Reply #2: I agree heartily about not being "over defensive" ...

[etherealtruth]

Though reasonably new here I try to point out the church's very strong positions on social, economic and environmental justice and it's strong belief in the "just war" concept.

I definitely think we will make no progress being overly sensitive... one of my favorite comic sketches was an old (think late 70's) SNL series of sketches where Don Novello played a character named Father Guido Sarducci----it was hysterical, and yes, many Catholics were upset.

As an aside: growing up in an area where there is a "Catholic church on every corner" (exaggeration, of course), I was never exposed to antiCatholic sentiment----It was not until I spent a couple of years in Fredericksburg VA, that I clearly understood this bias was "alive and well" and living in the USA.