One great thing about St. Blog's is that I find myself constantly visiting 2 types of blogs. The first type is the most common, the ones where I find myself agreeing with most posts and it gives me a positive feeling. The bloggers are much smarter than me and express my thoughts much better than I ever could. I read these blogs to laugh, be inspired, be informed, and be uplifted. I have learned a huge amount of stuff from these “orthodox” blogs. The second type of blog is the type that makes me nuts. These blogs are the more “liberal” blogs, or at least blogs that will post things I might very much disagree with. I like to read these blogs because they challenge me and even if they infuriate me, I like to see how others think about the Church. Sometimes, by reading a post that I totally disagree with, but which is written with intelligence, thoughtfulness, and most especially love, then I can’t help but appreciate the poster, if not the position of the poster. Recently, Todd, who has infuriated me with his comments on various blogs, started his own blog, Catholic Sensibility. I found myself liking this blog right from the start. He and I probably have somewhat opposing views of traditional Catholic liturgy but I bet we would agree on more than we disagree (maybe). I just found Matt Zemek’s Wellstone Cornerstone (via Veritas) and it is self-described as “Paul Wellstone progressivism for conservatives and people of faith (and dispirited liberals, too!)”. I found myself cringing when reading about how women should be priests and how the “institutional Church” has caused problems for people, but I admire the blogger’s attempt to reach atheists and the unchurched. It is another nice site with a good tone that will appeal to many. Bill Cork of ut unum sint drives me mad often but I keep going back for more. His site is contrarian, not really "liberal" or "progressive" and will contain some posts I agree 100% with, and many that I think are off base, such as his take on Mel Gibson’s Passion of Christ film.


My biggest concern with some “progressive” Catholics is that they sometimes present the Church as: all wrong for 1960 years and now we are pushing it forward into the next century. This attitude comes through, perhaps inadvertently, from some bloggers. I also don’t understand the contempt (or fear or both?)some feel toward traditional Catholics and traditional Catholicism, especially when you consider the mess the Church is in today. I do love St. Blogs for having such a great variety of Catholic bloggers!