Making fun of Catholics

I just thought I would let you guys know that attacking Catholics is not really clever, witty or funny.

So says Greg Crave, vice chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, in his opinion piece published in the Australian National Times.

This is another one of those opinion pieces that are so deliciously ironic and hypocritical that I hardly feel observant to point it out, but point it out I must.

Sir Crave's piece starts out with the bold headline: "A plague of atheists has descended, and Catholics are the target" with the subheadline, "Attacking Christians is not really clever, witty or funny" and then proceeds to write a piece that appears to be an attempt to attack atheists in a way that is clever, witty and funny.

He begins by saying:

From time immemorial, this world has been troubled by plagues. From bogong moths in Canberra to frogs in biblical Egypt, unwelcome and unlovely creatures have the awkward habit of turning up in bulk.

Just now, we are facing one of our largest and least appealing infestations. … we are beset by atheists.

Wow. Atheists – fellow human beings who lack belief in god – are one of the largest and least appealing plague infestations of unwelcome and unlovely creatures. I guess it is not clever, witty or funny to insult Christians, but it is clever, witty and funny to compare atheists to plague infestations.

Let's think about this. Atheists who are vice chancellors for universities do not write opinion pieces in national newspapers claiming that it is not witty to attack atheists (who have been attacked since the dawn of religion) and that Catholics are the largest and most unappealing plague infestation of unwelcome and unlovely creatures.

There are idiots in every camp, and if an atheist behaved this badly, I would call that atheist out on his hypocritical xenophobic, bigoted hate speech immediately.

Crave goes on to explain that "traditional" atheists "tended to be quiet blokes called Algie with ancillary interests in nudist ceremonies, who were perfectly happy as long as you pretended to accept a pamphlet in Flinders Lane.

Apparently, the good atheists are the ones who keep their godless mouths shut about their godlessness. I am not Australian so I don't know what the references to Algie and Flinders Lane are, nor do I get the reference to nudist ceremonies. Crave apparently does not mind the atheists who are quiet, but decries the "new" atheists who are

As brash, noisy and confident as an electric kettle.

That's very brash, noisy and confident of Crave to proclaim these things about atheists, isn't it? He goes on to say that the "new" atheists are targeting Catholics in particular. He thinks this is odd, given the proliferation of other religions for us to target and surmises that we attack the Catholic Church because doing so is the equivalent of "nuking the Pentagon" and "Guerilla bands of Baptists and Pentecostals can be liquidated at leisure."

Nice! Crave managed to insult non-Catholics as well as atheists by completely diminishing all that they have works for by referring to them as "Guerilla bands" as if they are meeting in huddled corners of abandoned buildings. He does this in the same paragraph that he compares atheists to terrorists.

Sir Crave, make no mistake: we have issue with parts of all religions. The Catholic Church is a very large organization and it is unique in the way in which it functions as well as its vast historical significance to the current culture. When you have an issue with certain beliefs, you tend to spend more time targeting the beliefs that are most pervasive in society. Jesus is central to Catholicism, so you spend a lot of time talking about Jesus. Sin is a big issue, so you spend lots of time talking about sin. The date of Jesus' birth is not central to your doctrines, so you spend much less time targeting that for discussion. This is perfectly logical and the way that most people manage their time or focus. Instead, he portrays us as a petty group of people attacking Catholics because it might mean someone will pay attention to us.

Crave goes on to attack other religions (not the superb hypocrisy here) proving that what he means by "Attacking Christians is not really clever, witty or funny" is "Attacking the Catholic Church is not really clever, witty or funny – but attacking everyone else IS."

Catholics have the undeniable advantage that they demonstrably believe in something. Attacking some of the more swinging Christian denominations might mean upsetting people who believe a good deal less than the average atheist

He proceeds to use lots of insulting adjectives in an apparent attempt at wit, referring to atheists as, "a diverting pastime", "designer atheism", "common or garden atheist", "tabloid atheist", "atheistic bigotry". Let's imagine for a moment that these adjectives were applied to Catholics. Catholicism is a diverting pastime. Designer Catholicism. Common or Garden Catholicism. Tabloid Catholicism. Catholic bigotry.

But Oh no! atheists are bigoted for pointing out that some Catholics are bigoted.

In an average week of atheistic bigotry in the Melbourne Media, we can expect to learn that Catholics endorse child molestation, hate all other religions, would re-introduce the crusades and the auto de fe at the slightest opportunity, despise women, wish to persecute homosexuals, greedily divert public moneys for their own religious purposes, subvert public health care, brainwash children, and are masterminding the spread of the cane toad across north Australia

Um…Here's the thing. I do not hear atheists (even Australian ones) claiming in the media that Catholics do all of those things in the above paragraph. We say things like this: "This particular Catholic demonstrably hates other religions. Here are some specific examples…" which gets strawmanned into… well… this. If atheists do say this, then I do not agree with them. Even if they do make these blanket strawman statements, Crave is the pot calling the kettle black. Of course, when he wants to point out examples of "atheist bigotry", he provides no references to the claims being made.

Apparently, Crave thinks we are supposed to ignore or politely dismiss Christians. But he is not ignoring or politely dismissing us.

The end of his piece reads: "There is nothing funny, witty of clever about hate."

You're right. Sir Crave – you are a bigoted, hateful individual, as evidenced by your writing. Please. Imagine that someone were writing a piece as scathing as yours in a national newspaper about Catholicism. If the "media" has something negative to say about Catholicism, it is usually to point out some FACT. It is a fact that there is an issue in the Catholic Church concerning child sexual abuse by priests. It is a fact that some Catholics are hateful to other religions. It is a fact that some Catholics condone treating women as inferior to men. It is a fact that the Catholic Church persecutes homosexuals. It is a fact that the Catholic Church uses public money for religious purposes. It is a fact that the Catholic Church has spoken out against public health care. It is a fact that the Catholic Church raises children to believe in the tenants of Catholicism, sometimes using psychologically subversive techniques. Can you imagine a group of schoolchildren being forced to recite passages from The God Delusion on a weekly basis and being smacked if they say "god bless you" when someone sneezes? I don't know what that reference to the cane toad is, unless Crave means that atheists are being bigoted when they compare Catholics to a plague. Yes, it is bigoted when you compare a group of people to the plague. Crave needs to take a good long look in the mirror.

I'd really recommend reading Craves whole article – it's the most ironic mishmash of hypocrisy I have read in a long time. I only included a few select quotes.