Shame on Patheos

Update: Just as I hit “Publish” on this brief post, Steve Skojec posted his own — far more detailed — account of the events noted below over at One Peter Five. I suggest you go read it: “Blasphemy from the Patheos Channel Manager“

I confess that Patheos is not a site I normally visit. Most of the content is rather pedestrian, if not poor. And so it came as no surprise when it was announced that Artur Rosman, author of the vapid web-log Cosmos in the Lost, would become the site’s channel manager. As one friend observed in response to the news, “Now the chief inmate is running the asylum.”

Rosman, who has a long history of picking pointless fights with those who refuse to share his strange worldview, recently attacked Rod Dreher over the latter’s well-placed indignation concerning the TV show Scandal‘s depiction of a woman receiving an abortion while the classic Christmas hymn “Silent Night” played in the background. Dreher referred to the scene as “diabolical.” Good for him. Rosman, never one to miss an opportunity to draw attention to himself, laid into Dreher for failing to approach the ghastly scene with a more sophisticated and ostensibly charitable hermeneutic. Rosman’s remarks were met with criticism from Steve Skojec, editor of One Peter Five. What followed next was an unedifying Twitter exchange where Skojec was accused by Rosman of being a Protestant, running a heretical website, and lacking intellectual credibility. Although Skojec asked Rosman to substantiate these false charges, Rosman continued to fire off insults and accusations, culminating with this blasphemous Tweet:

Rosman is no stranger to making obscene jokes on social media, as evidenced by this Facebook post from earlier in the year. That’s bad enough. Bringing our Lord Jesus Christ into one is a bridge too far.

If Patheos is still an authentic Catholic publication (and there are good reasons to doubt this is true), it should fire Rosman immediately and issue a public apology for bringing a “writer” on board who continually relies on sex jokes, bad puns, and insults to draw attention to himself and his blog. Further, Rosman owes Skojec a public apology for attempting to defame him on social media with libelous comments. Until both happen, no self-respecting Catholic should frequent Patheos or endorse any of its content.

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