The Mob and the Machine



Thompson is honest enough to say that there was also a spirit of payback working among the voices in the conservative Catholic blogosphere. He says the bitterness of some of the exposition was a way of venting, and he even confesses to having even created obviously false narratives about a bishop—basically for the sake of ridicule. He it admits it was both obsessive and fun. But it seemed to him to be justified because it was done in the service of the true faith and liturgical sanity.

After all, Pope Benedict ransomed the traditional Mass through Summorum Pontificum, and brought back from exile those who had long been treated as lepers. But since Pope Benedict’s reform agenda was met by so much episcopal opposition, Thompson conceived of himself as a man on a mission, whose job was

to record every attempt to suppress the Extraordinary Form and to make sure Rome knew about it.

Thompson never quite expresses regret for his excesses, but goes further in admitting that the antics of his commenters was far worse than his own behavior. He also admits that the “far right Catholics raging against the Jews and ‘faggots,’” were more reprehensible than the “sneering atheists” commenting on his blog.

But if this was the worst of it, it did not exclude dabbling of Catholic bloggers in conspiracy theories. In this regard Thompson only specifically mentions the accusations of the Vatican homosexual mafia whose existence was verified by the Vatileaks scandal. However, this instance is not really representative of conspiracy theory as such, since the accusations turned out to have some basis in fact. Conspiracy theory by definition deals in innuendo and plausible but unproven (and often uprovable) narratives that fit a certain selection and arrangement of facts or allegations, usually by people who have something to gain by convincing others that the man is out to get them.

The reality is that the Catholic blogosphere is a clearinghouse for conspiracy theory. The nature of the blogosphere itself contributes to this fact. What passes for a standard of evidence and an ethics of accountability on the Internet has always been woefully lacking. And those whose causes have benefitted from the destruction of the reputation of others have not been eager to be held accountable or to make a distinction between allegation and proof.

In fact, the tribes that have formed in the blogosphere do more to provide protection for their tribesmen, than hold them accountable for the honor the tribal name. The largest Catholic tribe on the Internet, and arguably the most vicious and vindictive, has been the conservative, which because of its previous marginalization has felt itself justified in claiming the status of victim.

While we can all admit that there is truth to the complaints that led to this behavior, it would be to ignore reality to define it as anything other than juvenile. But that is also part of the nature of the Internet. Perfectly responsible adults have a tendency to revert to immaturity when they sit down in front of a computer.

Thompson suggests Pope Francis has taken the wind out of the sails of the Catholic blogosphere. But is that really the case, or was the heyday of the conservative faction just too good to be true? Tribalism never succeeds in establishing the reign of light, justice and peace, and the dominance of one tribe never lasts for long. The liquidation of one faction hell bent on cleansing the world of evil is always followed by the rise and fall of a new (or old) zealotry, unless tribalism itself is repudiated.

But tribalism has not been repudiated, so in the wake of the Franciscan opposition to ideology, especially that of the right, the lefty tribesmen are back to the same old iconoclasm of the sixties and seventies. One good turn deserves another.

In this much, at least, there is little difference in the Benedictine and Franciscan papacies. Benedict had enough of the internecine wars in Rome. Francis, it seems would rather get it all out in the open. But neither pope seem to have had much stomach for the Catholic jihad or for the logic of one dominant force sticking it to a weaker.

But whether or not the heyday of the conservative blogosphere is over, there remains the larger issue of the methods of modern communication, whose exponential growth will only assure greater connectivity, interaction and virtualization. The trends Thompson identifies as part of a fading conservative blogsophere will certainly continue, even if conservatives do not especially benefit from them.

I have heard some saying for years that it is only a matter of time until the government gets total control over the Internet and silences the voices of opposition, but it is not the control of big brother or some darkly imagined conspiracy of a secret society that concerns me most. It seems to me that the more frightening consequence of the information “democracy” is that the many will continue to rule in the interests of a few—that more information really means more disinformation, and more self-serving manipulation—all for a good cause, of course. What concerns me is the rise of a machine inhabited by the soul of a mob.

Let us see what happens on both sides of the spectrum at the upcoming synod. Thompson writes of the ascendance of the Facebook and Twitter monitors of ecclesiastical affairs who provide “instant scrutiny” of what goes on behind closed doors. This does not inspire me with confidence. He also notes that it is not only a question of bloggers pretending to be journalists, but now the journalists rely on the bloggers, as do the episcopal crafters of favorable narrative.

