It's the dogma, stupid

If something is too true to be true, it probably is:

BOSTON—Father Clancy Donahue of St. Michael Catholic Church told reporters Wednesday that while he believed in blindly adhering to the dogma and ceremonies of his faith, he tried not to get too bogged down by actual spirituality. "I'm not so much into having a relationship with God as I am into mechanically conducting various rituals," Donahue said. "To me, it just feels empty to contemplate a higher power without blindly obeying canon law and protecting the church as an institution." Donahue emphasized that although he did not personally agree with those who pondered the eternal, he had nothing against them.
Source.
Posted by John B. Chilton on May 5, 2010 8:05 PM | |
Comments (5)

Who's pulling whose leg?

Posted by The Rev. Richard E. Helmer [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 5, 2010 8:57 PM

It's from The Onion. Supposed to be satire, but The Onion often hits too close to truth to be funny.

Posted by Murdoch Matthew [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 5, 2010 9:50 PM

Um, it's from The Onion. 'Nuff said. (Not one of their better pieces, IMO)

JC Fisher

Posted by tgflux [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 5, 2010 10:16 PM

What's funny is that "Clancy Donahue" (would that be Bill Donahue's nephew?) kind of reminds me of the local pastor. He's genial, everybody likes him, no one expects much, he doesn't push the God talk; when he shows up at the ecumenical Holy Week prayer lunches and it's his day to speak, he quizzes the Protestants about Catholic trivia, to the confusion of practically everyone, including his parishioners.

But he's in church when he's supposed to be, and so are they, he gets through Mass in good order and the whole thing's done in 30 minutes. Thus they've all satisfied their obligation and everybody's free to go.

Meanwhile he lives an hour away with his male lover; they all know it, he knows they know it, but he doesn't hassle them, so why should they hassle him? Everything's copacetic. And according to the teaching, when they die they'll all live happily ever after; so what's your problem exactly?

Posted by Josh Thomas [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 6, 2010 2:22 AM

Last night a friend was commenting on how some institutional churches are railing against people who claim to be "spiritual but not religious". He remarked that for hundreds of years no one seemed to mind that people were "religious but not spiritual". In light of this posting my friend makes a good point.

Posted by Peter Pearson [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 6, 2010 9:53 AM

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