North Western Winds comments on the NeoCath Controversy, saying "It won't fit"

Get it here.

The Great Bard of the North responds to Secret Agent Man's analysis of the perjorative term "NeoCath", first cast upon orthodox Catholics of St. Blog's by a certain Spirit of Vatican II. He says:

I am using the Neo Cath button to the right in an ironic sense; I do not feel the name truly designates anything. The word points to little but the frustration of the one who uses it as a weapon against those standing in his way, the Orthodox. Orthodoxy, however, is a big tent that recognizes a diversity of talents, methods, and the human struggles with issues of faith. It does not embrace everything, as it does hold in things like Truth and Sin, but it is nowhere near narrow enough to be compared with the term 'neocon,' and that school's embrace of a very narrow definition of right, ie. one size anglo capitalism for all.

I share his reason for employing the "NeoCath" button. What Fr. O'Leary intended as put-down, I have taken as a badge of honor. For I find that his term of disparagement, and the conditions that he associates with it, encapsulate the orthodoxy of Roman Catholicism that I strive to live. Of course his blather charactertures orthodox belief; his put down wasn't executed with any degree of precision. However, when I read between the lines of the good father's diatribe, I find that he can't stand the Catholicism witnessed to by Pope John Paul the Great. Well, if JPG is the ultimate "NeoCath," then I'm honored to be considered one as well.

I enjoy the act of subverting the Reasonable and Foolable terms of endearment thrown at us Fools. Catholics have had a long history of such subversion. The Roman Empire used the Cross to symbolize their arbitrary power and ruthlessness toward disobedience; Christians reappropriated it as the sign of Christ's redemption of us all. In a similar vein, I enjoy using the Spirit of Vatican II's monicker as a convenient and satirical short hand for the orthodox Roman Catholicism I love and that he clearly detests. If it inspires some Foolable Catholics to foam at the mouth, so much the better. Maybe they'll do something Foolish. Like begin to fully believe in the deposit of Faith guarded by the magisterium, without that secularizing nuance.

"NeoCath" is a title of honor for all Catholic Fools. Wear it in gratitude! For somebody finds you Foolish. That's a good thing!