01-17-2017, 11:42 PM
Has anyone read E. Michael Jones's e-book (more a long article) "The Man Behind the Curtain: Michael Voris and the Homosexual Vortex "? If so, what do you think? Do you see it as unwarranted character assassination, a book that lays out some points worthy of consideration, a bit of both, or --- ?
There's a Youtube video of Jones talking about all this, but I haven't listened to it yet. Here it is (I'll listen to it as soon as I can):
Obviously, I haven't read or listened to Jones enough to have any decent opinion on Jones's book, but this concerns me, as do some of the allegations (especially the allegation that Voris lied, that he wasn't being threatened to be outed by the New York Archdiocese, but that it was homosexuals with whom he'd had, um, dealings in the past that were making threats. Of course, it could be that both were making threats, as far as that goes, and that Voris just mentioned the former. I dunno, and I try to assume the best when it comes to stuff like this.)
But everyone has a "past." Everyone's a sinner. I was a major wild child when I was a teenager, and I'd hate for people to pick through my past sins to try to "get something" on me, and I don't like the idea of "the Catholic world" being one in which everyone is looking to "get stuff" on others, in which people are expected to go beyond Confession and penance, and flagellate themselves publicly (metaphorically speaking) or, worse, are expected to be flagellated by others and think it's OK -- or, much worse, in which others think it's OK to engage in such behavior against someone.
Jones is right about how healing from homosexuality takes time, that grace perfects nature and doesn't change it or just cover it up -- i.e., that we don't have a Protestant view of sin, forgiveness, and healing in which we drop to our knees, say the Jesus prayer -- or go to Confession, in this case -- and that we're not just forgiven, but psychologically and emotionally healed and healthy, have overcome our neuroses, addictions, sinful proclivities, etc. But I also don't buy the idea that people with "issues" of some sort can't be of use to the Church in terms of evangelizing.
To my mind, the proof is in the pudding, a person's work stands on its own. Either CMTV does good generally, or it doesn't. Of course, along the way, any "apostolate" should be fairly critiqued when necessary, and any errors should be called out and corrected, of course. Of course, too, there's the danger of those "cults of personality" that develop around certain "public Catholics," but that isn't necessarily the fault of that person. If it feeds a person's narcissism, then that's a spiritual issue for that person, and someone who'd fall into a "cult of personality" likely has spiritual issues to deal with as well. But isn't that separate from the public person's work in itself? And isn't what Jones is doing here feeding into that sort of "cult of personality" mindset by implying that a person's personal life, even his past, is fair game for hauling before the court of public opinion and that those things impugn his work (or the converse)? If G.K. Chesterton had killed a man, would it make his work any less worthy? If Belloc had had homosexual sex at some point in his life, would it make "The Servile State" any less valuable? (It seems that a lot of trads do think in this way. Witness how many reacted to "Lauragate" around here, when a, well, let's face it, mentally unstable liar told tall tales to this forum, my ex-civil "husband" believed her, people eventually caught on to her lies, he wasn't convinced yet and, so, defended her (and dealt badly with it in terms of being too harsh on those calling "Laura" out, IMO), and even now, today, years later, not only is he still harangued for it in spite of having had good motives, with people coming up with reallllly strange conspiracy theories about it all, but I am as well -- and I wasn't even around much at the time. And because of that incident, ergo, "FishEaters=crazy" to some people. The years' worth of work on the main site amount to nothing because a weirdo came to the forum and lied to us all and the moderator at the time wrongly believed her and defended her. That is an aspect, ultimately, of a sort of "cult of personality.").
Anyway, it seems that Jones is saying that Voris hasn't healed enough from his homosexual past to do what he does. But what other sorts of psychological disorders should disallow a person's engaging in apologetics and evangelizing that don't involve spiritual counseling, acting as a spiritual father or mother, etc.? Is it homosexuality only? What about depression? Bipolar disorder? Smoking too much?
He talks about Voris as a narcissist. OK, let's say, arguendo, that that's true. What of it? That's a personal problem that could only become a public problem for those in his immediate life or if his narcissism were to taint his work in a way that makes it less worthy. Does that seem to be the case here? Me, I simply don't know. I don't watch that much CMTV.
I dunno, guys... I've always appreciated Jones's writings, but am not sure what to make of this bit.