Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Frank Bruni wrote a column for the New York Times this week that has more than a few people raising their eyebrows. Here's how Rod Dreher explained the situation:
In his latest piece, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni, who is liberal and gay, wrote about an anonymous former college classmate who was an observant conservative Catholic back then, but who has since changed his mind. Excerpt:
He had researched and reflected on much of this by the time he graduated from medical school, and so he decided to devote a bit of each week to helping out in an abortion clinic. Over years to come, in various settings, he continued this work, often braving protesters, sometimes wearing a bulletproof vest.
He knew George Tiller, the Kansas abortion provider shot dead in 2009 by an abortion foe.
THAT happened in a church, he noted. He hasn’t belonged to one since college. “Religion too often demands belief in physical absurdities and anachronistic traditions despite all scientific evidence and moral progress,” he said.
That sort of thing. Bruni ends with his anonymous friend, now a doctor, performing an abortion on one of the loudest pro-life protesters, who came to him on the sly because he was a familiar face. She supposedly told him that she wasn’t like those other loose women who sought abortions. A week later, we are told, she was back in front of the clinic, protesting.
The story is incredibly difficult to believe, even if you're not a naturally skeptical person.
The quotes and anecdote form what seem to be a too-perfect illustration of "what a gay secular liberal would want to see from the 'conversion' of a conservative Catholic. He becomes a pro-gay, agnostic abortionist." I agree.
Because I am a reporter, I've learned that perfect quotes are almost impossible to come by. Even more difficult are the perfect anecdotes. That they would combine in one individual is truly remarkable. I've never even come close to having it happen.
In other ways, though, the anecdote falls apart. We're told that the devout Catholic turned abortionist both led Bible studies after college but also never went to church. Right.
But the piece combines all sorts of predictable tropes -- that the only reason in the world someone might oppose the taking of life in the womb is because of irrational religious views, that (without abortion on demand) millions of women would be bleeding in the back allies and that deep down all abortion opponents are dirty rotten hypocrites.
That last part, about how each and every abortionist's worst protester magically arrives in his office at some point for an abortion, is such a regular tale as to be cliche. But I suspect that the operating word is 'tale.' I can see why abortion doctors and staff would want to justify what they're doing through the telling of such stories, but I just don't buy it. I'm sorry. I'm not saying it's not possible. Of course it is. But why does each and every abortion doctor tell exactly the same story? I mean, there are variations -- the worst protester brings his underage daughter in, for example.
But if you were going to devote your life's work to praying outside abortion clinics to end the scourge of abortion and then decided it would be a great idea to kill your unborn child, wouldn't you at the very least drive to a different clinic?
Journalists need to be more skeptical of too-perfect and "just so" stories.
Ramesh Ponnuru says he doesn't doubt the existence of the character, although he concedes the story "seems awfully pat." But, he asks, what's the point of the column?
Near as I can tell, it’s that liberals should look past their prejudices against fellow college students who wear suits to Mass, because some of them turn out to be really thoughtful, as evidenced by their growing up to be abortionists.
Which means it actually makes more of a point than most Bruni columns.
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Jun '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Hard to believe that a serial murderer would lie....
Aug '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
That's not that far-fetched. I stopped going to church because I thought it was boring, but I was a camp counselor at a Bible Camp and a drummer in a Christian rock band. There are plenty of people out there who choose Bible study as a more interesting alternative to church.
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Misthiocracy
That's not that far-fetched.
Right, you didn't go to church b/c you thought it boring. Compared to this tale:
Aug '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
So, he taught Bible study ... badly.
Again, I don't think that's terribly far-fetched.
May '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Frank Bruni's friend sounds like he might have known Forrest Gump.
Jun '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
It's rare for a conservative convert to liberalism. I can think of maybe one high-profile pundit. That would be David Brooks, whose conservative credentials have always been suspect anyway. On the other side of the ledger, the number of converts from liberalism to conservatism is lengthy: statesmen and luminaries from Ronald Reagan to David Mamet. If lefty pundits were honest, they might indulge in a little bit of introspection and ask why. It takes a curious kind of double-think to have to lie all the time to spread the truth.
Apr '11
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
It's not that far-fetched because the doctrine of the Church, (or to use the three-dollar word: ecclesiology) is sorely neglected by Christian leadership of all stripes. It is severely neglected by Roman Catholics, and practically absent from what is the already incredibly low-church world that is American evangelicalism.
That's the reason for such ideas as "Bible study as a more interesting alternative to church." It is no such thing.
"But wisdom is justified of all her children." (Luke 7:35)
Or, in this case, by all her missing children.
