Ed - I basically agree with you regarding Fr. Altman, but I think you're missing something. There IS a time for righteous anger and a time for putting up a fight. There IS a time to allow yourself to be martyred for the saying the hard things that need to be said. The examples from scripture and history will be no doubt well rehearsed on this thread, as they are on every thread of this sort.
So that's the rub. I don't think Fr. Altman is doing a good job of actually carrying out the fight. He's not the one we're looking for so to speak. But how do you address this? Honestly I don't have much of an answer myself either, but simply telling people that isn't very compelling to most people.
Is there, really, a time in the Gospels for putting up a fight as such? All I can remember at the moment is 1. the time Jesus told James and John that they did not get to call down an airstrike, 2. the time Peter, untrained in battle but trying to save his best friend's life, cut off a guy's ear and Jesus told him to stop that right now, 3. the very start of Acts where the apostles are like, so, Jesus, *now* are you going to kick out the Roman occupation like the Messiah is expected to? and Jesus exits, stage up. The primary fight in which we are engaged is the interior struggle to become a saint (or, practically, to allow God an absolutely free hand in making one into the saint that one would currently prefer not to be). We would prefer (or we think that we would prefer) to be martyred gloriously for saying a hard thing or for flipping tables in the temple, rather than to die to self slowly in the shabby and humiliating and unseen duties of our station in life, but if we consult the lives of martyrs we generally find that they did it the second way first, as practice.
I think this is beyond unhelpful. There are tons of cases in scripture of speaking harshly. Why would you choose to highlight the times where that wasn't the case? If you're going to force me to spell them out I'll highlight three:
1) Jesus in Matt 23.
2) John the Baptist calling the Pharisees a brood of vipers among other things
3) In one of the more hilarious passages in scripture, Jeremiah using an elaborate metaphor to compare Israel to a worn out loin cloth.
As Fr. Altman defenders will be quick to point, all three of them were despised for saying the things they did, and none of these things are less harsh than what Fr. Altman says.
People accuse the Fr. Altman's of the world of talking right past the people they're supposedly trying to convince to the people who already agree with them. I think you're doing the same here.
My apologies - I thought you were talking about literally fighting, but it is now clear to me that you were talking about speaking harshly while telling someone the truth about themselves. I don't know how to speak harshly while telling you the truth about yourself; I only know how to talk to people gently (and how to literally fight, which as I observed there is generally no call for), so, I reckon I have no horse in this race and I will see myself out.
Sir, I have to take exception to something you wrote about Fr. Altman. First, I have not donated to his cause. Second, I have only listened to two of his homilies. The first was the fiery and viral assault on pro abortion politicians. It seems to me you mischaracterize him as a populist. It seems to me he is popular because he is sayin what many in the pews have been wanting our prelates to say. That it is incoherent that a politician leverage their catholic identity while espousing beliefs directly in opposition to the magisterium. Pres. Biden, Speaker Pelosi, Sen. Kaine, Gov Cuomo, HHS Secretary Beccerra, former HHS Sec. Sibelius, all support abortion. Fr. Altman (in the first homily I heard) pointed out the inconsistency and dare I say scandal this presents.
Your assumption that Fr. Altman speaks as he does because he wants to be "famous" is only one, and not a particularly convincing, explanation for his homilies. Do you think that St. John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, St. Paul and so many others spoke out against a variety of respectable authorities because they wanted to be famous? Given that other people have paid for you to have the privilege of doing what you love (and those people probably don't get to do what they love to earn the money to pay you), maybe you could take a few minutes when you're doing what you love and actually love the people you're writing about.
Perhaps Mr.Condon will balk at the suggestion, but I would read a lot more of Ed’s “notes from nowhere”. His undisclosed location puts hope for humanity back into my heart. Canon lawyer, journalist, travel writer/essayist?
Love the newsletter. However, Mr. Condon I must reluctantly inform you that your application to join the Vatican's informal and very secret espionage service is unlikely to be advanced by this example of your tradecraft. Thinking that you might have been out by my family's old patch of PA by a couple of references, my untrained mind rapidly fixed on the mention of the local newspaper, which was perhaps more informative than you intended.
Have passed on photo of sunset and reports of good fishing and spring water. The developers will be there by the Fourth of July I fear.
I very much enjoyed the Cordileone Tapes episode, and greatly appreciate the breadth of your interview. However, I have one serious gripe: in the list of greatest SF detectives, how could you fail to include the most lovable/memorable of them all, Adrian Monk himself??
I think your gut reaction to Fr Altman will match closely your reaction to "mean tweets". If the mean tweets caused you physical revulsion, I wager you're experiencing something similar in this case. If you take the mean tweets as a bit of performance art towards a just end, then the mild exaggerations and perhaps unkind tone won't dismay you and in fact may endear you.
I agree that it is not unreasonable to lump the former President with Fr. Altman in tone and attitude. This is perhaps not a comparison our priests should willingly invite.
Is there a comprehensive list of the Bishops that support Archbishop Gomez?
Ed - I basically agree with you regarding Fr. Altman, but I think you're missing something. There IS a time for righteous anger and a time for putting up a fight. There IS a time to allow yourself to be martyred for the saying the hard things that need to be said. The examples from scripture and history will be no doubt well rehearsed on this thread, as they are on every thread of this sort.
