Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: Supporting Obama Is Offering Incense to the Emperor

My latest dropping from the Catholic birdcage comes from one Father John N., who writes the following on a thread at National Catholic Reporter discussing whether the U.S. Catholic bishops are "in danger of overplaying their hand" in their "religious freedom" crusade: 

To continue to support Obama as he outlaws Catholicism... I fail to see how we should treat you any differently than the early Church treated those who offered incense to the Emperor...

And here's my response to Father John: there's definitely a lot of hot air and smoke(screens) blowing around these days.  Especially with Catholics in the public square.

But somehow I'm not sure I detect the sweet smell of incense wafting around in these debates.

It seems to me more the odor of a big pile of ordure self-combusing.  Because that's what happens when piles of manure are allowed to pile too high, and no one tends to them or turns them over to freshen them up a bit every now and again.

And for a good Catholic birdcage dropping (the kind that actually fertilize a conversation rather than stink it up), kudos to Gerelyn for daring to write the following in response to Grant Gallicho's latest posting at the Commonweal blogabout the bishops' phony "religious freedom" war: 

The claims made by some who rushed to the barricades with their hysterical accusations, overwrought editorials, etc., that all/many/most liberal Catholics agreed with their denunciations of the President are crumbling. I wonder if any of them will now admit their error.

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you! that not a soul on this thread engaged Gerlyn's implicit question, "I wonder if any of them will now admit their error."

It's almost as if they don't want to hear what she's saying, isn't it?  And as if they have no intent in the world of being gracious, dignified, and honest human beings (not to mention followers of Jesus Christ) and admitting they were wildly wrong to sign onto the bishops' faux crusade with such unthinking atavistic tribal alacrity.  

And irresponsible.  Not to mention blindly callous and blindly cruel towards many brother and sister Catholics who have long been and continue to be the human fallout of the bishops' ugly little war.