Without a Doubt

Hoo boy! Carl Olsen over at the Ignatius Insight blog has a scathing and brilliant review of the recent sensationalistic Newsweek op-ed piece about the recent meeting between President Obama and the Holy Father, "Without a Doubt: Why Barack Obama represents American Catholics better than the pope does" (Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, July 9, 2009). He highlights the passage that got my goat as well:

In truth, though, Obama's pragmatic approach to divisive policy (his notion that we should acknowledge the good faith underlying opposing viewpoints) and his social-justice agenda reflect the views of American Catholic laity much more closely than those vocal bishops and pro-life activists. When Obama meets the pope tomorrow, they'll politely disagree about reproductive freedoms and homosexuality, but Catholics back home won't care, because they know Obama's on their side. In fact, Obama's agenda is closer to their views than even the pope's.

My gripe was that this statement does not make a distinction between Catholics who live their lives of faith in a consciously faithful manner, and those usually called "Catholics In Name Only" who are indistinguishable from the rest of society, only holding views in common with the Church by accident.

Anyway, Olsen has a lot more to say about this piece, and says it much better than I could. You can find his blog entry here:

http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2009/07/the-dull-dissenting-americanism-of-kathleen-kennedy-townsend.html