{"id":243,"date":"2010-03-09T11:11:41","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T11:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/roddreher\/2010\/03\/against-religious-blackmail.html"},"modified":"2010-03-09T11:11:41","modified_gmt":"2010-03-09T11:11:41","slug":"against-religious-blackmail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/roddreher\/2010\/03\/against-religious-blackmail.html","title":{"rendered":"Against religious blackmail, nitwittery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christopher Hitchens:<\/p>\n

This has to stop, and it has to stop right now. All democratic countries and assemblies should be readying legislation along the lines of the First Amendment, guaranteeing the right of open debate on matters of religion and repudiating the blackmail by law firms and individuals whose own true ancestry would not bear too much scrutiny.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What’s he talking about? See this disgusting outrage.<\/a> Freedom of speech and freedom of religion go hand in hand. Hitchens has less than no use for my faith, but on this point, he and I are in complete agreement.
\nBut via Mark Shea<\/a>, here is a ridiculous example of … well, not religious blackmail, but of religious absurdity: Glenn Beck urging Catholics to apostasize to escape their crypto-commie church<\/a>. Excerpt:<\/p>\n

“I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh dear. The Catechism of the Catholic Church <\/a>says:<\/p>\n

(1928) Society ensures social justice when it provides the conditions that allow associations or individuals to obtain what is their due, according to their nature and their vocation. Social justice is linked to the common good and the exercise of authority.
\n(1929) Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man. The person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered to him. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Plainly, this could have been lifted straight from Stalin’s chapbook. I, for one, find an emotionally unstable <\/a>TV host more trustworthy on matters of faith and morals than a 2,000 year old Christian church. Who wouldn’t?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christopher Hitchens: This has to stop, and it has to stop right now. All democratic countries and assemblies should be readying legislation along the lines of the First Amendment, guaranteeing the right of open debate on matters of religion and repudiating the blackmail by law firms and individuals whose own true ancestry would not bear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion"],"yoast_head":"\nAgainst religious blackmail, nitwittery - Rod Dreher<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/roddreher\/2010\/03\/against-religious-blackmail.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Against religious blackmail, nitwittery - Rod Dreher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christopher Hitchens: This has to stop, and it has to stop right now. 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