When Catholics Behave Like Barbarians On The Internet

[ 12 minute read ]

A well mannered priest assaults a security guard. Really? Benefit of the doubt?

Some of you will remember a couple of years back when accusations were made against Father George Rutler. It was alleged that he assaulted Ashley Gonzalez, 22 at the time, a female security guard.

Father Rutler then suffered a horrendous trial by Twitter and much mudslinging in the media. The feeding frenzy that ensued exposed a number of higher profile Catholics as less than reasonable with only bullets for brains. Bullies tend to attack those who remind them that they lack the very virtue with which their targets are imbued. Attacks on virtuous priests and others confirm that members of the mob are merely attempting to mask their own inadequacies.

Father Rutler writes with such a clever turn of phrase and such intellectual clarity that one finds oneself often re-reading him not just because his priestly wisdom and intelligent commentary is so edifying but because in our “soundbite” culture it is great to be stretched intellectually by language that forces the reader to think more carefully about everything relating to the Faith and current affairs and history. To readers of CWR who will have come across him before, it will be no surprise to hear that he has often been likened to a modern day “GKC” and most certainly as a priest whose gift for oratory and apologetics is held in the same parity of esteem as the renowned Monsignor Ronald (Ronnie) Knox. - Edmund Adamus (2020)

Clarifications, admissions and corrections testifying to Father Rutler's innocence have been painfully few, and those essays that pretend to be apologies are woefully inadequate if intended to mitigate the wrong that was willfully committed against him by Catholic social media entrepreneurs, almost entirely so-called progressive Catholics, who tarred and feathered a good priest and then celebrated their self righteous indignation and moral superiority (as if they had any) by dancing on his reputation, and as if they had won their way into heaven for doing so.

If Father Rutler were a litigious man, he could be assured of victory were he to pursue legal action against his accusers. The major media outlets that engaged in attempts to mutilate Father Rutler's reputation have been preciously silent since a New York DA threw out all allegations. Turn on the lights and the cockroaches tend to scatter.

And - the video supposedly recorded by Ms. Gonzales seems to have disappeared. Could it be it was exposed as being staged in a different location by a co-conspirator, after Ms Gonzales made her false allegations, in an attempt to bolster her claim? It's difficult to identify Gonzales' motive for accusing Father Rutler of such outrageous behaviour. Money? Fame? An unbalanced mind lashing out at a vulnerable target? Was Gonzales coaxed by a third party to pursue her now discredited action against a good priest? Water under the bridge one might say, but it is massively unjust that Father Rutler was victimized and no one is being held to account. Like his Master, Father Rutler has demonstrated the truth of the Gospel by turning the other cheek and returning good for evil.

Truth will out.

Every now and then, one finds a voice (or two) of truth that pierces the darkness and causes imps to flee.

• https://www.catholicbusinessjournal.com/news/faith-at-work/legal/finally-fr-george-rutler-cleared-of-all-false-accusations-by-ny-district-attorney/
• https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-ny-district-attorney-throws-out-assault-allegations-against-new-york-priest/

(edited for length) NEW YORK, May 28, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York District Attorney (D.A.) has thrown out allegations of assault against well-known priest Fr. George Rutler.

LifeSiteNews learned this morning that the D.A. had found the accusations of a female security guard against Rutler to be “baseless.”

Security guard Ashley Gonzalez, then 22, had worked fewer than two entire shifts at the Church of St. Michael in Manhattan on November 4, 2020, when she accused the priest of watching internet porn, indecent behavior, and then attacking her “sexually, aggressively.”

Instead of immediately calling police when she alleged the attack happened, Gonzalez contacted Manuel Gomez, the controversial proprietor of Black Ops Private Investigators, to assist her in her complaint against Rutler. In 2017, the New York Post reported that NYPD detectives had been warned against speaking with Gomez, who allegedly was part of a “cottage industry” of bogus civil rights violation claims made against the NYPD by gang members.

In support of her claims, Gonzalez released photo footage she said showed the priest watching pornography in his office. The video appears to show a man who is completely bald watching pornography in a red room decorated with portraits of cardinals.

Rutler said that he had voluntarily offered to step aside from his duties as pastor during the investigation.

LSNews went the extra mile by publishing a photograph of Father Rutler's accuser's log entries which undermine Gonzales' claims.

