Opaque Lucidity

Acceptable Bigotry

I am not a good Catholic. I don't go to Mass often anymore for reasons I will not delve into here. But I was raised Catholic, received all my Sacraments on time (except for Holy Orders and Last Rites...I'll never receive the first and I'd like to wait a while for the second), went through 12 years of Catholic school and married a lifelong Catholic whose parents both work for local parishes. So while I may not be a saint, I can say with all honesty that Catholicism is as much a part of me as my American citizenship or the fact that I am married. It is lodged in my soul.

So it is with some pain that I hear people spew anti-Catholic sentiment. With the recent molestation embarrasment still going on, us Catholics have gotten used to hearing our Church villified in the press and among idiot strangers who should've been left on an iceberg as children. But what I will never, ever get used to is hearing such bigotry from people I know who know that I am Catholic. I mention this because something happened yesterday which left me feeling as if I had been punched.

There is a member of our little radio show team who is, on some level at least, a personal friend of our beloved little host. He reviews movies in his spare time; the rest of his time is spent showing up late for meetings, lunches, etc. I believe he does this on purpose for effect---the impression it leaves me with is one of sloth and laziness. I have known for a long time that he possesses a certain anti-Catholic bias, but I generally ignore his rantings for two reasons: one, I don't want to lower myself to his level and two, in making my point I would have to lay him open as a theological dumbass. I may not be a genius, but I know Canon Law, Catholic Apologetics and the Bible. Bring it on.

So yesterday, during a break in the show, the subject of "The Passion" came up. My jaunty little buddy said that he gave it "three stars" (whatever) and that he would've rated it higher except that it contained biblical inaccuracies which came from "something some Catholic nuns wrote in the 19th century." He then turned to me and said, "Matt, you're Catholic, aren't you?" I responded, "Yes, I am." He then stopped in mid-sentence, as if he had more to add.

I was a little shocked by this. It's the equivalent of turning to a room full of people and saying, "Is anyone in here black? No? Good. So three black guys walk into a bar...". Before you think it, understand this: I know that he didn't say anything offensive. However, the only thing that stopped him was my presence AND the knowledge that I would tear into him if he did say anything. In other words, bigoted comments about Catholics are OK to him as long as no Catholics are there. OK.

So here's how this will play out, and you may think this is vindictive and small. Next week, when he shows up at the radio show (late), I will find a way to bring up the film again. My hope is that he will forget my Catholicism for a moment and let something slip. I will then ask him, in front of everyone, if he would say something so bigoted if I were Jewish. Or Muslim. The answer? Of course he wouldn't; it's not politically-correct to pick on these two protected faiths. It is, however, hunting season on Catholics.

Posted by Matthew at March 8, 2004 03:16 PM