CATHOLIC DOUBLESPEAK

George Orwell introduced the language of doublespeak in his dystopian novel, 1984, published in 1949.

Doublespeak is the language of opposites. Up is down and down is up.

The word doublespeak derives from two Orwellian words doublethink and newspeak. 

Doublethink is when a person accepts two mutually contradictory thoughts as correct without being aware or troubled by the glaring contradiction between them. Doublethink statements like “war is peace” “freedom is slavery” “ignorance is strength” are made without discomfort.

Newspeak is a method of controlling thought through language - it is the language of fake news. Doublespeak combines doublethink and newspeak in language that deliberately obscures, distorts, disguises, or reverses the meaning of words to manipulate public opinion in a mass social engineering effort.

Orwellian doublespeak has been the language of the hard Left which for decades has been leading a coup against Western cultures and democracies as well as the Judeo-Christian values which underpin and support them. 

Here’s an example of liberal American doublethink:  “dependence is freedom”.  Liberal Democrats have initiated and expanded every socio-economic program imaginable all the while professing that such programs would bring about “the Great Society”.  But, as a consequence, more and more people are dependent upon the government and less self-reliant and responsible for their own welfare.  In some cases, the enslavement of generations of American to the Federal government is more profound and deep-seated than the historical slavery the country once witnessed.  

Shamefully the American Bishops have been complicit in this doublethink.  Just read or listen to the statements of the USCCB whenever a move is made to restrict or eliminate a government welfare program.  How the Bishops have allowed themselves to be co-opted by the left is remarkable, the stuff of dissertations in American Church history.

The most notable example of political newspeak is the language the left has employed in its ongoing insistence for free and unrestricted access to abortion in America.  The left is aware that the term “abortion” conjures up all kinds of unpleasant, often sickening images of infanticide.  So, they doublespeak, and refer to “women’s reproductive rights” or “pro-choice” in advancing their radical abortionist agendas.  And for the most part, there have been very successful in convincing a significant number of mindless feminists that the were advancing the Women’s Movement.

The Church has yet to reduce or curtail the number of abortions performed in the United States each year.  The Bishops, while vocal, have failed to put political muscle behind their rhetoric.  One wonders if they have any political muscle left at all.

So, I am used to doublethink and newspeak in politics.

What I never imagined is that I would experience doublethink and newspeak in the Church!

Here’s an example of Catholic doublethink:  “fidelity is rigidity”.  As a Priest, I was expected to faithfully communicate the truths of Sacred Scripture and the doctrines of the Church to those entrusted to my care.  For at least 8 years of seminary education and formation, I and my brother-Priests were reminded explicitly, implicitly, even subliminally that we were to be faithful to Christ and His Church.  We were to speak the truth even if it meant that our words were uncomfortable or challenging.  

Now, we are told that such fidelity to the Scriptures and consistent Church teachings is a sign of moral rigidity, a symptom of an immature faith that seeks security in what is familiar.

Want an example of Catholic newspeak.  Here’s one:  “adultery is virtue”.  What else can one conclude when we hear voices in the Vatican proclaiming that couples who cohabit outside of marriage and fully engaging in conjugal acts (not specifying whether the cohabitation involves a party or parties to a still-presumed valid marriage) are  living “real sacramental marriages”, fulfilling “God’s Will” and receiving “sacramental grace”.

Over the course of my Priestly life, I have often read 2 Timothy 4:3 as Saint Paul warns that in the future there will arise Church teachers who will “tickle” the ears of the faithful with subtle deceptions leading them away from the Body of Christ.

Is this what Paul’s admonition looks like in real life?

Just some thoughts as I just finished reading Orwell’s 1984 (again)  and how relevant it seems to be nowadays outside and inside the Church!