Atlantic Writer Claims the Rosary is an Extremist Symbol for Christian Nationalists

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Atlantic Writer Claims the Rosary is an Extremist Symbol for Christian Nationalists

GP | August 15, 2022

Atlantic contributor Daniel Panneton has published an op-ed in which he claimed that the rosary is now a symbol of extremism.

The rosary, of course, is a string of beads or knots that are used by Catholics as they do a series of prayers.

In the article titled, “How the Rosary Became an Extremist Symbol,” Panneton claimed that “just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general, the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or ‘rad trad’) Catholics.”

Panneton claimed that “on this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal.”

The writer claimed that the “the rosary—in these hands—is anything but holy.”

Panneton noted that the rosary, a weapon against evil, is often shown in memes and merchandise alongside guns and imagery celebrating a warrior mentality.

“The militarism also glorifies a warrior mentality and notions of manliness and male strength,” Panneton wrote. “This conflation of the masculine and the military is rooted in wider anxieties about Catholic manhood—the idea that it is in crisis has some currency among senior Church figures and lay organizations. In 2015, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix issued an apostolic exhortation calling for a renewal of traditional conceptions of Catholic masculinity titled ‘Into the Breach,’ which led the Knights of Columbus, an influential fraternal order, to produce a video series promoting Olmsted’s ideas.”

The article went on to attack people who wish to defend their church and family.

“But among radical-traditional Catholic men, such concerns take an extremist turn, rooted in fantasies of violently defending one’s family and church from marauders,” he noted.

The op-ed was widely mocked online, particularly in a Catholic subreddit.

“It would be even more hilarious if people started praying the rosary outside his house in Toronto (so he can see them praying) for the salvation of his soul,” one user wrote.

Another replied, “Calling the police, ‘there are armed extremists outside my home!!'”

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Rosary Sales Surge After ‘The Atlantic’ Calls Rosary ‘An Extremist Symbol’
The Atlantic's hit-piece on Catholicism and the rosary has actually increased rosary sales.

National File [adapted] |  August 17, 2022

Three online shops have reported a massive surge in the sales of rosaries following The Atlantic, a massive mainstream media outlet, publishing a hit-piece on the rosary, labeling it a sign of extremism. Rosary vendors told Catholic News Agency that their sales and/or social media followings have boomed, probably to the spite of The Atlantic.

As National File previously reported, Daniel Panneton wrote an article in The Atlantic which called the Catholic rosary a “symbol” of religious radicalism.

The Atlantic piece, titled “How the Rosary Became an Extremist Symbol”, describes in a negative light, the rise of Catholic media groups or figures who “actively” campaign “against LGBTQ acceptance in the Church,” and other progressive issues in American society.

Panneton explained that these traditional Catholics on social media were radical because of so-called “extremist homophobic and transphobic “groomer” discourse.”

The far-Left Atlantic also mocked the idea of “rosary-branded events.” Panneton wrote, “On this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal.

The basic beliefs of Catholicism are evidence of “extremism” amongst politically active Catholics, according to Panneton.

The author hit back on traditional views of masculinity, grounded in the Catholic faith. “The militarism also glorifies a warrior mentality and notions of manliness and male strength. This conflation of the masculine and the military is rooted in wider anxieties about Catholic manhood.”

“But among radical-traditional Catholic men, such concerns take an extremist turn, rooted in fantasies of violently defending one’s family and church from marauders,” he added.

After attacking the Catholic religion’s views on homosexuality, transgender issues, pedophilia, and masculinity, the Atlantic went on to suggest the Church’s pro-life advocacy tied them to far-right extremism.

“The convergence within Christian nationalism is cemented in common causes such as hostility toward abortion-rights advocates,” Panneton claimed.

Fr. Pius Pietrzyk, OP, a Dominican priest of the Province of St. Joseph, told Catholic News Agency that the Atlantic piece was “classic misdirection.”

“The author takes what are basic Catholic positions on the nature of the Church, Christian morality, and the like, and posit that they are somehow ‘extremist.’  This is classic misdirection.”

CatholicVote, a Catholic super PAC and advocacy group, slammed the Atlantic for publishing “an attack on any religion’s sacred objects.”