Heather MacDonald is an inimitable conservative journalist. Her work on such issues as policing and immigration is sharp, insightful, and often indispensable. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for her views on religion.
At Secular Right she recently wrote about seeing an announcement from a local parish about a visiting statue of Mary, “. . . one of those creepy painted sculptures of Mary with oversized, tear-encrusted eyes and an undersized mouth; a very large crown perched on her head.”
Non-believers are told again and again that they must respect religion. I try, I really do, but I confess that such manifestations of religious faith make following this injunction somewhat of a challenge. It would be one thing if this chromatic doll were putting in an appearance in Mexico City, filled as it is with superstitious peasant believers; it’s another to figure out what the doll is doing on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. I ask in all sincerity: are Secular Right’s fellow highly-educated conservatives ready to prostrate themselves before, and put a toy crown on, a wooden effigy? Or do religious conservative pundits see such outbreaks of folk superstition as the price they must pay in order to preserve the higher mysteries of the faith? But isn’t such a bargain terribly condescending?
I must respect religion. I understand, but I honestly don’t see how to distinguish the worship of a wooden icon from the belief in the healing power of crystals or in the predictive power of entrails. I know I must be missing some essential distinctions here, but for the moment they elude me and I remain at a loss to understand.
While there is much I find offensive in her post, my primary contention is with her initial premise. Contrary to what she might be told again and again, she is under no obligation to respect religion. We may have a duty to tolerate religious belief and a responsibility, albeit conditional, to respect the religious believer. But there is no reason we “must respect religion.”
I respect Mac Donald and believe in showing tolerance for her atheistic beliefs. I do not, however, respect atheism; I find it to an intellectually disreputable belief-system. It would be intellectually dishonest for me to claim to hold it in esteem in an attempt to be politically correct. Better to be open about our religious disagreements than cover them in a patina of faux respect.
If Marian devotion is indeed similar to believing in the healing power of crystals or the predictive power of entrails, then Mac Donald would be warranted in her disrespect. I don’t respect rock-based remedies or intestine-based prophecies either. I do, however, respect devotion to the mother of our Lord, even though I’m not a Catholic and don’t subscribe to that particular doctrine. My disagreement and respect are both based on an honest attempt to understand the basis for that belief.
Despite living in one of the most Catholic cities in America and having access (if not in person, at least by email) to some of the greatest Catholic minds in the country, Mac Donald seems not to know much about what Catholics believe. How could an intellectual—a conservative intellectual at that—still think that Catholics worship a wooden icon? There is nothing wrong, of course, with not being intimately familiar with the doctrines of faiths you don’t subscribe to yourself. I would even say that there is nothing wrong with having a lack of curiousity about such beliefs. But it surprising to see a respectable intellectual pontificating about matters of Catholicism in which she has no understanding.
It is also rather disappointing to see Mac Donald disparge religious beliefs based on a peculiar form of class prejudice. Those backward peasant Catholics in the third-world don’t know any better, she seems to say, but this is Manhattan’s Upper East Side: Here we scoff and sneer at such folk superstition. It’s distressing enough that she intimates that the Catholics in Mexico might not be as bright as those in Manhattan. But where does she think Marian devotion originated? Does Mac Donald think the doctrine was fleshed out by day-laborers in Mexico City rather than by theologians in Rome?
I’m hoping that one of my Catholic friends will provide a gentle reproof and explain to Mac Donald what she has missed. Of course, even with a clearer understanding of this “folk superstition” she may still not repect the belief. She may still consider it is akin to butcher-shop augury or New Age metallurgy. But perhaps she’ll at least recognize that it’s a belief shared by Aquinas, Chesterton, Ratzinger, and others who are, at a minimum, her intellectual equals.
(Via: Chronicles)
August 14th, 2009 | 6:49 pm
While I appreciate the intent of your charitable concession at the end, I’d have to say, Mr. Carter, that we need not even ask whether Ms. MacDonald is in nearly the same league as such intellectual giants. It’s hard to say whether the ignorance or the condescension in her assertions is more offensive – not to mention the implicit racism.
August 14th, 2009 | 9:41 pm
[...] whole-heartily agree with Joe Carter’s comments regarding a post by Heather Mac Donald at Secular Right. Heather MacDonald is an inimitable [...]
August 14th, 2009 | 9:56 pm
Thank you for this interesting article. I hope those parishioners aren’t worshiping a wooden statue of Mary as Ms. McDonald implies. Ms. McDonald is certainly free to disapprove of Catholic customs. She is a very serious lady who writes serious books and articles of great interest. Why does she write? What makes her tick? Why is she here? What, in her mind, is the purpose of all this?
