Quick Update on the Catholic Forums

   Thankfully, a few folks, even a few Roman Catholic folks, have spoken up and stated the obvious. Miki doesn’t see how she has given herself and her compatriots a glowing black eye by her behavior, but others do. I have been saying for months that Rome’s apologists seem to think a singular “reply” to a point is all that is needed. They seem to wish to borrow their own mis-understanding of “Rome has spoken, the case is closed,” so as to apply it to themselves. “You’ve been refuted!” “Oh, have you read…?” “No, and I don’t need to!” That’s the prevalent behavior of those on these forums.
   Ironically, I then get e-mails from folks complaining that “You always have to be right!” Does anyone else see the irony in a Roman Catholic, a follower of the allegedly infallible Papacy, making such a complaint? What would these folks have me to do? Person X, who has never taken the time to do original research or reading, accepts secondary and tertiary sources that say I have misrepresented Rome, lied about this, been refuted about that. I point out that I have, in fact, exercised great care to honor the truth in how I seek to represent others, that I have not lied about these issues, and that I have provided refutations of many who have sought to refute key points in our apologetic defense of our faith. Somehow, I am wrong to do this? I should allow false accusations to stand and this will somehow prove I’m a loving person?
   One of the things that came out in Miki’s comments on the program yesterday and that is representational of many others in the Catholic apologetics community is this: she mentioned purgatory as an example of where I have misrepresented Rome. Yet, when I pressed, what she really meant was that I say Rome is wrong about purgatory. The fact that in her thinking to disagree with Rome must mean that I am lying and dishonest needs to be understood. This explains the twisting of language itself and why she, and many others, do not even bother to show non-Catholics enough respect to read their primary works or check their facts. This also explains their willingness to use every form of ad-hominem argument, spread rumors without doing fact-checking, etc. It’s ugly, but it is the way of Rome.