Hewitt and Fessio

Hugh Hewitt interviewed Fr. Joseph Fessio. Hewitt's book, Blog, got me blogging on a daily basis. After reading it, though, I suspected Hewitt was an anti-Catholic, possibly a bigoted one, but based on this interview, my fears were misplaced. Bigots are rarely so respectful. Link.

An excerpt from one of Fessio's many monologues (all worth reading):

I think there are 98 Islamic countries in the world, and 97 of them do not have religious freedom. The only one that does is Mali, where Timbuktu is, you know. It's in a desert, so you can hardly count it. Sorry about any Malians who are listening to this program. And that's what's going to happen to Europe. Once there's an Islamic majority, it is going to not...it's going to eliminate religious freedom. However...and therefore, Western civilization as we know it. However, in the United States, we also are not having children. There's abortion. There's contraception. There's the ideal of a one or two child family. But where is our immigration coming from? From Ecuador, from Mexico, from Cuba, from Guatemala. And these people are Christians. And so, I believe without being...you know, having hubris as an American, I believe that Christians in the United States are the ones who will be able to save not just Christianity, but Western civilization, if we maintain our fidelity to the scriptures, our fidelity to Christ, our fidelity to family life, and our fidelity to fertility and fruitfulness in marriage. So I believe we are in a world historical century, which is going to depend upon the strength of Christianity in these United States. I say I think that's...I may raise my voice. I may get excited. I might waive a Bible or something like that, but I believe this is the hard facts, unless God...He could always...He's in charge. He could perform a miracle. He could do something we can't possibly have foreseen. But I see that as what's happening.