Wednesday, August 3, 2011

I Love Real Catholic TV!

I don't mention it too often, but when a commentor takes up way too much of my time leaving a long, rambling, semi-incoherent rant against Voris in my comment box, it just makes me want to say it over and over again.

I learned more about Church teachings from Real Catholic TV and their wonderful lineup of informational shows than I learned in RCIA. I love the One True Faith. I've learned so much from their apologetics course. And I love their Catholic Investigative Agency shows! I watch the Vortex every time I get a chance!

I don't have cable or satellite TV, but the fee we pay each much for the premium channel of Real Catholic TV is well worth it.

You don't have to like Voris, or Real Catholic TV, but I won't publish lies about what he teaches (and, having watched hundreds of hours I know what he teaches... In a nutshell: be loyal to Church teaching!) on this blog. Use your own platform to do that. You won't get away with it here.

And to answer the comment I won't post: I've never seen an episode where Voris seemed "confused." That's the great thing about following what the Church says, you don't get confused very often because your moral compass has a great center. You (rambling commentor) may not understand what the Church teaches on salvation outside the Church but frankly it's not rocket science and I'm sure Voris doesn't have any trouble wrapping his head around it.

And I don't think Voris was the one who looked ridiculous during the recent World Youth Day debacle. I think Real Catholic TV's statement was graceful and classy.

Someone looked a bit ridiculous... the people making a statement about Real Catholic TV being in Madrid outside WYD.

And this was my first thought when I saw the report: Oh no! Should I be worried? I'm Catholic and I write about being Catholic and I've never asked my Bishop for approval! If that has become a crime I think a lot of us are going to be in a lot of trouble.

13 comments:

  1. I don't know...

    I think Voris has the best of intentions, and 95% of the time he's solid, but IMO he's said some... well... not terribly accurate things from time to time.

    For example, in his video re: kneeling for Communion, I have to agree with Jimmy Akin's analysis.

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  2. Hi JoAnna-

    I haven't gotten to watch the videos for the past week, because we don't have high speed internet at my parents, so I can't tell from the video what Akin's is disagreeing with when he sites the GIRM.

    Did Voris actually say that people aren't allowed to receive in hand? From what I'd read (I can't wait to have high speed internet to be able to see it myself!) I thought he just said that it encouraged irreverence. Because obviously I'd disagree if he said it wasn't allowed.

    After seeing the ways the Eucharist is treated currently though, I wouldn't disagree that it can lead it irreverence with some people (I'm thinking of how many times it hit the ground lately...).

    I've heard him say things forcefully, but I honestly can't think of any time he's said anything against Church teaching. I'll have to wait to watch the latest though!

    I'm sure I make mistakes on my blog too! But I hope the USCCB never feels the urge to say I'm not Catholic enough..

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  3. I really like the Vortex and everything RealCatholicTV produces. They do a great job at distilling the faith and helping lay people understand church teaching. He's almost more the style of Hell fire and Damnation which is probably what people don't care for or like nowadays. I haven't heard anything he's said or produced that isn't church teaching. I also think people need to keep in mind that The Vortex is more like an opinion piece in a newspaper. We can't take his word as law, because he's not our diocese bishop, but he at least gives you reference to church teaching and sheds light on the progression of society's downfall and the church's work to counteract it. Just as a frog who is plopped in hot water will jump out, a frog who has the water slowly turned up in temp will happily roast to death. I think the work of Real Catholic TV is like plopping a frog in hot water. We jump around because it's very different from what we are used to even if we need to hear it.

    As for World Youth Day stuff, this is the first I've heard of them singling out a group as one not to pay attention to. They have ignored all the faithful and dissident groups at World Youth Day in the past, why are they suddenly so interested in keeping people from listening to Real Catholic TV? It's baffling.

