Thomas Williams Strikes Again.

Remember, Williams defended Maciel on 20/20 back in 2002 and said that all the accusers were lying, since he really knew Maciel....

CBS, Rev. Thomas D. Williams and the Theoconning of America
by Frank Cocozzelli
Fri Oct 09, 2009 at 02:17:47 PM PDT

Recently I discussed the disturbing world view of CBS's go-to rightwing Catholic guy, pundit Rev. Thomas D. Williams, a member of the far right Legion of Christ. This is part of a larger trend that merits further discussion.

Neoconservatives and their theocon allies have had considerable success in getting us to see the world through their eyes; and each other as solely as all good or all bad; enemy or friend. These distortions often contribute to grotesque distortions of fact being presented as given truths.
This Manichean framing has infected the news media, which in turn functioned as a carrier of the disease. Apparently gone are the days of more nuanced newsman such as Edward R, Murrow, John Chancellor or Walter Cronkite, who assumed that we are intelligent enough to think and reason for ourselves; that the world is not black and white (even on TV) but that the news of the world mostly comprises shades of grey, where justice often only approximates the ideal.
The Manicheanism of the media is especially evident on television. MSNBC and Fox News act more like vehicles for affirming their views' current political outlook or, as we have seen with CBS, provide a platform to a Catholic priest whose view of both Catholicism and religious pluralism better reflects the über-reactionary Pope Pius X rather than the reform-minded Vatican II.

As discussed last week, CBS News' analyst Rev. Williams is no ordinary priest or theologian. He is a prominent member of the Legion of Christ, an authoritarian, anti-liberal organization that has a history of cult-like behavior and whose founder, a legacy of promiscuity. Rev. Williams believes that the only truth that should prevail is traditionalist Catholic orthodoxy, and that this worldview should be favored by and reflected in government.

Williams is a perfect example of the way that pundits pass for reporters, telling us what to think and how to act, while democracy is packaged for us as entertainment. The spectacle of media gladiators and bloviators is glorified over the participation of an informed citizenry. While this critique is not new, less well developed is the increasing role of religious right framed presentation of the news, and the risk of discounting the centrality of religigious pluralism as a key to constitutional democracy. One consequence of the creeping theoconism in the media is that we often fall prey to historical revisionism -- the weapon of choice of the Religious Right. Naturally, the narrative that emerges from this history of convenience attacks the very tenets of liberalism, such as religious pluralism as being sinister and evil. Faith and reason are not synonymous, but antithetical entities. Indeed, this is exactly how Rev. Williams approaches it.

For example, in an article he published in Richard Neuhaus's theocon journal, Crisis entitled "The Myth of Religious Tolerance:
Religion is a good to be embraced and defended, not an evil to be put up with. No one speaks of tolerating chocolate pudding or a spring walk in the park. By speaking of religious tolerance we make religion an unfortunate fact to be borne with, like noisy neighbors and crowded buses, not a blessing to be celebrated.

Here it is instructive to recall that modern ideas of religious tolerance sprang from the European Enlightenment project. A central tenet of this project was the notion of "progress", understood as the overcoming of the ignorance of superstition and religion to usher in the age of reason and science.4 In the words of Voltaire, "Philosophy, the sister of religion, has disarmed the hands that superstition had so long stained with blood; and the human mind, awakening from its intoxication, is amazed at the excesses into which fanaticism had led it."

Williams cites Voltaire as if he was the only Enlightenment philosopher to discuss the place of faith in secular society, which was far from the case. But does not stop there: he then goes after the idea of religious freedom itself. He this by first besmirching religious tolerance - the forerunner of contemporary religious freedom, as "exceedingly undesirable and counterproductive":
This definition mirrors that of the American Heritage College Dictionary, which states that tolerance is "(1) a fair and permissive attitude toward those whose race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry. A fair and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own."

