Catholic conspiracy?
A lot of the MSM and blog articles written by Evangelicals have suggested that Diocese of Pittsburgh had something to do with Marty’s firing. To get the diocese’s statement on the matter, I wrote the following to its publicist, Father Ronald Lengwin.
” I have been following the story of Marty Minto’s firing since it broke. The official press releases mentioned that the diocese was contacted depite the fact that the diocese did not request that he be dismissed. Since those press releases, I have read numerous blogs and online publications that have implied or explicitly stated that there was some sort of conspiracy at work in this matter, wrought by individual Catholics or perhaps even the diocese.”
“I, and readers of my blog, would like to know why the diocese was contacted. Could you shed some light on this issue? Thank you in advance. “
Here’s his response:
“It was simply as a courtesy because of the number of people who called to complain about the program, including Catholics. May you have a gentle and joy-filled day!”
Christianity Today has picked up the story here.
Christians suing Christians proves that we do not take the gospel seriously. Plenty of non-Christians will have their ideas about Christianity confirmed if such a lawsuit is filed.
Come to think of it, there’s a lot of us Christians who will have their ideas about fellow Christians confirmed by that lawsuit.
Eric,
At least I’m self-employed. I can’t be fired for blogging what I think. How people react at church might be a different matter, but one I’m prepared to deal with.
How about you?
If Marty speaks with an attorney, that will be disappointing. Somehow, Christians suing Christians just looks real bad.
So tell me, how do we heal the Christian community and the Christians from this hurt?
It’s too bad. I would rather have a big Christian personality (okay, big with regard to Pittsburgh!) who would rally Catholics and Orthodox, rather than have a link on his personal website to “Good News for Catholics”, to teach us Catholics what the Bible really says. But we do need challenging folk as well, and I pray that this is not a symptom that WORD is becoming another easy-listening station, so to speak.
Phew! This is a ‘Hot’ one mate! Thanks for the link, deeply appreciated!
GBYAY
So was he fired because:
a) he called The Purpose-Driven [Insert Purpose-Deprived Thing] the moral, therapeutic, deistic schlock that it is?
b) because he was an ill-informed anti-Catholic bigot?
If (a) that really is too bad, and confirms my thesis that “safe” Christian Radio is anything but… If (b) then… well… that still seems like no reason to fire him. Seems we still all benefit from folks stirring up the stew a bit…
We have a “Christian” Radio station here in N. Jersey that goes on-and-on now about how “safe for your whole family” they are. But I really have to wonder just how “safe” their milk-toast programming and profoundly insipid music really is… I have to wonder how many people will try to enter by the wide gate and broad way exactly because it seemed “safe.” “Safe” is exactly what mainstream CCM and X-ian broadcast radio is trying to be… and I can’t help but wonder just how dangerous being “safe” really is… Give me bare boobs @ the Superbowl anyday over this…
Cheers!
We live in a predominantly Christian country. Christians sue Christians every day, and it does no remarkable harm.
Also, I don’t know that non-Christian radio stations pose a particular threat to children. We spend an awful lot of time and energy protecting children from some media threat which has never really been demonstrated to exist.
test
[…] Jerry Bowyer and the Catholic Church By Funky Dung Jerry Bowyer’s attitude toward the Catholic Church is definitely a lot better than his predecessor’s. Here are some podcasts from his show. “Jerry interviews Ronald Rychlak, author of ‘Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII And the Catholic Church Saved Half a Million Jews from the Nazis’, about the tremendous sacrifice European Catholics made to resist Hitler and save Jews, and dispels the myths that Hitler was Christian and that Christians turned a blind eye to the Holocaust. “ “Jerry interviews George Weigel, author of ‘God’s Choice : Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church,’ about Benedict and his path from priest to pontiff.” “Jerry interviews Father Richard John Neuhaus, editor-in-chief of First Things, about the long-standing relationship between the Catholic Church and the Democratic Party, and where they will go from here.” “Jerry interviews Raymond Arroyo, the host of ‘The World Over Live’ on the Enternal Word Television Network, about Christian journalism.” […]
[…] I’ve been listening to the Jerry Bowyer Program on WORD-FM fairly often these days. Jerry replaced Marty Minto, who was fired under contentious circumstances. On the whole, I like the show. I like tone and style and I think Jerry handles callers well. There’s a good balance between charity and patience on the one hand and avoiding time-wasting arguments with nuts on the other. When he talks about Christian topics, I enjoy listening to him and calling the show. Something worries me, though. […]
[…] April 21st, 2005 by Funky Dung Once again, my overactive mouth (or in this case, keyboard) has gotten me in trouble. A rather unpleasant affair occurred at Evangelical Underground. When time permits, I will be publishing an apology to all involved. I will also be apologizing for snide comments I made in my Marty Minto post. My sincere hope is that valuable lessons have been learned by the participants and that those lessons can be passed on to our readers. Funky Dung […]
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