Apr '11
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
By the way, this story is very reminiscent of this Salon piece, which has a very similar look & feel, and for good reasons.
Jan '11
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
So, this fictional guy turned out to represent everything that I stand against? And Frank Bruni promotes him?
OK, two people out of 310 million whom I can happily avoid ...
Mar '11
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
None of my imaginary friends ever have such poignant tales to tell. They just want me to stay home and clean the guns.
Aug '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Misthiocracy
That's not that far-fetched. I stopped going to church because I thought it was boring, but I was a camp counselor at a Bible Camp and a drummer in a Christian rock band. There are plenty of people out there who choose Bible study as a more interesting alternative to church.
It's a bit different, though, if you're a liturgical Christian.
The sacraments are really important to Catholics. I could easily believe that a person raised Catholic might reject the sacraments and turn to Bible studies instead for devotion, but then he'd be functioning as a protestant Christian rather than a Catholic one.
I say this not being Catholic myself. Any Catholics out there are free to correct me.
Edited on March 27, 2012 at 6:37pmAug '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
But if you were going to devote your life's work to praying outside abortion clinics to end the scourge of abortion and then decided it would be a great idea to kill your unborn child, wouldn't you at the very least drive to a different clinic?
Oh, Mollie, I love you!
Feb '11
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Some non-pundits, though. In black robes. This phenomenon has been discussed here.
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
The only way Bruni's column could have been better? If the guy telling the story of his conversion was also his cab driver.
May '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Frank Bruni and Dr. Harvey... which also happens to be a 6 foot invisible Rabbit...
Aug '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
The only trouble is that everyone knows you can't afford a New York City taxi medallion on a doctor's salary.
Apr '11
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
It's a bit different, though, if you're a liturgical Christian.
The sacraments are really important to Catholics. I could easily believe that a person raised Catholic might reject the sacraments and turn to Bible studies instead for devotion, but then he'd be functioning as a protestant Christian rather than a Catholic one.
I say this not being Catholic myself. Any Catholics out there are free to correct me. · 2 hours ago
Edited 2 hours ago
MFR, Luther's ecclesiology's more robust; mere bible study wouldn't even be "functional" Protestantism. Presbyterians too, e.g.
Westminster Confession of Faith, 25:4
"This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. ...particular Churches which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances (i.e. sacraments) administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them."
Belgic Confession, Article 29
"The true church can be recognized if it has the following marks: ...the pure preaching of the gospel; ...the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them; ...church discipline..."
Less would be a "Christian-ism," but it is not Protestantism.
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
He could have saved a lot of time by just saying, “You know, I was once bigoted against a guy because of his religion. But then he converted to my religion, so now I like him.”
Aug '10
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
The New Clear Option
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
It's a bit different, though, if you're a liturgical Christian.
MFR, Luther's ecclesiology's more robust...
Yes, but Lutheranism is also liturgical. As are several other Protestant denominations, but not all.
Neither Quakers nor the Salvation Army practice Eucharist during worship, though both profess that all of life should be a sacrament of communion.
Other denominations, such as Mennonites, call these rituals ordinances, something done in remembrance, to distinguish them from a sacrament, a means of grace.
When rituals such as Eucharist are celebrated infrequently (just once a month or a few times a year, as in many Protestant congregations) and when they're regarded as ordinances rather than sacraments, then the distinction between church-worship and bible-study or fellowship worship becomes harder to see, and I wouldn't blame a self-described Protestant for missing it:
All include scripture and prayer, and a goodish-sized bible study often includes hymns, just as church-worship and fellowship worship do. Furthermore I would think many bible studies are large enough to count as "public worship". In fact, I'm not sure what distinguishes many bible studies from house-church worship.
Apr '11
Re: Frank Bruni's (Imaginary?) Friend
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Misthiocracy
That's not that far-fetched. I stopped going to church because I thought it was boring, but I was a camp counselor at a Bible Camp and a drummer in a Christian rock band. There are plenty of people out there who choose Bible study as a more interesting alternative to church.
It's a bit different, though, if you're a liturgical Christian.
The sacraments are really important to Catholics. I could easily believe that a person raised Catholic might reject the sacraments and turn to Bible studies instead for devotion, but then he'd be functioning as a protestant Christian rather than a Catholic one.
I say this not being Catholic myself. Any Catholics out there are free to correct me. ·
I studied theology at a pretty seriously liberal college (although I mostly studied under conservative professors). There were liberal Catholics who held bible study meetings but didn't go to church. I agree that it's less common than for low church types, but it doesn't strike me as unusual. Misthiocracy is right to say that it simply suggests he had "bad" bible study sessions. "Contextualizing" Christianity is a common hobby.