• https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-priest-accused-by-security-guard-of-assault-confirms-charges-have-now-been-dropped/

LifeSiteNews has obtained a photograph of what appears to be Gonzalez’s log sheet for her November 4 shift, and it shows that at 2 AM and 3 AM, she had found everything “all safe and secure.” LifeSiteNews reached out to Gonzalez’s former employer, also named Manuel Gomez (no relation to the private investigator) of MG Security Services for confirmation, but did not receive a response.

Malicious zealots be gone!

For those who jumped on the bandwagon, joined the lynch mob, took up pitchforks, aimed their rocket launchers, and sided with a liar ... shame on you!

One expects internet bellwethers to bend the rules. That many routinely play loosely with an issue and trash their targets and critics for personal gain should come as no surprise these days.

And wild beasts shall meet with hyenas, the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, there shall the night hag (lilith, a demon) alight, and find for herself a resting place. - Isaiah 34:14

The Church is harbouring plenty of hyenas, wild beasts, hags and barracudas these days. Green's Dictionary of Slang has the following:

barracuda (n.)

1. a violent, aggressive criminal.
2. a domineering, argumentative person.
3. a predatory homosexual, desperate to obtain a desired partner no matter what it takes.
4. a sexual enthusiast, esp. female.
5. (US campus) an unpleasant woman. (If the shoe fits... .)

Sohrab Ahmari

@SohrabAhmari

I have more confirmation that the DA is declining to charge Fr. Rutler on the sex-assault accusation against him. Responsible Catholic journalists insisted on the presumption of innocence. 

@DawnofMercy

didn't. She presumed Fr's guilt. She should apologize, swiftly, unequivocally(.)

If Father Rutler's accusers had actually taken the time to fairly evaluate Father Rutler's character and his record, they would have known that he is not merely a self-styled good and faithful priest. He is - really and truly - a good and faithful priest, well respected among thinking Christians and people of goodwill. If Goldstein and others had done their homework, or at least allowed the process of discovery to play out (as Father Rutler bravely did), they might have avoided the carelessness and cruelty demonstrated in so many Tweets.

"New York District Attorney (D.A.) has thrown out allegations of assault against well-known priest Fr. George Rutler."

Father Rutler was tried and convicted - had his reputation called into question - before the facts were established. By contrast, the so-called victim was canonized by people infected by monstrous ideologies that enable them to create real victims like Fr Rutler.

To many of the heterodox ilk, who are barely distinguishable from their rabid secular cousins, a rush to judgement is a well-entrenched habit. The same weapons-drawn-guns-blazing approach is also practiced by self proclaimed arbiters of orthodoxy. However, the heterodox tend to weaponize their indignation by using the internet much more ferociously than those enthusiastic marshalls of Tradition.

Judge, jury and executioner, not to mention hyperbolist? Most who engage in character assassination fail as judges and juries, but excel in the role of executioner. They certainly fail as detectives.

Those who excel in the role of vigilante do so because they fail so miserably at discernment and an appreciation of due process. Social media are highly prone to misuse by so many wielders of hatchets who reek of sociopathy. The internet is a universe populated by angry deities who, like the gods of old, thrive on torturing their devotees into surrendering reason for fits of ecstasy born of indulgence in base pleasures.

It is far too easy to be drawn into the Accuser's agenda, i.e., Lucifer's agenda. It would seem Dr. Goldstein has done just that. Repeatedly. Over and over. Again and again. And continues to do so. Her Twitter feed - oops, sorry... her X feed - is saturated with gibes at her favourite targets.

Casting aspersions with the aspergillum of malice and the acid of vitriol.

Dawn Eden Goldstein was invited to speak at the 40th Annual Society of G.K. Chesterton Conference on July 30, 2021 about the role Chesterton played in her spiritual journey, as a Jewish convert to Catholicism.

One of the responses to Goldstein's talk from the Society of G.K. Chesterton reads:

We’re grateful that Goldstein recognizes Chesterton’s “true greatness” and that she agrees his legacy is worth preserving. However, she seems to be under the impression that she is raising these questions for the first time, that there has been no serious reflection within the Chesterton community on Chesterton’s views about the Jews. She suggests now is finally the moment for those discussions.

However, since 1901, when Chesterton first became popular in England, these kinds of discussions have been taking place. Furthermore, the charge of antisemitism, which Goldstein focuses on in this talk, was made during Chesterton’s own lifetime, a charge he vigorously denied. It’s nothing new or surprising.

