Obscurantism and Jehovah's Witnesses

This morning, whilst browsing the Catholic dictionary at the back of our old Holy Family Bible (a beautiful 1950 Douay/Confraternity printing) I came across the word obscurantism. Now this definition is just a little bit outdated. When was the last time any conciliar Catholic was accused of obscurantism? For those of you who are unaquainted with the Church's recently ignored tradition of forbidding dangerous literature, check out the entry on the subject to the right.

I'll transcribe the essential bits:

Forbidden books are:
1. any edition or translation of the Scriptures by non-Catholics, e.g., a King James version of the Bible;
2. any book which defends heresy or schism or tries to undermine the fundamental truths of religionm, e.g., a book denying papal infallibility or teaching atheism;
3. any book attacking religion or morals, e.g., a book fostering divorce or birth control;
4. any book on religion by a non-Catholic unless it clearly contains nothing opposed to the Catholic Faith;
5. any book without ecclesiastical approval which deals with the Scriptures;

Now this sort of mentality is seldom seen on the blogosphere, that freethinker's paradise. Consider the recent words of a certain Catholic blogger:

It's also good to read multiple commentaries by different people with different interpretations--and not just by Catholics. Non-Catholics have brains, too, and sometimes they have really good insights. In fact, my favorite commentary on Genesis isn't a Christian commentary: It's Jewish.

I therefore don't write off a commentary just because the author isn't Catholic. Instead, I use critical thinking to try to correct non-Catholic elements in the commentary as I read it.

The members of this Society are well aware of my pro-censorship bent, but it is worth pondering how frequently we moderns expose ourselves to heretical polemics, be they atheist or protestant or something else entirely, and especially on the internet. The larger issue of censorship and submitting oneself to attacks upon the Faith could be the subject of a much, much longer post.

Anyways, to fill out my title, I was pleased this morning also to read this recommendation for dealing with Jehovah's Witnesses which I found whilst perusing the Roman Theological Forum, which I quote below.

90. Doorway manners. Most people are not ready to talk convincingly to Jehovah's Witnesses who knock at their door, because most people do not have prepared answers for the memorized presentation that Jehovah's Witnesses give. You should at least have on hand a small piece of literature that refutes the common claims of the Witnesses or which briefly presents Catholic beliefs. Ask them to take and read your piece of literature. You will probably discover that they will not accept your literature, and they will leave. But, if they do not leave and instead begin to hurl a stream of words at you, begin to recite out loud the Creed, the Act of Faith, or some other Catholic prayer. They will then leave rather hurriedly.

Hand out a pamphlet, and if the poor heretic persists, recite the Credo. What a noble image that presents!

Credo in Deum, Patrem Omnipotentem, ...
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