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  4. Akin said, "Like I said, I don't have a problem with kneeling to receive communion, but I do have a problem with misrepresenting the Church's sacramental discipline, and here in this passage" [Akin played Voris' segment in question right before saying this] "Voris says the only thing that would have to be set aside would be the priest's own ego in order to accomplish this kind of program" [regarding reinstating kneeling for Communion & Communion in the hand].

    Akin continues, "Well, no, actually, that's not the case. One would have to set aside the Church's Vatican-approved sacramental discipline for the United States."

    The entire podcast is worth listening to, if you can manage it.

    Personally, I much prefer receiving while kneeling, and I always receive in the mouth and not on the hand (carrying a toddler makes taking Communion in the hand difficult, anyway!). Our Church was just built two years ago, and it still has a concrete floor (we should have the money for actual tiles for the floor by October!!), so kneeling is very difficult (especially now that I'm pregnant). I wish our church had altar rails but I don't know if there are any plans to install any.

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  5. Wow... posting about Voris, talk about a combox explosion! It is nice to see people being honest about it though. I think that there is a lot of good that comes out of RCTV. I think like anything else they have their faults and mistakes, but who doesnt.

    What upsets me is that there is a group of GOOD CATHOLIC bloggers that are dead set against RCTV and I dont think that is fair, but I guess what doesnt kill us makes us stronger.

    Btw- I am an "unapproved" Catholic blog as well.

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  6. Okay, so I admit that I personally don't have much knowledge about Voris. What I know is what my husband says of him, which is this:

    He is a laudible Catholic for the orthodox authenticity of the Church. However, it seems that he is (almost intentionally) against Pope Benedict's concept of Affirmative Orthodoxy, which is not to be understood as the "watered down" version of Catholicism that so many from Vatican II onward received in their catechesis. But it rather it's focus is not to be on what the Church ISN'T but by proclaiming what the Church IS.

    It often seems that Voris is intentionally trying to set apart Catholicism by systematically "superiorizing" (I love being an English Major, I can make up words), the "Don'ts" within the "rules and regs" of the Church without lending any balance, let alone any focus, onto the positive aspects of what the Church DOES proclaim.

    I would encourage to cite what I mean I'll refer anyone who's interested to the following

    http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2008/01/10/affirmative-orthodoxy/

    It is, at least my understanding, that Voris often fails to take this line of thinking into account. Though I could be wrong, I've never gotten on RealCatholicTV. I do know that my husband and I have become very conservative and pretty orthodox in our Catholicism over the last few years, my husband working for a rather conservative bishop in our diocese. And given that he still has reservations about Voris et. al., it does give me reason to pause.

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  7. Hi Everybody-

    Thanks for typing that part out JoAnna! This whole slow internet thing is going to be driving me crazy until we're up and going again! And thank you for the link Bethany!

    I guess I should qualify my statement and say that I do know that Voris and RealCatholicTV aren't perfect. But they are great tools. And it makes me sad to see so much of what's written about them (elsewhere) in the blogosphere.

    I was kind of baffled by the comment I got earlier. It really was rambling to the point of nonsensical. And so in a way this post is a forceful response to that sort of attitude... the blind hatred that vilifies someone who's doing his best to spread the faith.

    Thanks for all the friendly comments though! I did know I was opening myself up with this post!

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  8. Sorry, I have a tendency to ramble too, as evidenced above. And apologize if my comment seemed less than generous, normally I edit my comments before posting because it takes me a while to figure out what I'm going to say, but I didn't get the chance with this one.

    Actually I give anybody credit for standing up for the Faith, especially in this day an age, so, no, I don't think he's the worst person on the earth. Far from it. Everyone needs to hear the Truth in their own way, and some people DO need a "Fire and Brimstone" type of attitude.

    And please don't take offense by anything I said. Honestly, I don't do a whole lot of Catholic media except for a few random Catholic blogs - yours, Little Catholic Bubble, I lurk occasionally on WDTPRS, and my husbands. I toy with my own, but I'm not very good at being able to express my thoughts on a regular basis, so my posts tend to come four or five in a two week period and then... nothin', for like a month or more.

