(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . A High-Tech Catholic Lynching [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-13 I once heard a priest say that the Roman Catholic Church was the largest denomination in the world and that those who’ve left the church was the second largest. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but a recent report by the Washington Post about a group of conservative Catholics who spent millions of dollars to buy mobile app tracking data so they could target gay priests is just another example of Catholic hatred for the LGBTQ community that has to leave some people wondering if this is the same church that preaches love, tolerance, and forgiveness. Or if its leaders and most fanatical followers ever take the time to realize that these folks, who they consider abominations, were actually created by the same God who created them, and that many of these singled-out sinners have a love for God just as strong and unwavering as they have. And while you may think, as I do, that the church certainly has the right to police its own clergy, you may also wonder if this latest development is a bridge too far and, even more frightening, a sign of things to come in a divided country where everything is seen as a zero-sum game and there’s no line that can’t be crossed in pursuit of the goal, no matter how heinous that goal may be. A Denver-based non-profit called Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal has spent at least $4 million dollars to obtain tracking data from various dating and hookup apps used by the LGBTQ community, the Post reported. The group then cross-referenced location data and other details from the apps with the addresses of church residences, workplaces, and seminaries to try find priests who may be using them. It then approached more than a dozen bishops with its findings. What’s happened to these targeted priests is unknown. As the Post noted, “The use of data is emblematic of a new surveillance frontier in which private individuals can potentially track other Americans’ locations and activities using commercially available information.” This information was purchased from data brokers, and here’s the scary part -- no U.S. data privacy laws prohibit this type of transaction. The Post said the buying and selling of data – from demographics and political beliefs to health information – is a multibillion-dollar, almost unregulated industry. That’s got to change, especially when we now see how it can be weaponized by people or groups to use against their enemies, both real and perceived. You can read the Post’s story here. Look at what they’re doing. They’re buying private data to target specific individuals. Data that those of us without a lot of Internet savvy probably don’t even realize is out there for the taking. Personally, I find it unseemly that people claiming to act on the church’s behalf would stoop to this level. Remember, I’m not talking about pedophile priests, which the church has a revolting record of dealing with. As the Post reports, social conservatives have tried to paint gay priests as the problem in the church’s horrific history of child sexual abuse, but “professional advocates for abuse survivors say the problem isn’t gay priests, but instead a silence and simplification around the topics of celibacy and clergy sexuality that in a minority of cases allows secrets to fester.” When in doubt, always believe the experts over the Republicans. It will be disgusting if the church doesn’t eventually speak up and say, “This isn’t who we are. We don’t treat our people like criminals.” Will they say that? I don’t know. There’re some big donors affiliated with the Denver group. They put a heck of a lot more money in the collection basket, and elsewhere, compared to the those in the regular rank-and-file who might not like what they’re seeing. This is what we call a slippery slope. Sure, you can find Catholics who say this action is perfectly justified because these priests are in violation of church law. I’m sure some Catholic officials and lay people are thrilled at the prospect of ferreting out gay priests. Maybe they think they’re just following a calling from God. After all, as the Post reported, the church teaches that being gay is “disordered” and in opposition to God’s plan. I’d add that it’s the church that’s taken upon itself to tell you just what that plan is. Where will this kind of “research” end? Of course, it’ll be a natural for politicians looking for a below-the-belt (no pun intended, but it’s still a pretty good one) punch against an opponent. Will we see parents’ groups use it to go after teachers? Employers to target employees? Private schools to single out students who don’t fit their preferred profile? What if they go after you? Maybe not for your sexual orientation or preference but for the groups you belong to? The items you buy? Your activities? Your political beliefs? What you write on your blog? If you don’t think there are plenty of people and organizations champing at the bit to use something like this to destroy lives then you aren’t paying attention to what’s going on in this country nowadays. The Post refers to “a newly empowered American Catholic right wing that sees enforcing its interpretation of church teaching on sexuality and gender as an existential issue for the church and that no longer trusts bishops to do so.” The way I see it, this is just another data point for people in the church deciding if they want to stay, or those outside it whether they want to join. Is this the kind of church they want to be a part of? A church that condones this kind of surveillance to single out and destroy these priests. A church that treats members of the LGBTQ community this way? It’s a personal choice. I left the church about seven years ago. Whenever I read something like this, it convinces me that I made the right decision. *** Thank you for reading my post. You can see more of my writings on my blog: Musings of a Nobody. 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