Sometimes we can’t quite believe what we’re reading. In less than a week, we read that “The Catholic Church is tearing America apart with the abortion issue, so they can take over” (letter to the editor, Southampton Press, May 9); the pope might actually be “an accomplice to Palestinian violence” (Cragg Hines, columnist for the Houston Chronicle, May 9); Hitler was a “Roman Catholic” (Tyler Gray, columnist for the Orlando Sentinel); and Pius XII was “the main inspirer and prosecutor of the policy in Vietnam” (letter to the editor, the Sun-Sentinel, May 14).
Now when we hear conspiracy theories—like the one about Catholics planning to “take over” America—we recommend that the best response is to plead guilty. Not only that, but it’s time we let the bigots in on the big secret: taking over America is only the first step toward the Vatican’s goal of world domination. If that doesn’t push them over the edge, nothing will.
Regarding Hines—he should be fired. No respectable newspaper should bankroll nuts or bigots. Gray is simply ignorant: Hitler may have been baptized a Catholic, but he spent his adult life implementing his pagan beliefs by trying to destroy the Church. As for Pius being blamed for the Vietnam war, it’s not easy to see how he could have masterminded JFK’s commitment of troops unless he did so from the grave: Pius died in 1958.
Just another day at the office reading trash like this.