    As long as doctrine and dogma, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and the 2000 year history of the Church are truthfully explained, well, then, it's all good.

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  9. I thought your comment was great Bethany! I didn't think it was un-generous at all (I'm thinking more Mark Shea's Voris posts when I say that! He was one of my favorite bloggers a ways back, but I got so tired of his posts picking on people that I respected that I haven't read any in a while).

    The earlier comment basically said Voris was confused by Vatican II and that RCTV couldn't figure it out (although they said it in a much longer more confusing format and I will admit that I was confused!). And I kind of got the feeling the person was looking for a place to rant about Voris, because it was on a very old post (I think it was about a year ago that I wrote it!).

    I appreciate all of your comments and I love to hear from you and discuss these things with you! I genuinely do feel like this post has stayed much more civil than it could have (or might in the future depending on who stumbles across it!).

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  10. The funny thing is, Voris' commentary often reminds me of Mark Shea! I like Shea's style myself (again, don't always agree with him, or his tone, 100%) but I think it does have a tendency (as does Voris') to rub people the wrong way.

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  11. I think when you're putting yourself "out there" like Mr. Voris does, you have to really ask yourself if you're helping people turn toward The Church, or if you're encouraging people to walk away from it. With his harsh, unbending, sarcastic style - I'm afraid that non-Catholics or "lapsed" Catholics are mostly turned off or scared away. He might often be "right," but being "right" only gets one so far when the message is presented in an unpalatable, unkind way.

    I also am confused by the term "Real Catholic" TV. Are they trying to insinuate that they have the market on "real" Catholicism cornered? That people who are maybe less harsh or less zealous are not "real" Catholics? If Voris' snarky and rigid commentaries are what we're putting out there as "real" - I'm not sure the converts are going to come flocking. Most people are drawn into The Church by the message of Christ's mercy, love and forgiveness. Not the message of inflexible "rules" and criticism of other faiths.

    So, while I can appreciate Voris' knowledge base and some of what he says, I'm not sure he's a great representative of The Church. I can't imagine Christ himself behaving or speaking the way Voris does.

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  12. Hi Kateri-

    Some people respond well to certain styles of learning. For people like me, Real Catholic TV and it's unabashed proclamation of the truth (the vast majority of the time) without watering it down, is a real blessing. I know a lot of people feel the same way. People that don't can do what I did with Shea's blog and stop going to the site.

    I think a lot of times people try to look to deeply into a name. I'm sure it's happened with my blog. People could really read a lot into the title "A Woman's Place" and I'm sure it's happened in the past...

    I think there's a time for different types of evangelization. I see a lot of very sweet, charitable, "your okay, I'm okay, the Church loves you no matter what" evangelization going on where I am. I don't hear many people actually helping people turn away from their sins, mostly because people aren't being taught that their actions, like contraception, are sinful. They have to know it's a sin to even consider stopping. And I just don't think a lot of people are getting that.

    So I do think that Voris' outspoken style is necessary. It wouldn't be if people across the country were proclaiming that there are truths and that evil is evil. But since that isn't happening, they become necessary.

    And remember when people say: What would Jesus Do? A valid response is, "Become outraged by the sins he was confronted with and start flipping over tables." He knew what the cost would be. And he fought back against it. And while Voris, like all of us humans, has his flaws, he does his best to make sure we all know that we're the ones choosing heaven or hell. I think the world needs a bit more of that and a little less watering down.

    I just don't think it's loving at all to let a person go on sinning and risk Hell because we don't want to hurt their feelings by letting them know that they're doing something that is a grave sin...

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  13. I too enjoy and benefit from the Real Catholic TV. Voris does a good job and I enjoy the Catholic news roundups, they are better done in some ways than EWTN's news and I have always enjoyed that too.

    I think there are lots of people who hate anyone who insists on the full teaching of the Church.

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