints. Members are not permitted to engage in broad-brush attacks against groups of people, however, please keep in mind that members are permitted to share their opinions about public figures and about public organizations.

As the administrator of this website, I feel I have a responsibility to foster an atmosphere of both tolerance *and* freedom of expression.

I am locking this thread.

Skinner
DU Admin