August 15th, 2009 | 12:12 am
Pardon the harshness, but if I might paraphrase… “It’s the incarnation, stupid!” The stuff matters.
The Creator not only allows creation to convey his majesty, but in fact he deigned to enflesh Himself and participate with us in time and space.
(…leaving aside for the moment that it was in and through this very woman that our Lord’s condescension occured. In this sense perhaps no other person more rightly deserves such a statue, since no other person so enabled the redemption of the created order.)
Obviously, when we venerate and show respect for images, artifacts, statues, we honor not the wood, paint, or even the skill of the craftsman, but rather the one to whom the crafted material points. And in so doing we are therefore oriented more rightly toward that to which we are all ultimately called – heaven itself.
August 15th, 2009 | 10:10 am
Actually, in many parts of the country, we are, in fact, expected to “respect religion”, whether we are a member/adherent or not. And it’s not just refraining from jokes about the snake-handlers and tongue-talkers, but even voicing a doubt or variant opinion about religion (or lack thereof) is highly frowned upon. It is precisely because of this presumed position of privilege that religion is granted that more and more atheists are speaking up, in order to eliminate that sense of privilege many religious people assume is theirs. Religion, in my opinion, deserves no more respect, than any other topic about which people freely discuss and debate. “Love the religious, hate the religion.”
August 15th, 2009 | 11:32 pm
That collection of molecules in Manhattan called “Heather MacDonald” said what? Don’t pay her any mind. Her comments are the mere consequence of non-rational physical causes, sort of like the smoke emanating from a burning wooden statue.
August 16th, 2009 | 5:39 am
Now that my initial scorn for Ms. MacDonald has worn off, I pity her. She lives in a very small world. While Francis Beckwith’s answer is apt, I would like to hear from some former athiest bloggers (The Curt Jester, The Raving Theist) as to what degree they think her will and/or non-culpable ignorance are involved.
A question for Joe: Was this information not available through some other channel than the well of anti-Semitic poison that is Chronicles?
August 17th, 2009 | 7:35 am
I enjoyed your criticism of Ms. MacDonald, but I can understand her dislike of some Marian statues, however I do not share that dislike. My Mother was an artist and when we converted to the Episcopal Church in 1964 (from Baptist) she purchased some very beautiful icons that contained Mary and Jesus. She also has a copy of The Pieta, and a garden statue of St. Frances. There was some beautiful artwork in the Episcopal Church we belonged to. One of Mother Mary and Jesus, was particularly beautiful, so while I still love what the local Catholics display to remind people of Mary, I prefer the beautiful icons that my Mother picked out, and the artwork that was dedicated to our Church. I especially love the painting of Daniel in the den of Lions which has been there since the 1960′s. Even though we were Episcopalian, I have a large crucifix in my bedroom with Jesus on it, which many older Episcopalian women think is not right! It is from Oberaumogau, Germany. I think it is a wonderful symbol to remind me of the Passion of Christ, and how he suffered for us. Sometimes I think I am a snob when it comes to art, but the thing I love about the Catholic Church is that they are the “salt of the earth” and are in the perfect Christian religion.
August 17th, 2009 | 11:48 am
[...] post on Mary’s visit to New York has drawn rebuke (here and here), and for good reason: its tone was clearly self-indulgent and insensitive. I apologize [...]
August 18th, 2009 | 2:05 am
I’m sorry, but can you really not see the problem with your line of argumentation, which is basically: “Of course I don’t believe in magic crystals or entrail-reading! Those magical beliefs are false! The difference is, my magical beliefs are true, so it’s a totally ridiculous comparison.”
Also bonus points to the commenters who adopted the left-wing tactic of immediately accusing your opponents of racism. As if it’s not obvious to anyone that, on average, Mexican “peasants” are not going to be on the same intellectual level as educated residents of the UES, for reasons that have nothing to do with any sort of innate differences.
August 18th, 2009 | 4:02 pm
[...] response to my critique of her post on Marian devotion, Heather Mac Donald says that her “tone was clearly [...]
August 19th, 2009 | 3:06 pm
[...] Joe Carter at First Things: I respect Mac Donald and believe in showing tolerance for her atheistic beliefs. I do not, however, respect atheism; I find it to an intellectually disreputable belief-system. It would be intellectually dishonest for me to claim to hold it in esteem in an attempt to be politically correct. Better to be open about our religious disagreements than cover them in a patina of faux respect. [...]
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact