Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Patrick McIlheran is a seriously dishonest person.
To wit his latest column, in which he attacks Marquette University theologian Bryan Massingale for urging Scott Walker to back off on his effort to eviscerate public employee workers' rights. To be fiscally responsible and fair.
Three paragraphs in, Patrick whines:
An aside: Any conservative pundit who’s outed himself as Catholic will have run into this tactic before. Routinely, you’re condemned by some on the left* as betraying Catholicism for not being reflexively pro-union. It’s cheap, it’s low and it's good practice for spotting specious arguments.
Huh.
Actually, Patrick's aside is what's low and specious. Archbishop Listecki, and in turn the US Council of Bishops, have come out clearly against Scott Walker's effort to bust public employee unions in Wisconsin. Patrick's refusal to engage with this speaks volumes.
His choice to instead assign pro-union positions to liberal priests when it's squarely in the mainstream is even positively breathtaking in its dishonesty.
You want specious. Try this. "[Massingale] says religious leaders have supported unions in the past -- true, true -- in their genuine struggles against oppression," McIlheran says.
I suppose by the past he means Pope John Paul II, who was explicitly pro-union.
Of course, this intellectual dishonesty is not unusual for Patrick McIlheran, who preaches an agenda that's directly contrary to the church's vision of economic justice. And then there was his whole ignoring the church's opposition to the Iraq War he cheerleaded, happily assailing the "surrender left" all the while.
For Patrick McIlheran, Catholicism seems to be summed up by standing up for homophobia and blastocysts, and insisting the church shouldn't pay up in court despite decades of covering up for pedophile priests.
Hey Patrick, if you're going to attack Notre Dame for letting Obama speak at commencement, expect to be called out for betraying Catholicism when you do. Own your hypocrisy!
Wah wah wah.
See also: Scott Walker tells Archbishop Listecki to fuck off.
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