Irrational & Incoherent or Subtle & Succint?

Perhaps you have already caught Bill Donohue's letter in defense of Rod Dreher (sixth item), in The Dallas Morning News yesterday:

Lucky to have Dreher

Re: "News won't give bishop ounce of credit," by Bronson Havard, yesterday's Viewpoints.

According to Bronson Havard, the "newly arrived" Dallas Morning News columnist Rod Dreher is guilty of "arrogance, stridency and viciousness." Now how could it be that Mr. Dreher changed so fast? When in New York, Catholics who knew him regarded him as serious, sober and reflective.

It is not hard to figure out why Mr. Havard is angered by Mr. Dreher. Mr. Havard was a staunch supporter of the failed ABC show Nothing Sacred. His hero was Father Ray, the pro-abortion hippie-dippie priest who exploited the poor and defied the church. Unfortunately, it was precisely those malcontents in the church (exemplified by Father Ray) who created the sex abuse scandal.

The Dallas Morning News is lucky to have Rod Dreher. It is clear that a new Catholic voice is needed in Dallas.

William A. Donohue, president, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, New York, N.Y.

It ain't really that hard to understand, is it? Donohue is saying that Havard "is angered" by Dreher because Dreher is a supporter of Catholic orthodoxy and Havard is a supporter of Catholic heterodoxy. And that the heterodox are reponsible for the recent scandals in the Church. Well, he's not saying that; he's implying it. Subtly and succinctly.

Perhaps it was a mistake to write a letter to the editor marked by subtlety. I recall a tough English professor of mine who once told me, after handing back an article to me, that it can be a two-edged sword: "subtlety is lost on the masses", he said. Surely, God help us all, it is not lost on Catholic bloggers?

Whether one agrees with Donohue's implications is another question. But I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one who understood, instantly and intuitively, what he meant.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 05/08/03 02:19:11 PM
Categorized as Religious.