If tolerance is a virtue, it is a decidedly modern virtue. It appears in none of the classical treatments of the virtues: not in Plato, not in Seneca, not even in Aristotle's extensive list of the virtues of the good citizen in his Nichomachean Ethics. Indulgence of evil, in the absence of an overriding reason for doing so, has never been considered virtuous. Even today, indiscriminate tolerance would not be countenanced. A public official tolerant of child abuse or tax evasion would not be considered virtuous.

The closer one examines tolerance and strives to apply it across the board, the more its insufficiency as a principle to govern society becomes apparent. Even if it were possible to achieve total tolerance (which it is not), it would be exceedingly undesirable and counterproductive to do so.

This disingenuous picking and choosing plays itself out later in the piece by going after John Locke:
John Locke (1632-1704) himself, in the midst of his impassioned appeal for religious toleration, notes that of course toleration does not extend to Catholics, Muslims or atheists. "To worship one's God in a Catholic rite in a Protestant country," he writes, "amounts to constructive subversion."

In the end, the question for everyone necessarily becomes not "Shall I be tolerant or intolerant?" but rather "What shall I tolerate and what shall I not tolerate?"

Williams continues:
Locke, on the other hand, dismissively notes that "everyone is orthodox to himself." His own ecclesiology that lacked belief in the existence of any one true church led Locke to the conviction that all Christian churches (except the Catholic Church) should be tolerated. "Nor is there any difference," he confidently wrote, "between the national Church and other separated congregations."

Locke further appeals to the "Business of True Religion." A true Christian,Locke asserts, will dedicate himself principally to a life of virtue and piety, which are the chief concerns of religion. He relegates to a lower tier "outward pomp of worship, reformed discipline, orthodox faith."
His own theological prejudices and political concerns led him to arbitrarily place morals above doctrine, since morals at the time garnered greater unanimity and generated fewer disputes. Their roles have been somewhat reversed today.

Williams cleverly acts as if the Founders never evolved from Locke's own prejudices. In fact they moved beyond Locke from a concept of tolerance to one of religious freedom, thereby enlarging Locke's original concept for the better.

But this is what Williams wrote in a theocon journal not for broadcast on CBS. So why then should we care?

The problem is that Williams is not the only one. In fact, this Theocon priest is the next step past neconservative pundits like David Brooks and Michael Gerson who hold that only the most orthodox teachings of conservative Christianity and Judaism even qualify as "religious" are disproportionately represented in our national media and dominate our religious discourse. In their universe those who people of faith who question such orthodoxies are labeled "quasi-religious" or sometimes simply "secular."

In Williams' universe religious freedom is an obstacle to a more theocratic society. Ironically, were his ideal society to come to pass, while allowing non-traditionalist Catholics to practice their respective beliefs (or non-beliefs) it would subject them to the supremacy of the pundit-priest's faith - an ironic outcome indeed as it would place Williams and his ilk in the same position for which he criticized John Locke.

Apparently, CBS News has either bought into this agenda or perhaps worse, has no clue about what their Catholic analyst of choice is all about.

Personally, I think that Cocozzelli gives this flim flam Williams way too much credit. This is just another example of Legion of Christ long but lite formation.

Life After RC Take on EWTN Interview

EWTN interview
I would like to consider a few points about Raymond Arroyo's interview with Legionary priests Fr. Jonathan Morris and Fr. Thomas Williams.
1. They admitted that the allegations of the early victims were probably true;
2. They admitted the surprising emergence of a daughter;
3. They admitted that the founder probably had deep psychological issues;
4. They admitted that they haven't dealt well with departing members because "they grew too fast;"
5. They appealed for prayerful support for direction;
6. They indicated that the future of the Legion depended on a General Chapter;
7. They indicated that there is no inherent need to disavow the founder's writing;
8. They Suggested strongly that they could rebuild if allowed to work.

