The Wrath of John: The Ass-Kissing Response

Step 1: Pretend to 'Make Nice'

In the interest of civility and proving my intellectual superiority over Wack-Freak Catholic Football Fan, John M. of Brooklyn, NY, I forwarded the following reply to his attention:

"Dear Mr. Martin:

I appreciate your interest in responding to my recent letter in Blue and Gold Illustrated’s Fan Forum, and I am encouraged that readers today are prompted to take action on their convictions. Certainly, I respect your right to express as much. Nevertheless, I am compelled to address some inaccuracies you cited in your response and would like to once again reiterate the fundamental premise of my own letter from March 2005.

I would hardly constitute my references to Mr. Finnegan’s comments as an “attack”, nor did I infer that his statements were complaints, or without merit. In part, I even agreed with his criticism of Rev. Malloy. Still, my purpose was to underscore that such comments are not appropriate for this venue:

“The context of Malloy's comments on the Willingham firing is understandable, and along with many other Notre Dame alumni I am concerned about the timing and necessity for such statements. Yet ironically, Mr. Finnegan goes well beyond football in deriding other actions occurring under the Malloy administration such as an on-campus film festival and other progressive theatrical performances. These comments have absolutely no place in your newspaper. The opinions, whether valid or not, are personal to Mr. Finnegan and are wholly unrelated to BGI's purpose of sports journalism.”

Apparently, however, you and I have differing opinions on the appropriateness for this venue. Again, I respect your opinion and hope you would provide me the same courtesy. Yet some incorrect comments on your part must be pointed out.

Neither Mr. Finnegan nor I made reference to the Laetare Medal awarded to Sen. Moynihan; such was your reference alone. Neither Mr. Finnegan nor I claimed to be subscribers or referenced the other as much; this is your assumption (I am one, but I do not know as to Mr. Finnegan, and BGI is available on many newsstands). And neither Mr. Finnegan nor I suggested that “there can be an air-tight separation between the moral stance of a university and [its] football team”; again, your words.

The fundamental premise of my original letter remains the same: I would no sooner look to BGI for direction in my Catholic spiritual life than I would subscribe to the National Catholic Register for their coverage of sports. It is not a matter of whether I agree or disagree with you, Mr. Finnegan or the man in the street. Rather, the facts are quite simple: BGI claims to be America's foremost authority on Fighting Irish football, is a member of the National Collegiate Sports Publication Association, and provides a disclaimer in its publishing disclosure stating that they “are not now and never have been sponsored by or sanctioned by the University of Notre Dame or any of its agencies.”

I am fairly confident that most readers would agree with me that their expectation of BGI is to provide sports coverage, not an open forum or commentary on religion, politics or any other topical news issues of the day. One need only to look at the most recent issue: in twenty-three articles and features over twenty-five pages, the only content to reference by subject anything besides Notre Dame athletics was your letter (I do not include the prayers in the Personals section because by their very definition they are meant for singular, individual consumption.)

Lastly, by stating that “we want to know what we’re rooting for—a university with Catholic standards, or a secular counterfeit” you seem to conveniently leave out any opportunity for the existence of non-Catholic views at Notre Dame. While Notre Dame is indeed a Catholic university, being a member of the Catholic faith is by no means a requirement for admission as a student, nor further for selection to the football squad. I think starting tackle Ryan Harris—a devout Muslim—and many other current ND students would agree with this point.

Sincerely and respectfully,
Chris Fillio ‘90 "

The Wrath of John

Wack Freak-Catholic Football Fan Gone Amok

Whoops--sorry. I meant to save the WF-C reference for my soon-to-be-published later "Ass Ripping Reply." Too late. Anyhow, for now...

It appears as if one BGI reader has taken exception to my having taken exception to a previous reader. For those of you with better things to do, a brief recap of the soap opera:

1. February 05: A reader writes to BGI's Fan Forum to complain about ND prez Monk Malloy having allowed non-mainstream events to occur on campus during his tenure.
2. March 05: Yours truly submits an opposing view, not disagreeing with any content from said reader but rather suggesting that the appropriate venue for discussing opinions on Catholicism, social mores and conservative vs. liberal views is, contrary to some pea-brained bible-thumping freakshows, not Blue & Gold Illustated's Fan Forum.
3. April 05: Another reader from the WF-C camp takes me to task, asserting that, indeed, the BGIFF is by far a fine, fine place to discuss religion, sex and politics.

Thus begins chapter four...entitled...

Catholic or Secular?

"In your March “Fan Forum,” subscriber Chris Fillio attacked fellow subscriber Jim Finnegan for complaining about the embarrassment felt by Rev. Edward A. Malloy C.S.C. at the Tyrone Willingham firing and his curious non-embarrassment at various anti-Catholic outrages that took place on Malloy’s watch. They included such things as a gay and lesbian film festival, the notorious Vagina Monologues, and the awarding of the University’s Laetare medal to the late pro-abortion Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Mr. Fillio thinks such comments have no place in your sports-centered pages. On the contrary. To suggest that there can be an air-tight separation between the moral stance of a university and the football team that represents it is absurd. It’s all to the good that your readers be made aware of how moral standards have withered in recent decades at the university that has been emblematic of American Catholicism.

We want to know what we’re rooting for—a university with Catholic standards, or a secular counterfeit in love with the spirit of the age.

In better days, Notre Dame could claim among its lecturers the incomparable G.K. Chesterson, perhaps the greatest Catholic thinker since Aquinas and certainly the wittiest. Under the misguided Malloy reign, the University bowed the knee to Baal and chose as its big-name lecturer Senator Bill Bradley, a one-time Rhodes scholar and a full-time abortion supporter.

Fortunately, there are still serious Catholics on the Notre Dame faculty, and so hope remains. But it’s undeniable that great damage has been done by a university president seeking academic prestige and popularity at the cost of that great but unpopular thing: genuine Catholicism.

A legend-rich football team can survive many things but it cannot forever survive, to borrow a Chesterton phrase, an attitude that prefers “perfected forms of error to a battered shape of the truth.”

If anyone doubts what Notre Dame and Notre Dame football should stand for, let him translate “Notre Dame” from French into English and then take a long look at the statue on the Dome. John M., Brooklyn NY"

...to be continued.