Reading response

of the Religion and Theology of the Teacher 2 February Reading Response The article The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk by Ruth Hughes not only sheds light on the various aspects of religious tolerance in the US but it also shows as to how any opposition to a religious entity, either direct or intended was dealt with.
The one important thing that follows from this article is that the idea of conspiracy theory is imbued deep into the American way of life. Luckily such religious intolerance has diluted with time. This article shows as to how the written word was used to demonize any particular religious sect. The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk hits at the very fundamentals of the Catholic Church that are purity and chastity. The amazing thing is that most of the ideas extended by the original work and its critics are in the nature of fictitious blames and lack any substantial material to base them on. The article also shows how the nation has a long standing history of being scared of minorities and diversity. It was not without a reason that the book, The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk won an avid readership, not only in her days, but even today. The irony that the American masses do have a history of being afraid of the foreign and the different does ensue from this article. The writer in a way does succeed in bringing out the fact that the work The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk did intend to present the Catholic Church as a symbol of evil and it strongly intended to present the Catholic priesthood as embodiment of carnal pleasures and immorality. The author brings out the fact that Maria Monks never resided in a Catholic convent and that her mental capacities and morality were never beyond doubt.
There is other side of the coin also. It is obvious that the writer Ruth Hughes is a Catholic and intends to unravel the lying and falsehood resorted to by Maria Monks and her supporters, to debase and vilify the Catholic Church. However, while doing so, Hughes did fail many times to show the kindness, compassion and forgiveness that so typically define the Catholic faith. Instead one is resorting to the kind of aggressive and base tactics that were resorted to by one’s opponents. Ruth Hughes is trying to do away with the accusation made by Maria Monks and her supporters by vilifying their character and sense of morality and ethics. It would have been much saner if Hughes had come down on this vilification of the Catholic by taking a higher ground. This would have presented one’s faith to the readers in a more favorable and benign light and would have brought out the irresponsible attitude of one’s enemies.
On the one side this article shows as to how the minorities and religious differences were conspired against in the US. On the other side it also reveal as to how religion, irrespective of the sect it is loyal to does use character assassination as a tool to come down on one’s opponents.
Source
Hughes, Ruth. The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monks. Web. 2 February 2015.