Most of these are problematic for a variety of reasons:

1. The Legion hasn't officially acknowledged this, so sending them out to say "probably" is a sketchy manoeuvre, perhaps for legal reasons?
2. True, but inside sources say the Legion has known of her existence for years -- why now admit this, unless this was a hail mary pass to morph the Legion into something else.
3. This sounds like a dodge, as though he's almost not responsible. Perhaps it's a way to save the "charism," saying the good MM was holy and only the bad MM did these things when he was asleep.
4. I was really sad that this came up through a question that was not pertinent to the immediate conversation. Absolutely true, but a separate issue. That said, if you cannot live charity with your existing commitments, then one shouldn't extend one's commitments. For example: If a family can barely pay their mortgage, they would elicit little sympathy for buying a boat and making the children suffer by going barefoot.
5. They have abundant prayers already. I was cynical enough to be very suspicious of their emotional appeal, because I sensed they were planted to "play" the audience.
6. This is something that only insiders can address, and the men I know insist that the Legion has never followed the regular forms for General Chapters. There is an elite cadre making essential decisions, and then subsequent layers of superiors that rubber stamp these. This sounded good but there is no precedent to make it credible.
7. Perverse. The daughter's face (or a picture of those young seminarians in their little cassocks) should be imbedded in every page.
8. They are incapable of reforming themselves. This should have been obvious for two reasons:a. they were formed by this man and the "innocent" seem unable to let go.b. there is a vested interest by those who knew this all along to protect themselves.

Finally, I would draw your attention to troubling details about each of these men:
Father Thomas Williams here and here.
Father Jonathan Morris here and here.
Overall concerns about the Legion's approach to publishing here and here.

They are not what they seem. Their hunger for mass media apostolates is clearly a means of controlling the message.

Source.

The World Over (LC style)

Yesterday's EWTN program The World Over featured Fr. Thomas Williams and Fr. Jonathan Morris expressing consternation, bewilderment and apologizing to victims. On an ABC 20/20 broadcast a few years ago, Fr. Williams swore up and down that Maciel was totally innocent, since he had lived with him for 10 years. From the interview with Brian Ross:

Father Tom Williams, [ ] said he would serve as Macial's spokesman. He called the allegations "patently false."
"I know Father Maciel very well," Williams told ABCNEWS. "I've lived with him for 10 years." Williams has never asked him about the allegations, but when the Courant ran the story in 1997, Legion spokesman released a statement denying the allegations. Williams said the men making the accusations against Macial can't be believed because they didn't raise the sexual abuse charges in the 1950s when Vatican investigators were looking into other matters relating to Maciel. According to Williams, the Vatican investigated Marciel on counts of mismanagement of funds, drug and substance abuse and drug trafficking. The Vatican pronounced Maciel innocent of those charges and reinstated him as superior general to the Legion.

In addition, Williams noted, a ninth accuser retracted similar allegations, claiming he was pressured to lie by the other eight accusers.

The World Over program, hosted by Raymond Arroyo, will be repeated Sunday at 4 pm, and Monday at 10 am and 11 pm.

A Must Must Must Read

From OSV:
I asked Legion of Christ Father Thomas Williams, an American who has held various leadership positions in Rome for his order, including as dean of theology for its pontifical university, to comment on the future direction of the Legion in the wake of its recent admission of unspecified failings on the part of its founder, Father Marcial Maciel.

Click here for the amazing answers.

His portrait is coming down!

Greater Than You Think, not so great?

An interesting comment on Regina Abominormum [sic] University and the likes of one Fr. Thomas Williams, author extraord-in-the-air. Read it here

The Regina Apostolorum I am somewhat familiar with. It’s a University that teaches bio-ethics courses from I guess you could apologetically call a “pro-life perspective”. Epistemologically, the philosophy of the Regina Apostolorum is influenced by the extremely authoritarian and even cult-like Legion of Christ; a Catholic congregation wherein vows of obedience forbid the criticism of their superiors or their actions and mandates the reporting of members who do.

Is [Thomas Williams']book going to be any different to the not-so-great dross I’ve already read on the subject? Is this book not so great that it needs the attention of small-time bloggers like myself?



Apparently, we need to see a picture of this clerical stud to be enticed to buy not-so-great dross.