Recently, the Freedom From Religion Foundation placed a full-page ad in the New York Times. Most atheists are not bigots, but many atheists who are activists most definitely are. Among them are the anti-Catholics who work at the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). A few weeks ago in the New York Times, FFRF took out its vengeance on Catholics by trotting out the old canard that Catholics are not independent thinkers (unless they disagree with the teachings of the Church). The occasion for the outburst was the United States Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case affirming religious liberty. Here is a sample of its invective:
“DOGMA SHOULD NOT TRUMP OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES. ALL-MALE ALL-ROMAN CATHOLIC MAJORITY ON SUPREME COURT PUTS RELIGIOUS WRONGS OVER WOMEN’S RIGHTS.”
All the Jewish judges on the high court voted in the minority, but only an anti-Semite would conclude that their Jewishness determined their vote. Similarly, only an anti-Catholic would conclude that those who voted in the majority did so because of their Catholicity.
From the middle of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, Catholics had to deal with the Ku Klux Klan. Now they must deal with more sophisticated bigots. What unites the Klan and FFRF is their maliciousness. Unfortunately, as we have recently seen, anti-Catholic bigotry has erupted in many quarters, all of them urbane.
All men and women of goodwill should condemn the hate speech of FFRF.
