Page with a Link to Video of Sean Hannity vs. Priest
I used to like Sean Hannity during the 2004 election. But now he goes after a priest on the issue of birth control and the sex scandal? Look at the video which for the moment is up at the right hand side of the screen (I couldn't link at it directly). It's disturbing. Big props to the priest; I think I'm done watching Hannity. For everyone concerned about the priest, his website is: Human Life International. And this is an article that the priest, Father Thomas J. Euteneuer (what is it with awesome priests and "J" as their middle intial? ) wrote on the subject.
If you'd like to email Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, his email is lhunt@hli.org. If you'd like to email Sean Hannity, you might go to the website for his show, which is right here. That's enough links for now, lol. Enjoy.
UPDATE: This is a more permanent link to the video in question
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Please contact the Catholic League.
Mr. Hannity is fueling anti-Catholism with his blatant public disrespect for Catholic authority and Church teachings all the while claiming to be a good catholic.
Where's the Catholic League? Please contact the Catholic League and ask them to do their job just as they've done in the past when other public figures have fueled ani-Catholic behavior.
Michael, I'm glad you're figuring out that Hannity is an imbecile. Though I'm ashamed to admit it, I too used to like Hannity back in the early 00s when I marched lockstep with the GOP. Hannity should probably find himself a nice Evangelical church with pro-Republican sentiments, not just because he is in fact a Protestant and not a Catholic but because it would be a better fit for his ra-ra G.W. Bush jingoism, his war-mongering, and his bloodlust. Anyone who says, the Church should thank its lucky stars it has *me* for a member....wow. Nevertheless, we should pray for his conversion.
Fr. Euteneuer was amazing in that interview, btw.
Ouch, my opinion of Hannity just fell drastically. "Ouch!" I am glad that a priest finally has been able to stand up for the faith on the media.
You and I have differing opinions on the war which is another discussion, though I imagine I considered the Pope's opinion a little more than did Mr. Hannity. That Mr. Hanniy is probably a little too eager to execute Saddam is something we can both agree upon however. The most disturbing thing about the conversation was exactly as you said, the idea that the Church should be grateful anyone is a member. On the contrary, the members should be grateful that there is a Church in which we can flourish.
I think it would be interesting to go back and see if Hannity had anything to say about Kerry, Pelosi, and other pro-abortion candidates and whether or not their bishops should deny them communion, since he seemed so taken aback by Fr. Euteneuer's admission that he would indeed be willing to deny him communion.
I agree Jason. hopefully, as Anoymous said, the Catholic League will be very quickly doing some work on this.
The following is my letter to Sean Hannity:
Sean Hannity,
You put on quite the performance with your mini-debate with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer. He accused you of “neglecting core truths of faith and being in dissent” and providing a “superficial presentation on one aspect of the faith.” Rather than actually answering his claims you try to redirect attention to the faults of the Church. While the Church has to fight its own Judases that lead the flock astray (the sex scandal for example), this does not mean the Church should indifferently ignore the public officials that profess Catholicism while contradicting its tenets.
You were a seminarian…big deal! So were the priests that committed the sex scandals. How does this give you any more credibility? You seem to have forgotten, or maybe you never learned, the one universal mission of the Church from which all of its other authorities derive.
The universal mission of the Church is the forgiveness of sins. The Son of God became the Son of man so that the sons of men could become the sons of God. Thus, the church implies a Christian family which entails spiritual brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. But here is the catch: to be able to forgive sin the Church must be able to determine what actions are sinful!
The Church has that moral responsibility to speak out on matters of faith and morals. They may objectively speak on the objective morality of certain actions. This authority does not translate into the ability to determine the intentionality of the individual who commits the action. For this reason the Church has adopted the philosophical formula from Thomas Aquinas in order to speak of the overall morality of an action (the object of the action, the intentionality of the person, and the circumstances surrounding the action). The Church has publicly deemed both abortion and contraception as objectively wrong. Although individual priests may disagree with this belief, they still have a responsibility as public representatives of the Church to act and preach in a manner of conformity with Church teaching. They should not use the pulpit as a place for their own personal agenda in the name of the Catholic Church. Likewise, all public officials who publicly claim their Catholic faith have a responsibility “not to be a heretic in public.”
This issue is not about being a good enough Catholic or Christian. The issue transcends your personal politics. The Church is a communal affair. By contradicting the Church under the banner of Catholicism you become a wolf in sheep’s clothing. You are claiming the authority of the Church for yourself. You have a valid point, the representatives of the Church like Fr. Thomas Euteneuer may not know your heart, but he can see your action. Judgment of souls, the intentionality of the person, is for God; however the Church has a responsibility to speak out publicly against the inequities of society and the false teachings of those who claim the identity of Catholic. Are you maintaining that people who are publicly Catholic are not liable for criticism by the Church? The Church has a responsibility to deny communion to those who publicly deny the teachings of the Church. The Eucharist is a gift, not a right. It is a physical sign of the spiritual unity of all Catholics. If you want to publicly dissent from this community, YOU have distanced yourself from the Church. YOU have decided to place yourself outside the community. Thus the denial of communion is a logical consequence for a public figure like yourself by a priest who is familiar with your views based on public knowledge.
If anything, you should not be criticizing Fr. Thomas Euteneur for his criticisms but appreciating his consistency and loyalty to the community of believers. You have made a spectacle of yourself. It seems to me (I could be wrong), that you have posited yourself against the Church on this issue for the publicity thus using the Catholic Church as a means for your own selfish ends. I don’t appreciate this devaluing of myself, the many loyal Christian believers, and the Catholics that you confuse and lead astray. I think you would do yourself an honor by refraining from receiving communion. Many humbly do this when in the state of mortal sin and/or in recognition that their beliefs are not in full communion with the Church. I realize this act of humility goes against the individualistic and self-righteous tendencies of many Americans, but as you have pointed out: there are many self-control issues in society.
You are right about the self-control issues. However, you reduce the problem into the dichotomy of having either contraception or abortion. Would you rather a heroin addict to use clean or dirty needles? Although clean needles would decrease the risk of disease and spreading of HIV, I hardly believe you should go around handing out clean needles. The priority should be on drug prevention. Even in society we can emphasize the importance of self-control and discipline while speaking out against a culture that trivializes and idolizes sex through contraception and abortion. Self-control and discipline are not only religious ideals but important virtues in any society. You say the Church should direct its intentions to its internal problems to the exclusion of society. That would be hypocrisy. Both are important and the Church has a responsibility to speak out against the iniquities wherever they may exist, whether in its own structure or in society. Possibly your seminary training, if it truly helped form your relative perspective, is one of the problems with the tyranny of relativism as it infiltrates the Church and manifests itself in priest sex scandals. Maybe it is even the same relativism that created internal problems in the Church that spurs on the culture of death.
I hopefully anticipate your response.
In Christ,
Ryan Hallford
I like the heroin needles analogy.
I have just discovered your blog. What a great organization. I so wish something similar existed when I was in Grad school at LSU.
Anywho, enjoyed your post on what you are doing in Free Speech Alley as well as your encounter with Planned Parenthood.
As a conservative, repubulican, and a Catholic I tuned out Hannity a couple of years back. Not much critical thinking. His latest rantings and one sided view on the immigration issue has turned me off for good. It is ashame because there are many elements of legit conservative and Catholic thought as to that debate.
Anyway, I am usually defending the Catholic Faith over at the Tigerfroppings.com political board and I shall post links to yalls post there.
Cheers
James H
Homer Louisiana
Bayourant on Tigerdroppings
Post a Comment