The Online Cult of Fr. Zuhlsdorf.
But first, connecting the dots about linkies…
I’m not linking to anyone in this post, but surfing around the blogosphere, I have come to realize why some people link to the people they do. Just because one has a blog does not mean people will link to you. There is a status quo one must live up to in order to get the linkies thing going on. (I’m always the last to learn these things.)
Well, first of all, people have to read your blog and like it for them to want to link to it. (Which is why I have so few readers by the way.) Having said that, if someone has a literary blog, or an intellectual blog, they may read you, but you are not qualified enough to be on their blogroll. Nothing wrong with that.
Now I’ve commented in the past few weeks how certain cafeteria blogs seem to be trying to appeal to more sophisticated intellectual/news blogs while being somewhat dismissive of their original “lunatic fringe” fan base. It all gets so complicated.
Blog hostilities.
Now I find blog competition rather interesting, especially as it involves the elitism of several quality blogs. It is all rather humbling. Many bloggers, from whatever school of thought they hail from, tend to be more or less elitists. I’ve noted liberal and conservative Catholics alike refer to their inferiors and those who disagree with them as ‘wackos”. (They also will refer to their commenter’s with the same condescending tone.) I actually like that in some respects - they sort of cancel one another out that way, and it helps me maintain a proper introspection.
Recently, a Catholic blog that is considered to be rather liberal, let’s call it “Vox Nova” (I rather like the blog BTW) has entertained me with the lively comments their posts generate concerning the “wackos” on the Internet. Actually, this is where I learned that what I write just doesn’t count for the many elitists out there. (There is one blog in Asia…) And no, I am not offended, and I keep going back to these blogs, mainly because I enjoy other writer’s point of view - and as Liza Minelli said, “I think that’s the greatest gift one can have!” (LOL! Again!)
Finally, that “wingnut loon” and his crazy followers.
No - a commenter on that “liberal Catholic” blog was not using that term for me - although many others might - but rather for Fr. Zuhlsdorf. In fact, another commenter added, “Of course, the online cult of Fr. Z. is going to be upset that their oracle has been denounced. Seriously, he seems to be the major spirit behind the radical Catholics on the net, making them feel like they are in the norm when the reverse is the actual case. “Save the liturgy, save the world” craziness says it all — the liturgy doesn’t need to be saved.” (I don’t want to link to the article because they probably already think I’m a wingnut too. LOL!)
I especially like the last comment. “The online cult of Fr. Z.” Aside from demeaning his vast readership, it also demonstrates my point: There are various factions and cliques in the blogosphere; little people and big people, has beens and haven’t beens, employed and unemployed, intellectual and banal, spiritual and gnostic, trad and lib, and so on and so on. Some get their breaks with other media, other’s troll around the net, hoping to get their own “cult”… It is pretty much about power and influence, although it is much more about look at me, listen to me, support me. Me.
Cat Fight Update! (4:20 PM)
Oh crap! It is just too funny to miss, so I’ll link - go to Vox Nova and read for your self.