On Friday's CNN Newsroom, Kyra Phillips boosted the latest musing of feminist blogger Amanda Marcotte, who deplored Pope Francis's recent advice to married couples to have children instead of going childless and owning pets instead. Phillips let the leftist writer assert that "the very notion that I'm anti-Catholic is completely ridiculous," but omitted the 2007 scandal where Marcotte had to leave John Edwards's campaign for a vulgar anti-Catholic screed.
The anchor also made it clear that she sympathized with her guest's pro-contraception, pro-population control column for The Daily Beast on Friday: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]
KYRA PHILLIPS: Well, and there were a number of other things I was thinking about, right? The reality of loveless marriages, okay? There's people that can't have kids; the fact that the animals – you know, look, I know a lot of people where their animals bring them so much love and comfort and balance in their lives. So, do you think that you would like to see him come back and, maybe, address some of these realities and how that might have made people feel?
Marcotte replied by contending that "the progressive thing has been overblown from the beginning. He's certainly, like, more progressive on certain economic issues than his predecessor, but he has the same attitudes about birth control; gay rights; and yeah, like, whether or not married couples should be allowed to be childless, as his predecessor."
Phillips then read a snarky excerpt from the Daily Beast writer's article, "Pope Francis Is Wrong About My Child-Free Life." However, she did point out in her follow-up question that the Bishop of Rome is "pro- family," and asked, "Doesn't it make sense that he would come out and say something like this?"
The ultra-left blogger, who regularly bashes pro-lifers and tries to sell abortion as good for society, replied that "there's no big surprise there, but it doesn't mean that he's not expressing the sentiment that a lot of people who aren't conservative Catholic pontiffs also agree with. And I think that it was a perfect opportunity to push back and talk about the value of being childless. I mean, it's not for everybody, obviously, but...we're making this decision for a good reason."
Near the end of the segment, Phillips highlighted that "there's a lot of criticism out there on the blogs about what you wrote – even saying that you're spewing anti-Catholic vomit. It's pretty intense." She then wondered, "How do you respond to that?" Marcotte then made her assertion that "the very notion that I'm anti-Catholic is completely ridiculous." However, her writings since 2007 reveal that the contrary is actually true.
Back in 2011, the feminist blogger slammed the cost of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Spain for World Youth Day, and recommended that women to "simply stop being a Catholic, and tell the Pope and his minions to buzz off with their obsession with controlling women and punishing female sexuality." More recently, in February 2014, Marcotte defended the U.N's slam of Catholic teachings in a human rights report: "When Catholic doctrine comes into conflict with human rights, it is the U.N.'s job to prioritize human rights....This negative reaction [from the Vatican] is just more of the same, with the Catholic Church putting its doctrine and authority in front of the needs of its parishioners."
Earlier in the interview, the guest advised the Pope Francis to "really sit and think about the arguments from the other side – why people don't want children; why they might use birth control to delay having children – all of those things. I don't think that's going to happen." Marcotte should take her own advice with regard to the Catholic faithful and the teachings they hold dear.
The full transcript of the Amanda Marcotte segment from Friday's CNN Newsroom:
KYRA PHILLIPS: All right, let's talk about married couples without kids. Listen up, okay, because the Pope has a very strong message for you: pets are no substitute for children. Francis has been a popular pontiff, as you know, since taking over as pope. But the message that he delivered this week – it is creating a lot of criticism and a lot of talk.
Here is a bit of what Francis actually said – quote, 'This culture of well-being from ten years ago convinced us it's better not to have children. It's better that you can go explore the world, go on holiday, you can have a villa in the countryside, you can be care-free.' Well then, he goes on to say: 'Then, in the end of this marriage' – or this – 'The end of marriage comes to old age in solitude, with the bitterness of loneliness.'
Did you get all of that? I probably fumbled the quote. (laughs) But I want to bring in Daily Beast contributor Amanda Marcotte. She will not bumble the quote. She has plenty to say about what the Pope said. And basically, it's a call for procreation over pets, you know? Amanda, he was touted as a progressive pope. Do you still think he is after hearing this?
[CNN Graphic: "Pope To Couples: Raise Kids, Not Pets"]
PHILLIPS: Well, you wrote in your blog – you said: 'My first instinct, as a deliberately childless person myself, upon reading Pope Francis's remarks was to think, if you could think having children is so important, then why don't you go first?' Now he's the Pope, all right? He's pro- family. Doesn't it make sense that he would come out and say something like this?
MARCOTTE: Yeah, it makes perfect sense and – you know, obviously, there's no big surprise there, but it doesn't mean that he's not expressing the sentiment that a lot of people who aren't conservative Catholic pontiffs also agree with. And I think that it was a perfect opportunity to push back and talk about the value of being childless. I mean, it's not for everybody, obviously, but – you know, those of us that choose to go throughout life without having children – you know, we're making this decision for a good reason – for many good reasons.
PHILLIPS: Well, and there were a number of other things I was thinking about, right? The reality of loveless marriages, okay? There's people that can't have kids; the fact that the animals – you know, look, I know a lot of people where their animals bring them so much love and comfort and balance in their lives. So, do you think that you would like to see him come back and, maybe, address some of these realities and how that might have made people feel?
MARCOTTE: You know, I would love it if he would really sit and think about the arguments from the other side – why people don't want children; why they might use birth control to delay having children – all of those things. I don't think that's going to happen. I do think it would be nice if he acknowledged how hurtful his statements were to infertile couples at least. I think that's in the realm of possibility.
PHILLIPS: Yeah, I'm one of those lucky people. Because of fertility, I have beautiful twins, and let me tell you, I'm glad to know – I hope to know they will be by my bedside at the end.
Finally, I've just got to get your response: there's a lot of criticism out there on the blogs about what you wrote – even saying that you're spewing anti-Catholic vomit. It's pretty intense. How do you respond to that?
MARCOTTE: You know (Marcotte and Phillips laugh), a lot of Catholics – believing Catholics – choose not to have children. Almost all believing Catholics choose to use contraception, despite the Pope forbidding it. The very notion that I'm anti-Catholic is completely ridiculous. I'm supporting a decision that many Catholics make; and more generally, I'm supporting a belief that most Catholics agree with, which is that people should have a right and ability to decide for themselves if they have children and how many children that they want have.
PHILLIPS: Amanda, thanks for being with me – appreciate it.
MARCOTTE: Thank you.
