Dawn Eden reports:
Father James Martin S.J., associate editor of America, has confirmed in an e-mail to me that, as I reported yesterday, the Jesuit magazine sold its mailing list to an abortion-advocacy group, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
Here is his statement:
“As a result of an error by our business office staff, the magazine did inadvertently sell its list to that organization, and apologize to subscribers who received their mailing. Our publisher will request that they no longer use our list for their mailings, and we have already put in a tighter system to ensure that we don’t mistakenly sell to any group remotely like this one in the future.”
What is really sad here is that this pro-abortion group sees America Magazine readership as an audience for them and that they are probably right. I do not doubt that Father James Martin S.J. is pro-life himself. Though the America blog seems to see the most pro-abortion presidential candidate not only as a possible choice but is slanted towards him.
Though I guess a story about a mailing list is nowhere near as bad as the legalistic response from Bishop DiLorenzo when he was told Catholic Charity workers would be talking a girl under their charge to get an abortion.
3 comments
Sorta like the time America magazine accidently ran pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary covered in a condom.
But how dare we question their Orthodoxy?!
Closing the barn door a bit too late, dont you think ?
Except that the people who own the mailing lists do not SELL their lists, they RENT them; they also can ask to see a copy of each mailing the list is used for PRIOR to mailing and approve it or not (we do when we rent our highly specialized list); the contract has or SHOULD HAVE stipulations regarding cancellation by either side (for instance if the rentor mailed an un-agreed to piece), etc., etc.
This is like so much that’s been happening lately by Catholics who SHOULD and DO know better. An error by our business staff in this case; a misunderstanding in the Charities’ abortion for the girl; being surprised when the grade sachool teacher just lives with someone and wasn’t married. On and on and on.
I know the old saying that it’s “easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission,” but in so many of these cases it’s blatantly obvious that the “perpetrator” knew that he or she was doing wrong in advance. And doing it in Christ’s name as a Catholic magazine, charity, or school.
John