While Buzzfeed videos are generally an entertainment source, a little accuracy and clarification has never killed anyone. A video produced by the site titled, "A Priest, Rabbi, and an Imam Walk Into a Bar..." was published on Sunday and depicts three religious figures discussing various social issues from abortion to feminism to religious extremism.
During the video, all three endorsed abortion (in certain circumstances) and religious pluralism. Both the priest and rabbi argued in favor of homosexual relationships. On Twitter, Catholics were aghast at the man apparently "chosen" to represent their faith.
Buzzfeed made a new video with a priest, a rabbi, and an Imam. Of course they chose a heretic priest. Of course.
— Rachel Claire (@misstrinity3n1) January 19, 2016
What Buzzfeed neglected to note, however, was that the priest in the video was not a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. While the man is only identified as "Rev. Garcia," someone in the comments recognized him from an Episcopal parish in Pasadena, CA. A quick Google search revealed that the man in the video is Rev. Francisco Garcia, a self-described "labor activist turned Episcopal priest."
The tags of the article, however, tell a different story and conceal the truth. The article is tagged with "Catholicism," "Catholic," "Pope," and "Francis"--all of which, obviously, concern Catholicism, and imply that one of the subjects in the video is actually a Catholic. Yet, no member of the Church is actually portrayed in the video, and the "Episcopalian" or "Protestant" tags were curiously absent.
A priest of the Episcopal Church is not the same thing a Catholic priest, and that should be clarified as such to avoid confusing people about the faith and what the religion actually teaches.
Further, what's the use of having a "discussion" among three people who, doctrinal differences aside, essentially all believe the exact same thing about social issues? It's a shame Buzzfeed was apparently unable to find a pro-life member of some sort of clergy in the city of Los Angeles. That would actually be an interesting conversation worth watching.
But would it kill BuzzFeed to meet people with truly different doctrinal views on the glories of aborting children and sex outside marriage?
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) January 19, 2016
Just as a Baptist minister isn't the same thing as a Mormon bishop, not all sects of Christianity believe the same thing. It's careless editing at best and purposefully dishonest at worst to imply as such.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member