Of Plfleger And Donohue

As many readers who follow my ongoing series on the Catholic Right know I have no tolerance for a demagogue such as the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue. He is nothing short of a boorish buffoon who uses the cloak of Catholicism to further a political agenda that often runs contrary to the common good. And in doing so, he uses destructive, false language that constantly debases the public discourse.

But the question I have been wrestling with over the last few days is how do I react to a fellow Catholic who shares many, (though not all) of my political views but who also uses the cloak of Catholicism to say heinous, untrue things? How must I react when I see a religious liberal baselessly accuse a presidential candidate of racism in a not-so-thinly-veiled sexist tone?

For me the answer is simple: I renounce such a messenger.

By now we are all familiar with the recent bizarre remarks of Father Michael Pfleger. Besides the fact that Fox is up to their usual dopey tricks in milking this story, it does not change the fact that what Pfleger said was both dumb and dead wrong. There was little truth in what he said. He baselessly accused the Clinton's of racism without discussing the sexism of some of Obama's supporters in the press. He made the ludicrous demand that whites give up their 401K plans due to some untenanted link to the badges and incidents of slavery. Perhaps the pastor of St. Sabina should bone up on the history of some of his fellow Catholics who came from Southeastern Europe well after the Civil War. The road to places such as Howard Beach has its beginnings in tributary paths from New Orleans in 1891 and the Dedham Courthouse in the 1920s. Thankfully, while Pfleger can’t comprehend this grey area of American history, Senator Obama has demonstrated that he does.

Beyond that, Pleger demonstrated incredibly poor political judgment. Senator Obama was right to immediately distance himself from this loose cannon. It’s a shame he didn’t do it sooner.

As a liberal Catholic, I find Pfleger to be just as objectionable and divisive as Bill Donohue. And speaking of the Bombastic One, Ole Bill is wasting no time whatsoever making political hay over this incident. As Catholics United observed:

“Today Bill Donohue issued a set of frivolous comments on Rev. Michael Pfleger’s recent inappropriate remarks about Hillary Clinton. Instead of focusing on the nature of Pfleger’s remarks, Mr. Donohue chose the unfortunate path of using the incident to question the character of Sen. Barack Obama. Catholics United is concerned that Donohue’s comments appear part of a systematic campaign to influence the outcome of the upcoming presidential election by maligning Sen. Obama to Catholic voters.”

And as the astute, liberal organization noted of Screamin’ Bill antics:

“Catholics United wholeheartedly supports the Catholic League’s noble mission of ‘defending the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination.’ It is difficult, however, to understand how Donohue’s own political activity as Catholic League president is consistent with this mission or the organization’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status.”

However, Catholics United erred by describing the incident as "petty." It is not. In a world of Right-wing noise machines such as Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, statements such as those by Pleger’s Trinity Church diatribe are all-too-easily spun into fallacious campaign talking points.

But beyond the political consequences, Father Pfleger is a disgrace to Enlightened faith. I don't believe Martin Luther King Jr., Sister Joan Chittister or Gary Dorrien would have or would say such divisive things. So I cut him no slack whatsoever. Effective liberalism requires self-discipline, something Pfleger lacks in droves.

Contrary to what some may think, liberalism is not a philosophy that gives license “to let it all hang out.” Instead, it is, as the contemporary liberal thinker Dr. Stephen R. Holmes put it, “...a philosophy of limits as well as philosophy of freedom. It imposes important constraints on individuals, including prohibitions against violent self-help and against self-exemption from laws that should apply to all.” If we thus apply a Golden Rule standard, would Father Pfleger want Senator Obama mocked in the manner he mocked Senator Clinton? I think not.

An effective liberalism -- religious or secular -- is a consistent liberalism. It is one where we treat both our friendly as well as unfriendly opponents in the manner we wish to be treated. More importantly, effective liberals do not give our opponents the very means to marginalize our message. And to that end, effective liberalism demands that we censure the hate speech that sometimes arises within our own ranks from some our lesser astute brethren. Self-criticism, where warranted, is the key to philosophical credibility.

There are those who say that Pfleger has done a lot of good on the South Side of Chicago. That may well be. But with that said, he will undo much of it if his extremely dumb and reckless comments help put John McCain in the White House. And therein lies the rub: He just gave John McCain a way to neutralize his Hagee fiasco. Beyond that, Pfleger gave McCain a wedge issue par excellence with centrist voters.