Rather than ignoring the charge, over the last several decades the Society of G.K. Chesterton has published numerous articles and even whole issues of our magazine addressing this accusation.

The implication that Chesterton’s faults have only now come to light resonates only in the minds of people who are discovering these things recently, for the first time.

And not only Chesterton... . 

Disturbingly, Goldstein seems to imply that Dietrich von Hildebrand may have held heretical views and that the only reason we’re unable to confirm this is because luckily his wife, Alice, burned such evidence after his death. However, even if Alice revealed this to Goldstein, it would seem inappropriate for Goldstein to share this revelation publicly with others. Doing so casts aspersions on Dietrich von Hildebrand’s good name.

And later in the same series of responses:

For most of her talk, Goldstein attempted to show that Chesterton was guilty of grave sin, the sin of racism, particularly antisemitism. She suggested that as a result of these serious failings we should denounce some of Chesterton’s writings and do penance for his sins, necessary steps if his legacy is to endure.

By the end of her talk, however, she simply suggests we should “leave behind those things [in Chesterton’s writings] that are not edifying.” 

There’s a chasm of difference between these two proposals. Accusing someone of grave sin is far different than simply skipping parts of an author’s work that you don’t find helpful. The first approach is controversial and, we believe, completely unjustified in Chesterton’s case. The latter is a basic principle that holds for any reader studying any author. 

Having for a few years followed Goldstein's journey toward and into the Church and her subsequent course adjustments, this blogger - now for a time a not-so-regular follower of Dr. Goldstein because of her drifts - has accessed more recent testimonies exposing her tendency to engage in indiscriminate warfare. Austin Ruse has performed an appropriate pruning of Dr. Goldstein's dead wood.

Excerpt from Dawn Eden: from “rock historian” to Grand Inquisitor

by Austin Ruse

https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/dawn-eden-from-rock-historian-to-grand-inquisitor

In recent months Dawn has fashioned herself as the scourge of what she sees as right-wing anti-Francis heresy. Her specialty is making wild charges against these “heretics” and then often having to walk them back and apologize.

No, it’s not just (Cardinal) Burke. She doesn’t like the Catholic News Agency. She doesn’t like EWTN. She doesn’t like the National Catholic Register. She doesn’t like the Catholic Herald. She doesn’t like the Napa Institute. She doesn’t like Sophia Institute Press.

(S)omewhere along the line, she has become an uncharitable scold who sees herself as a one-woman wrecking crew against those she sees as the enemies of Francis, many of whom are her former friends in the Catholic trenches. She’s on the trajectory of Mark Shea-ing herself—of getting so lost in the battles that she loses both her reputation and her (forgive the expression) brand, both of which have been quite good.

At the very least, she might consider taking her own Twitter advice from a few months ago: “Everyone deserves a charitable reading, including the Holy Father.” She is certainly correct.

I Never Knew You

Is Dr. Goldstein another good mind gone or going sideways? A trained academic - and a highly-trained one at that - really should know better than to engage in commentary unsupported by substantive research. That said, she wouldn't be the first writer to elevate income and the need for attention above ethics. Manufactured controversy does tend to sell books, and... it tends to put one's soul at risk of hellfire and damnation.

Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

The point of this post is to draw attention to the indiscriminate judgement in play among Catholics. It is a challenge to those with influence to reevaluate their mindset and methods when they choose to engage an issue ostensibly for the good of others.

There are, indeed, serious problems in the Church. When hasn't there been? However, today's problems are of a kind and to a degree that should make every Catholic cringe and shudder with disgust. Yes - the abuse crisis is nothing short of diabolical. Yes - secularist sexual ideology and identity politics are replacing Catholic social teaching in Catholic universities and parishes. Yes - educators and psychologists are crushing the innocence out of children. Yes - abortion-on-demand is still a ghastly threat to the unborn. Yes - euthanasia is evil and a threat to society's most vulnerable. Yes - the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and many - who could care less about the true well being of their brothers and sisters - are trying to foment anger and violence to exploit the disparities to their own political ends.

We must pray and work to better realign Catholics with the teaching of Christ. However, if we approve of unholy methods that should be easy to recognize and avoid, and then employ those methods to attack others, why should we expect any mercy whatsoever when we face the ultimate moment of clarity?

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’ - St Matthew 7:21-23