New in PJ Media:
In the Left’s fantasy America, right-wing Trump-supporting Christians, armed to the teeth, are just waiting for their next chance (the first one, in this insane scenario, was on Jan. 6, 2021, kids) to descend upon Washington, overthrow the duly elected and highly respected representatives of “our democracy,” and institute a white supremacist Christian theocracy in which strong, independent women are reduced to baby-making handmaids, LGBTQWERTY types are subjected to psychologically destructive conversion therapy (or just jailed or worse), and “people of color” are forced to hide in the shadows from rogue cops thirsting for their blood. Among those “people of color” are, of course, Muslims (the Left apparently believes that no Muslims are or can be white), whose noble, peaceful religion is constantly sullied by these vicious “Islamophobes.” Given those core beliefs, The Atlantic’s Sunday piece comparing the rosary, a central item in Catholic devotional practice, to assault weapons. To the Left, there’s no difference.
The Atlantic’s Daniel Panneton starts off with a howler, and he’s just getting warmed up: “Just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general,” he says, linking to a similarly febrile piece about Americans who have the temerity to value the Second Amendment, “the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or ‘rad trad’) Catholics.” Panneton claims that “on this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal.”
If you haven’t seen Catholics walking around with a rosary in one hand and a rifle in another, you just haven’t been looking in the right places: “Their social-media pages are saturated with images of rosaries draped over firearms, warriors in prayer, Deus Vult (‘God wills it’) crusader memes, and exhortations for men to rise up and become Church Militants. Influencers on platforms such as Instagram share posts referencing ‘everyday carry’ and ‘gat check’ (gat is slang for ‘firearm’) that include soldiers’ ‘battle beads,’ handguns, and assault rifles. One artist posts illustrations of his favorite Catholic saints, clergy, and influencers toting AR-15-style rifles labeled sanctum rosarium alongside violently homophobic screeds that are celebrated by social-media accounts with thousands of followers.”
There is a glaring absence in Panneton’s story: he doesn’t seem even to have attempted to interview any of these violent, radical, rosary-praying Catholics. It’s obvious why he didn’t do so: their own explanation of what they meant by all this imagery would have differed so widely from the spin that he put on it that it would have immediately brought down the house of cards he was constructing.
There is more. Read the rest here.
gravenimage says
The Atlantic Likens the Catholic Rosary to an AR-15 Rifle
……………………………………….
Yes, I saw this–just absurd. The very definition of grasping at straws.
Keith O says
As much as I detest the Roman Catholic Church, even I can see, on one of my bad days, that this is absolute horse shit!!!
The minds of the leftists must be an “interesting” and scary place.
mortimer says
The ruggedly made, so-called ‘combat rosary’ is merely a gift for soldiers to help them pray while on service in the field. Nothing wrong with that. Asking God to help us is what everyone should do daily.
Prayer in dire straights helps us to remain calm by reminding ourselves that we are not alone.
Why make a big deal about this? This is blatantly mocking Roman Catholics.
mortimer says
I should add that why almost every group I have seen tries to enlist God on their team, NO ONE DOES SO MORE THAN THE LEFTISTS who make up stories of ‘what Jesus would support’ … i.e. Jesus would support EVERY SINGLE leftist cause and program … at least according to the Leftists I have read.
Forgive me if I chuckle at their hypocrisy.
President Truman supposedly said, ‘There are no atheists in foxholes.’ It seems there are many atheists among the Left.
mortimer says
correction: WHILE almost every group I have seen tries to enlist God on their team, NO ONE DOES SO MORE THAN THE LEFTISTS
Gregory D. says
The piece was written by one of God’s chosen, which has come as a surprise to no one.
CogitoErgoSum says
I would always dread saying the Rosary myself. I found it too repetitious and it seemed like most of the time I just rushed through it to get it over with. So I never used the Rosary very much. Just recently I found that for me it was best to say the rosary alone in private and if I thought about the people in my life, either past or present, and dedicated each Hail Mary to a different one of those people it was more satisfying. That’s 50 people in all but I always had lots of people left over at the end. Never once have I ever asked for anyone to be dead. I don’t know what other Catholics think about when saying the Rosary but I’m pretty sure they are NOT wanting people to be killed. Those who think the Rosary is for hurting people and for wishing evil upon others are completely wrong. It is for strengthening a person’s own spirit and a way of asking for help – help for us all. It is more of a shield than a sword but, okay, I can understand how it could be called a weapon but it’s not one meant to kill anybody.
I know many people think the whole thing is a waste of time but for some reason I thought I had to communicate my thoughts about it. I also would like to say you should always be free to think whatever you want to think.
GreekEmpress says
+1
A lot of Eastern Rite parishioners use prayer beads. At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, our priest told us it wouldn’t hurt to say a rosary. So several of us started saying it. A lot of Roman rite people attend our church and have been saying it their whole lives. I agree with your comments, CES, and hope you stay safe and well.
CogitoErgoSum says
Thank you. I hope the same for you.