I was raised in a very conservative, Southern, poverty-stricken, family and grew up in the fifties and the sixties. There is so much to say about that culture and one of these days I hope to try to say it. But at this moment I merely want to concentrate on one bit of lunacy that I was subjected to—anti-Catholic rhetoric. Of course this was nothing new; this had historical roots from early in American history and in continues even today in pockets of conservative America.

I’ve long since out-grown that provincial ignorance and view the Catholic faith with great respect. In fact, I am now an Episcopalian, which is sometimes known as “Catholic lite.” And I stumble upon treasure troves of Catholic wisdom here in the blog-o-sphere, one of which is “Blue Eyed Ennis” (http://blueeyedennis-siempre.blogspot.com/) She offers a wealth of spiritual resources from the Catholic faith (and other faiths) many of which I would not be familiar with otherwise.

As I revel in the wisdom I find there, I am so grateful that I was able to escape the imprisonment of my impoverished, hyper-conservative childhood. And I speculate about why it was necessary for the Catholics to be singled out for such opprobrium. I know that one part of the picture is simple projection. In any group of people, just as with individuals, it is necessary to project on others unsavory dimensions of their own psyche. It is necessary to demonize someone. And Catholics were merely one of the available resources that my community had to offer. It is as if, and I emphasize “as if”, my sub-culture convened and said, “Now, we have lots of ugliness inside and we can’t handle it so we must blame it on someone.” And after some discussion, Catholics were selected as one of several nominees and this was simple because of the historical roots of this sentiment. So, therefore I was so troubled and even angry that Catholics were not Christian, that they worshipped the Pope…and even Mary!…and that if John Kennedy was elected President the Pope would be taking over control of our country!