Michael Sean Winters at the National Catholic Recorder has registered dismay at the tone of my article criticizing Huffington Post columnist Cara McDonogh. The language, it is said, was too tough and I was too angry.

 When confronted with a fellow Catholic whose opinions a priest finds disturbing, I think the appropriate tone is one more of sadness than of anger for a priest.

Really? What Would Jesus Do? I mentioned in the combox that he wasn’t always “gentle Jesus meek and mild” with a little lambkin on his shoulder. He showed a fair bit of anger towards the corrupt religious people in the temple and had some choice words of anger for the Pharisees and hypocrites like the people who call themselves Catholics but say they are pro abortion, in favor of same sex marriage, don’t think pornography is so bad really and think going to Mass doesn’t matter.

Well, I am angry (whoops) deeply saddened by the hypocrisy and double faced self righteousness of the progressive Catholics . Why doesn’t anybody ever see them as hypocrites? We all think of the classic religious hypocrite as the pious rosary reciting sour puss who doesn’t live by his creed. Why are the progressives who don’t even intend to live by the Catholicism they publicly profess ever vilified as self righteous hypocrites, for that is what they most surely are. They profess to follow the Catholic faith and “cling to their Catholicism” while not living their faith in any way that is even remotely recognizable as Catholic. Instead they cause scandal and encourage others to think that it is perfectly okay to be “Catholic” but skip Mass, skip confession and support abortion and the rest of the culture of death agenda.

I’m blamed for telling them to clear off and join the Episcoplians? Well why not? Why should they not be honest with themselves and everyone else and leave the Catholic faith and stop being publicly insufferable self righteous hypocrites? Either they should do that or get themselves off to confession, bone up on what the Catholic Church really teaches and embark on the adventure of actually trying to live and pray and love like a Catholic.

As for being “saddened” and “deeply concerned”. It’s exactly that kind of passive aggressive nonsense that gets me going in the first place. Whenever I hear someone express their “deep concern” and that they are “deeply saddened” I hear a lot of repressed rage and fury papered over with a polite smile and sometimes a kind of pouty little sad look. One of the guys I know even affects a self righteous hurt little puppy dog look on his face as if he’s being some kind of martyr for Jesus and Mary.

Forgive me folks, but I can’t stand that kind of deception. I hate deception of all kinds, but self righteous hypocritical deception is worst of all. Give me a dose of the cheerful anger of the happy warrior any day. At least you know where you stand. You know who your opponent is and when it’s all over, like the gentleman scholars and debaters of all, you can get over it, shake hands and share a cigar and a whiskey.

But all this “deeply saddened” stuff and “deep concern”? It’s dishonest. People who are saddened and deeply concerned should acknowledge their rage and work it out or they’ll develop health problems.