When Is Anti-Catholicism Not Anti-Catholicism

As Catholics, oftentimes we can see anti-Catholicism where it actually may be legitimate criticism. This happened recently in the pages of The Atlantic Magazine. Daniel Panneton, who according to his Twitter profile (@DBPanneton) is a Canadian museums worker and a hate researcher, wrote about “gun culture” embracing the rosary.

The Atlantic obviously publishes internationally but many see it as a left-leaning U.S. magazine and Panneton’s words hit a nerve with many Catholics here. He wrote about an American culture that seems to mix the rosary with militant images. The first title of his article simply describes the rosary—a set of close to seventy prayer beads for meditation—as an extremist symbol. With those words, many in and out of the media screamed persecution and labeled the Atlantic another left-wing publication attacking Catholics. Later, the title changed to focus on “extremist gun culture co-opting the rosary.” A reversal of terms that took the focus off the rosary and onto the extremism.

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