Hate mail from the Love Crowd™

They’ve come after me. Nothing seems to be off-limits — from outright threats to mischaracterized and intentionally obtuse interpretations of what I actually wrote.

Oh, and apparently, some people think I’m not a very good writer.

But first, I thank the individuals who took time out of their busy days to express their appreciation for what I wrote and how I wrote it two weeks ago regarding the mountain that was constructed on the molehill of a parish priest apologizing to a small group of preschool parents and his assurances outside speakers would be vetted more carefully in the future.

That was it. No details of the speaker in question or how that person might’ve been the cause of concern to Catholic parents were given.

But apparently, the priest’s discretion was a breach of woke etiquette.

To some, to defend Father Held is to defend the indefensible. For others, it’s defending Catholicism itself, which was my intent as a cradle Catholic.

It was supposed to be a one-and-done column on a singular topic. You could agree or disagree on Catholic doctrine as is your right.

But you should likewise attempt to understand that thousands of years of doctrine won’t miraculously transform to comply with opponents’ views. Seems remarkably simple to me.

But no. Cue the hatred from the mob that bills itself as more loving than any other group to have ever walked upright.

Except when somebody dissents, and then their true colors turn blood red.

Rather than rebutting my comments, I’m notified I haven’t done my “homework” on Father Held because I didn’t acknowledge allegations that didn’t emerge for nearly a week after I initially wrote and filed my column. Even then, those same allegations weren’t brought to my attention for another three days after I published my column.

Not only are those allegations hearsay, but they also made the goalposts impossible to even see much less kick a field goal without a time machine. Additionally, these allegations are red herrings that attempt to change the subject despite being irrelevant to what I wrote about.

And the ugliness of what some people take it upon themselves to write to prove how inclusive and loving they are.

A woman accused me of “blaming the victim” when I specifically stated there wasn’t a victim in the first place. So, of course, she goes there; you know the gross planet where any man with whom you disagree is the type of man who blames the attire of women for being raped.

They have no shame. I’m the brother of five sisters, father of two daughters, and stepfather to two stepdaughters. At least two of these women have actually been raped. Nicely played, you vile subhuman for your appalling example of conjecture.

Oh, to be on the side of the angels! It grants permission for all sorts of violations against decorum.

Such as using a social media instant message app to harass me on Easter Sunday, more than 10 days after I published my piece.

Although I took time to respond in a timely fashion to each email I received, the spiritual nature of the holiest day of the Christian faith caused me to demur with a promise I would respond the following day. It wasn’t good enough, and the ad hominem attacks continued.

And then there’s the threat that I would suffer the same ignominies planned for Fr. Held on a national scale. Whether that’s the cancellation of the priest and me or something physical, the writer wasn’t specific.

In any event, he unsent the messages before I grabbed screenshots. Or maybe he didn’t unsend them in time, and I did get those screenshots….

In 10 years of writing this column, I’ve never encountered such hateful behavior for simply expressing a simple truth.