Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 4/28/18

• ‘Anti-Catholicism in America’ examines impact of religion, bigotry on early US

Lovely. Another revisionist history (photo above) which focuses on B) the negative Protestant reaction to Catholicism in America (the effect), while purposely failing to mention A) Catholicism’s relentless persecution of Protestants in Catholic-dominated countries in Europe and Latin America including multiple papal condemnations of constitutional democracy and freedom of religion (the cause).

• Catholic Mass attendance in U.S. plunges under Francis pontificate
• The Catholic Church’s decline here should be a surprise to no one

Catholics anticipated that the initial enthusiasm over pope Francis would translate into an upsurge in mass attendance and religious vocations – the vaunted “Francis effect” – which never materialized. I encourage you to read the second article – a letter from a self-described “lifelong (now ex-) Catholic” – who speaks for many Catholics in her disdain for the Bible, which she derides as “the most misunderstood book ever written.”

• Yes, the Pope is a Catholic. But he’s confusing other Catholics.
• Catholic Historian: Lay People Have a “Right and Duty” to Correct the Papacy

Regarding pope Francis, the word “heretic” is on the tip of many conservative Catholics’ tongues, but they just can’t bring themselves to say it…yet.

• Review: In ‘The Devil and Father Amorth,’ a Filmmaker Gets Real

William Friedkin, the director of “The Exorcist” (1973), spent time with the Vatican’s #1 exorcist, “father” Gabriele Amorth (d. 2016), in order to make this documentary, which is currently playing at theaters. I certainly believe, as the Bible states, that demons can possess people, but not born-again followers of Jesus Christ who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It’s no fluke that many/most of these publicized demonic possessions seem to occur within the Catholic community.

• When Americans Say They Believe in God, What Do They Mean?

In this very recent Pew survey, 28% of those who identified as Catholic said they don’t believe in the God of the Bible.

• Dominant religions in the U.S., county by county

Check out this interesting map showing the dominant religion by county in the U.S.A. It’s almost solidly Roman Catholic up here in the Northeast.

• A week after opening, Chick-Fil-A traffic becoming a headache for homeowners

Chick-Fil-A opened a little over two weeks ago here in Rochester, N.Y. I waited for the traffic to die down and hit the drive-thru this past week…twice (don’t tell my internist). What did I order? Both times I got the Spicy Deluxe Chicken Sandwich with Waffle Potato Fries. Verdict? Pretty good but hardly worth standing in line overnight for. The first time I also ordered their highly touted lemonade but that stuff is waaaaay too sweet.

• Nation Patiently Awaits GQ Article Calling Koran Overrated (satire)

The latest issue of GQ (formerly Gentlemen’s Quarterly) features an article which lists the Bible as one of the “21 most overrated books” of all time. Spiritual blindness.