Dissection of baloney journalism
Let’s see just how many things a single AFP article on “women priests” can get wrong. I quote the original article in black, with my remarks in red.
MONTREAL — Despite a Vatican (I think AFP means “Holy See”, plus it’s really a divine law at issue) ban and threats (they aren’t threats, they are warnings) to excommunicate her, a sixth Canadian woman was ordained (no) as a Roman Catholic priest Saturday, an official with a group supporting women in the priesthood said (no: Look, if AFP wants to say “another woman claimed to be ordained”, fine, but don’t report as a fact what is a total sham pretense. These folks are no more being "ordained" than I can be "commissioned" in the US Army by some buddies at the mall, and if the press insisted on describing me and other pretenders as "commissioned officers" --albeit without Army approval--, we'd dismiss it as the shabby, agenda journalism it is.)
The group Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordained (not) Linda Spear, a retired teacher from Quebec, in an Anglican church in Sutton, Quebec, eastern Canada.
According to Bridget Mary Meehan, who was ordained (not) as a bishop in 2006 in the United States, Roman Catholic Womenpriests was founded shortly after 2000 and has grown swiftly.
The first seven women priests (not) were ordained on a boat in the Danube in 2002 and since then another 80 women have become priests (not) in the United States as well as about 20 others around the world, Meehan told AFP by phone.
Spear is the first Quebecer but the sixth Canadian woman to become a Catholic priest (not) this way. She was symbolically (huh? just symbolically now? what’s that mean?) ordained (not) by US bishop (not) Andrea Johnson. Spear can celebrate the sacraments such as marriage (well, ok, I guess, if Spear is free to marry, and if she marries a baptized person, that would be a sacrament) but they will not be recognized by the Vatican (the Vatican recognizes marriages now? what is AFP even talking about?) which limits the priesthood to men (diaconate too, let's not forget, and it’s not a 'Vatican' rule we’re talking about, it's God’s).
"We are not leaving the church (that’s true: excommunication does not result in expulsion from the Church), we are leading it into living Jesus's example of Gospel equality (huh?). Jesus called men and women to be disciples," Meehan said (that’s true, too, Jesus did call men and women to be disciples: but he didn’t call women to holy orders).
"We are disobeying an unjust (not) church (not a 'Church' law, or at least, not just a Church law) law that prohibits (it does more than “prohibit” it: the Church declares such simulations of sacrament invalid, and those who commit them excommunicated) women's ordination and is rooted in discrimination," (well, strictly speaking, God does discriminate, but not in the way that the word is being used here: He “discriminated” when he took Mary straight to Heaven but not the Apostle John, but I rather think that God’s call not make, not ours) she explained. Spear could be excommunicated (I assume, will be); Meehan already has been (well, AFP got that one right, anyway). END OF AFP ARTICLE
Whew. That’s more than a dozen plain errors, not counting another half-dozen misleading assertions, packed into one article, all skewered toward reporting as “fact” the pretensions of a little group of female pseudo-priests.
Why do people bother reading such blatant agenda-driven news-reporting?
MONTREAL — Despite a Vatican (I think AFP means “Holy See”, plus it’s really a divine law at issue) ban and threats (they aren’t threats, they are warnings) to excommunicate her, a sixth Canadian woman was ordained (no) as a Roman Catholic priest Saturday, an official with a group supporting women in the priesthood said (no: Look, if AFP wants to say “another woman claimed to be ordained”, fine, but don’t report as a fact what is a total sham pretense. These folks are no more being "ordained" than I can be "commissioned" in the US Army by some buddies at the mall, and if the press insisted on describing me and other pretenders as "commissioned officers" --albeit without Army approval--, we'd dismiss it as the shabby, agenda journalism it is.)
The group Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordained (not) Linda Spear, a retired teacher from Quebec, in an Anglican church in Sutton, Quebec, eastern Canada.
According to Bridget Mary Meehan, who was ordained (not) as a bishop in 2006 in the United States, Roman Catholic Womenpriests was founded shortly after 2000 and has grown swiftly.
The first seven women priests (not) were ordained on a boat in the Danube in 2002 and since then another 80 women have become priests (not) in the United States as well as about 20 others around the world, Meehan told AFP by phone.
Spear is the first Quebecer but the sixth Canadian woman to become a Catholic priest (not) this way. She was symbolically (huh? just symbolically now? what’s that mean?) ordained (not) by US bishop (not) Andrea Johnson. Spear can celebrate the sacraments such as marriage (well, ok, I guess, if Spear is free to marry, and if she marries a baptized person, that would be a sacrament) but they will not be recognized by the Vatican (the Vatican recognizes marriages now? what is AFP even talking about?) which limits the priesthood to men (diaconate too, let's not forget, and it’s not a 'Vatican' rule we’re talking about, it's God’s).
"We are not leaving the church (that’s true: excommunication does not result in expulsion from the Church), we are leading it into living Jesus's example of Gospel equality (huh?). Jesus called men and women to be disciples," Meehan said (that’s true, too, Jesus did call men and women to be disciples: but he didn’t call women to holy orders).
"We are disobeying an unjust (not) church (not a 'Church' law, or at least, not just a Church law) law that prohibits (it does more than “prohibit” it: the Church declares such simulations of sacrament invalid, and those who commit them excommunicated) women's ordination and is rooted in discrimination," (well, strictly speaking, God does discriminate, but not in the way that the word is being used here: He “discriminated” when he took Mary straight to Heaven but not the Apostle John, but I rather think that God’s call not make, not ours) she explained. Spear could be excommunicated (I assume, will be); Meehan already has been (well, AFP got that one right, anyway). END OF AFP ARTICLE
Whew. That’s more than a dozen plain errors, not counting another half-dozen misleading assertions, packed into one article, all skewered toward reporting as “fact” the pretensions of a little group of female pseudo-priests.
Why do people bother reading such blatant agenda-driven news-reporting?
posted by Dr. Edward Peters at
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