Setting the record straight

In light of recent events, most specifically the acidic reaction of Dave (Emperor) to my post, "Your Catholic duty," I think some things need to be cleared:

• I am not an anti-Catholic bigot. I don't care who you root for, so long as you are rooting for the team because you want to, and not because you think you have to.
• I might have overestimated the "Wrath of God" factor among Catholics. Granted, I do take issue with some of the archaic, ritual-based practices of Catholic masses, but that's my personal belief and not something I usually share on this blog. Most Catholics have very modern sensibilities, and (as in Dave's case), are Notre Dame fans except when playing the local favorite team.
• A great portion of the post was hyperbole, and might have been equal parts funny or offensive depending upon the reader. Notre Dame, for example, probably couldn't raise enough money to build a new football center in two weeks simply by placing donation boxes in every Catholic church in America. They'd raise money, no doubt, but Notre Dame I'm guessing respects the practice of tithing more than that.
• I think Notre Dame's standing among Catholics in America has been explained to me. Many Catholic fans identify with Notre Dame because it represents a part of who they are. I'm so city-centric with my allegiences that I guess rooting for a team because they embody your religion is kind of foreign to me.
• I wasn't trying to stick it to Catholics in my post. However, with the Fiesta Bowl less than a week away, I was trying to stick it to Notre Dame and their fans a bit. But any malice wasn't mean to go beyond the scope of football, even in non-football references. I never intended to attack the institution of Catholicism, or the institution of Notre Dame. I do not have an "axe to grind" with Catholicism. Philisophical differences, maybe, but it hasn't stopped me from attending numerous Catholic masses with my girlfriend (who is Catholic by baptism) in the past year.
• Lest anybody think I was dragging my feet in posting a response, I need to point out that my Internet access was limited to a virus-stricken laptop and a desk model from 1995 this weekend. In other words, I had no Internet access until I arrived at work today.
• And, Dave, I have to point something else out. This goes all ways. If I have to be more sensitive to Catholics, you can't take me for a bleeding-heart when I say I can do without Chief Wahoo, the Indians logo. I am not offended personally by the logo, but if the Indians said tomorrow they were eliminating it in favor of another logo, I'd have no problem with it. Change can be good sometimes.
• Dave, You spent Friday evening trying to tell me that offensive material is in the eye of the beholder. If my blog post is offensive to you, you have to be open to the idea that the people who protest Chief Wahoo are every bit as offended by that logo (which is far more public than my blog) as you were with my post. Blinding outrage to one person is "suck it up and quit whining" to another. It's all a matter of perspective.