Chris Blosser has compiled an extensive and wide-ranging blog post on his investigations in IHS Press and potential connections to fascists and anti-Semitic organizations. IHS Press gained some fame when it launched in the past few years with a mission of re-printing the classics of Catholic Social Teachings. That goal was lauded by many mainstream Catholics who were trying to counter variations of secular conservatism and liberalism that were at odds with the Church’s teachings.
IHS Press veered into a more controversial area last year with the publication of a two-part anthology called “Neo-Conned” and “Neo-Conned Again” about the War in Iraq, featuring a lot of well-known names including Patrick Buchanan, Bishop Michael Botean, Deacon Keith Fournier, and others.
But Blosser has found some darker connections between IH Press’s founders and some very unsavory groups and IHS appears to be trying to deflect inquiries or criticism into those connections. Read the whole thing for more.
Thanks for the link, but the “lion’s share of the credit” goes to Matt Anger and Fringe Watch, who has been tracing these connections in his investigative blog for the past three months.
Had Sharpe expressed the slightest bit of concern over Michael Hoffman II’s writing and views on Judaism, or Derek Holland’s ideological history as a Third Positionist; or admitted that he was indeed the founder of Legion of St. Louis but had repudiated the opinions he was disseminating at the time as editor, I would have been inclined to let the matter rest and give IHS Press the benefit of the doubt.
But the fact that he immediately went on the defensive in his support for Michael Hoffman II’s Strange Gods of Judaism, professed lack of concern for Derek Holland and the questionable activities of the LSL (including materials sold through its website) prompted the further investigation and the post.
Be sure to read the comments, as there is a good discussion going on at the moment.
I find this all very depressing and familiar. All the usual antisemitic characters are present, and using all the tools of their nafarious trade. Obfuscation, semantic acrobatics, misquotes, deliberate lies, hiding in plain sight….everything.
I thank God for people like Chris Blosser and Matt Anger, because, as a Jewish Catholic myself, I know that no one will listen to a word I have to say on the subject.
While I have spoken to him in several years, I can’t imagine Deacon Keith Fournier promoting any form of anti-semiticism. He used to be the director of Student Development at Francsican University and I have heard him give many speeches in many different contexts. I have never heard anything from him which would even make anyone think that he was anti-semetic.
While we are listing those who have had things published there, we need to be careful not to give the impression that their association makes them guilty of such a terrible thing as anti-semiticism.
Mistake
While I have not spoken to him….
It is the contention of my post that “there were also good Catholics who supported this project [Neo-Conned], either by contributing their work or lending their voice in endorsement—Would they have done so as readily had they been fully aware of the ideological affiliations of its publishers?”
Deacon Keith is greatly concerned and demands a full investigation, and it is my hope that others involved will be concerned enough about these ideological connections to do so as well.