The dominant tribe must now claim, not control over the means of communication, like big brother, but control of the narrative, which is not at all the same thing because the dominant narrative is that of the loudest and cleverest mob. It is the art of cutting and pasting, of provoking some comments and suppressing others, of linking and not linking, of keeping the chamber in a constant state of echo.




13 thoughts on “The Mob and the Machine

  1. Amen. I’m always surprised when (especially) non-clerical bloggers are taken as a serious mine of in(/)form-ation. In that capacity, their informing (opinions) is to Christ’s Church what sparrows are to God’s entire creation. I say “especially” because sometimes the sparrow wears a collar, as in the self-congratulating one whom we needed to know gets 10,000 bloghits a day, 4000 of them unique. Imagine putting one’s every thought in large red paragraphs (and imagine the High Priest’s Face-palming each time. At any rate, the powers that be know that Aux. Bishop Barron (like Pope Francis) is an efficacious blend of holiness and social savviness. I’m even more amazed when God follows up a JPII, Teresa and a Benedict, with a Francis AND a Benedict Emeritus, all in the same lifetime. Mercy is alive and well.

  2. The antidote to the Catholic blogsphere quagmire? Perhaps, the Epistle of St. James 3:1-12?
    How about praising God in all things….because ALL that He ordains and permits is for our sanctification!

  3. Since Aux. Bishop Barron’s name was mentioned above why not listen to his ‘antidote’ for battling the ills of the Catholic blogsphere:

    “Seven Deadly Sins. Seven Lively Virtues.”

      • Oh, daisy! Let truth be known to all. 😉

        Ephesians 4:29-32


        Pax et boum, daisy!

  4. ” Those whose causes have benefitted from the destruction of the reputation of others have not been eager to be held accountable or to make a distinction between allegation and proof. ”

    Kind of like whoever’s responsible for Whoever it is should be ashamed, but from what they post and the whole tone of it, it is understood that shame is to them an undeveloped moral characteristic. Whoever lacks the honor to identify himself while slinging mud at one who has done him no wrong can’t be trusted, but unfortunately he may still be believed. That was Voltaire’s point when he said “Only slander right and left; if all you say is not believed, some of it will stick.”

    • Fortunately, there will always be loyal friends who will stand beside those who are being verbally abused on social networks.

  5. This post does not reflect my personal experience. I have read both “conservative” and “liberal” sites within the Catholic blogosphere over the last decade on a daily basis, and nothing tops the venom of the religious Left. That certainly does not excuse the excesses on the Right, but I believe the narrative being advanced is false.

    And regarding the supposed conspiracy theories of the “conservatives,” I’ll quote Joseph Heller from Catch-22: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.”

    • I can speak from experience. …and the narrative above is absolutely true! The unrelenting harassment received by an individual who claims to be “Catholic”, has been a nightmare for several years.

      As stated above, one’s only hope is to turn the cross around and win many merits by practicing the virtues of faith, hope, and love in God in this situation. The difference between a persons of such despicable character and the abused is the first lacks all trust in God’s Providence, and the latter strives to hope in it!

  6. Couldn’t disagree more with your post. I think your own, publicly-stated, vested interests in recent acts of ecclesiastical governance takes away your credibility in commenting on the “conservative blogosphere” however that may be defined.

    No offense, but really…

  7. Thank you. Thank you. I have been watching with horror both the Catholic conservative, prolife, and political conservative media turn and become what we most complained about in the liberal media. We know longer question the assertions being made either religiously or politically. We accept without thinking and are willing to believe anything negative that is being stated. We are caught up in panicked frenzy about the government or homosexuals coming to persecute us, while we sit in our comfy homes and spit vitriol on our favorite conservative website. We believe what the bloggers say and forget that most bloggers gain popularity via traffic and what generates traffic-Fear. If you are afraid, then you will share. So most of the news, commentary, blogs, etc are written to maximize the fear. No one notices anymore. People read commentaries as if they were reading reporting and can no longer distinguish the difference. Woe to us. We have become what we were running away from….If anyone disagrees go back and read blogs, or news from your most favorite religious, prolife or political commentator and you will discover that ultimately they have been saying the same bad things were imminently around the corner for the past decade.

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