So that's the rub. I don't think Fr. Altman is doing a good job of actually carrying out the fight. He's not the one we're looking for so to speak. But how do you address this? Honestly I don't have much of an answer myself either, but simply telling people that isn't very compelling to most people.
Is there, really, a time in the Gospels for putting up a fight as such? All I can remember at the moment is 1. the time Jesus told James and John that they did not get to call down an airstrike, 2. the time Peter, untrained in battle but trying to save his best friend's life, cut off a guy's ear and Jesus told him to stop that right now, 3. the very start of Acts where the apostles are like, so, Jesus, *now* are you going to kick out the Roman occupation like the Messiah is expected to? and Jesus exits, stage up. The primary fight in which we are engaged is the interior struggle to become a saint (or, practically, to allow God an absolutely free hand in making one into the saint that one would currently prefer not to be). We would prefer (or we think that we would prefer) to be martyred gloriously for saying a hard thing or for flipping tables in the temple, rather than to die to self slowly in the shabby and humiliating and unseen duties of our station in life, but if we consult the lives of martyrs we generally find that they did it the second way first, as practice.
I think this is beyond unhelpful. There are tons of cases in scripture of speaking harshly. Why would you choose to highlight the times where that wasn't the case? If you're going to force me to spell them out I'll highlight three:
1) Jesus in Matt 23.
2) John the Baptist calling the Pharisees a brood of vipers among other things
3) In one of the more hilarious passages in scripture, Jeremiah using an elaborate metaphor to compare Israel to a worn out loin cloth.
As Fr. Altman defenders will be quick to point, all three of them were despised for saying the things they did, and none of these things are less harsh than what Fr. Altman says.
People accuse the Fr. Altman's of the world of talking right past the people they're supposedly trying to convince to the people who already agree with them. I think you're doing the same here.
My apologies - I thought you were talking about literally fighting, but it is now clear to me that you were talking about speaking harshly while telling someone the truth about themselves. I don't know how to speak harshly while telling you the truth about yourself; I only know how to talk to people gently (and how to literally fight, which as I observed there is generally no call for), so, I reckon I have no horse in this race and I will see myself out.
Sir, I have to take exception to something you wrote about Fr. Altman. First, I have not donated to his cause. Second, I have only listened to two of his homilies. The first was the fiery and viral assault on pro abortion politicians. It seems to me you mischaracterize him as a populist. It seems to me he is popular because he is sayin what many in the pews have been wanting our prelates to say. That it is incoherent that a politician leverage their catholic identity while espousing beliefs directly in opposition to the magisterium. Pres. Biden, Speaker Pelosi, Sen. Kaine, Gov Cuomo, HHS Secretary Beccerra, former HHS Sec. Sibelius, all support abortion. Fr. Altman (in the first homily I heard) pointed out the inconsistency and dare I say scandal this presents.
Your assumption that Fr. Altman speaks as he does because he wants to be "famous" is only one, and not a particularly convincing, explanation for his homilies. Do you think that St. John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, St. Paul and so many others spoke out against a variety of respectable authorities because they wanted to be famous? Given that other people have paid for you to have the privilege of doing what you love (and those people probably don't get to do what they love to earn the money to pay you), maybe you could take a few minutes when you're doing what you love and actually love the people you're writing about.
Perhaps Mr.Condon will balk at the suggestion, but I would read a lot more of Ed’s “notes from nowhere”. His undisclosed location puts hope for humanity back into my heart. Canon lawyer, journalist, travel writer/essayist?
Oh by the way, I really loved the podcast interview with Archbishop Cordileone. And I loved the one with Archbishop Chaput. Keep ‘em coming!
Perhaps I am mistaken, but I thought it was Fr. JAMES Altman.
Love the newsletter. However, Mr. Condon I must reluctantly inform you that your application to join the Vatican's informal and very secret espionage service is unlikely to be advanced by this example of your tradecraft. Thinking that you might have been out by my family's old patch of PA by a couple of references, my untrained mind rapidly fixed on the mention of the local newspaper, which was perhaps more informative than you intended.
Have passed on photo of sunset and reports of good fishing and spring water. The developers will be there by the Fourth of July I fear.
I very much enjoyed the Cordileone Tapes episode, and greatly appreciate the breadth of your interview. However, I have one serious gripe: in the list of greatest SF detectives, how could you fail to include the most lovable/memorable of them all, Adrian Monk himself??
In defense of Ed, it's a jungle out there.
Well played, good sir. Well played.
Bravo!
I think your gut reaction to Fr Altman will match closely your reaction to "mean tweets". If the mean tweets caused you physical revulsion, I wager you're experiencing something similar in this case. If you take the mean tweets as a bit of performance art towards a just end, then the mild exaggerations and perhaps unkind tone won't dismay you and in fact may endear you.
I agree that it is not unreasonable to lump the former President with Fr. Altman in tone and attitude. This is perhaps not a comparison our priests should willingly invite.
Ed, your spot seems like a sort of heaven. Thanks for sharing your views of it.
Truly love the description of the place you never want to leave. I have a place like that. A wonder to recall.