There are three male Catholic bloggers; two are big time, one is arriving to that point, who bother me. I don't read them anymore but I've wondered why they annoy me. Then it came to me. All three remind me of Truman Capote, who was a little monster.
Before anyone get's the wrong idea, I'm not talking their sex lives. I mean that Capote was smart, maybe a genius, and talented but he was horribly spoiled. He was the little prince, the complete center of attention in his circle and when he wasn't, he got spiteful.
He wrote a vicious roman a clef about his friends in his latter years as a payback for some slight, real or imagined and apparently hinted that he wrote To Kill a Mockingbird for his childhood friend, Harper Lee. You either worshipped Capote and agreed with everything he said or you were an idiot, low class, nasty and deserving of scorn.
Like Capote, these three male bloggers talk a good tough game but seem thin skinned when readers don't stick to their script. Commenters better stick to "Gee, you're so smart. Those traditionalists are so dumb. You're so brave. (Brave? Really?) Your book changed my life. All the good Catholics are with you...." or they get banned or mocked.
There is something so small and precious and enfant terrible about all three of these fellows. I get the impression that all of them spent a lot of time on their mama's laps while being told how aborable and brilliant they were and very little time hanging around other guys. It's interesting in a virus under the microscope sort of way but for the life of me, I can't understand how these guys got to be so important in the world of professional Catholics and why so many people take them seriously.
And there's one more thing. When I see a lay person (this may or may not apply to one or more of the bloggers I'm talking about) who makes their living off of the Church I get nervous. My gut reaction is "Hey bud, who the heck are you? By what authority do you teach? What seminary did you go to and what bishop laid his hands on you? Who gave your book a public imprimatur? What reputable clergyman back up your teaching?
Tis a puzzlement as the King of Siam once said.