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Let's face it, the only reason she has her own blog is so she can practice the same authoritarian, bully techniques she claims to have been oppressed by all these years.
Uh, sure. In fact, I too practice the same "authoritarian, bully techniques" on my own blogs because they are MINE. In fact, I'm sure my observations are oppressing you RIGHT NOW. What's your point exactly?
I'm looking at Pandagon right now, and in fact I see lots of "offensive" material on Army hospital conditions, a backwoods response to gay partner benefits in one state, Tim Hardaway's charming comments (where's the outrage for this cretin anyway?), and a beautiful essay on spirituality in childhood.
The fact remains that a lot of you are exhibiting very unchristian behavior. It may not be fair, but someone who isn't a christian technically doesn't have to behave like one; if you claim to be one and still spew some of the sentiments I've seen here, then I call "bullshit" on your personal doctrine.
On a somewhat related note: when I (a post-Vatican generation bad-ass-in-training) was all of 10 years old, I gathered some female friends in our tiny town and convinced our Parish council to allow female altar servers (oh, the scandal!). The girls went through training, and were of course excellent (many other girls followed, as it was a natural extension of participation when a chunk of your life revolved around the church). Later I'd found out that some parents had been so upset that they took their sons out of the program! I couldn't understand why at first, but when I realized they were just crazy, irrational people I grinned; it was my first taste of social change...I'd managed to upset a group of GROWN-UPS with childhood logic.
Yes, logic. See, many little girls don't realize they are "inferior" to boys until adults start telling them so. I had the audacity to think girls could do anything they pleased, because that's what my family told me. On the one hand, your Grandpa is taking you fishing with the boys. Later, you learn the sad reality when you see a photo of the Pope and your father reluctantly breaks the news that some people (like the Pope) don't believe that women should be priests, or even altar servers. You feel betrayed, wondering why someone who looks so much like a loving grandfather would think so little of women, and you.
Catholic bullying is nothing new. When I was about 13, my father (still working for the church, different town) actually received an anonymous death from a parishioner who didn't agree with my father's liberal views. In light of this, the threats received by Ms. Marcotte don't surprise me at all.
Also, everyone knows that parochial school kids were more abusive than their public school counterparts!
Most of us criticizing the Catholic church do have some experience. Perhaps it's worth considering our backgrounds...but then again I wouldn't want to interrupt your regularly scheduled troll fest.
