... then watch this eight-minute rant about the term "Taliban Catholic" from Michael Voris of RealCatholicTV.com:
I got the video from Richard over at Linen on the Hedgerow, who in turn got it from Christine at A Catholic View. Also, I met Mary O'Regan at The Path Less Taken through Richard's blog; I sometimes suspect that one day all Catholic bloggers will be linked within six degrees of Fr. John Zuhlsdorf.
I'm not a big fan of Voris; he's a little too snarky to be truly funny. I don't ordinarily raise a big stink about it, because to do so pays the term more attention than it deserves. Like my mom used to say to me about name-calling bullies: "Don't let them know it upsets you, because that'll make it all the worse." But he is right (not just right-wing): "Taliban Catholic" does an injustice not only to those of us who defend Catholic orthodoxy but also to those people who have been victimized by the real Taliban.
If these people were to call us "fundamentalists", or "extremists", or "right-wingers", the labels would still be inaccurate and inapposite but would at least not call into question our basic goodness. Only two explanations are possible for putting "Taliban" in front of "Catholic": 1) The person has been hiding under a rock for the last ten years or so and believes the Taliban is simply a hard-line Islamic sect; or, 2) The person is fully aware of the Taliban's terrorist activities, and is deliberately accusing us of being not just wrong but actively evil.
What I'd like to do is get this rant broken down into an .mp3 file and rig up the offices of the Fishwrap, Commonweal and America so that their Muzak systems play it 24/7 for a whole month. Then, after that, the offices of Marquette, Georgetown, Seattle U, Gonzaga, Creighton ... MUHUWAHAHA!
Oops ... sorry for the "evil overlord" laugh.
