Amazon Review -

"Why I am not a Catholic" by Dr. Peter Ruckman.

I had expected this book to rehearse the typical anti-Catholic arguments, but I got it because I thought it might offer some new challenges to the usual arguments. What I did not expect, and what I warn readers of all faith traditions about, is the ancient bigotry that bubbles throughout this short pamphlet.


I got as far as this gem, when I decided to post this review:

"That isn't all. Our High Priest is a "Bishop" (1 Pet. 2:25), so we true priests are not overjoyed when some wine-headed Wop or Marxist Polack goes around ordaining "archbishops" in his kingdom of death and hell (Isa. 28:15)."

Ruckman, Dr. Peter S. (2011-10-12). Why I Am Not A Catholic (Kindle Locations 288-290). BB Bookstore. Kindle Edition.

Wop? Polack?

Then, how about this?

"When Jackie jumped out of the backseat of her limousine in downtown Dallas (1963) to avoid an assassin's bullet, after seeing her husband with the BACK of his head blown out, she didn't waste time to "Hail Mary" long enough for "Mary" to look up from her Westinghouse washing machine. "Mary" was not only helpless in the emergency, good ole' Catholic "Jackie" didn't think she was even worth praying to. Jackie screamed what all Catholic sinners scream when facing death: "OH MY GOD!" That is what Mahatma Gandhi cried out when he was "whacked": "OOOH RAMA!"

Ruckman, Dr. Peter S. (2011-10-12). Why I Am Not A Catholic (Kindle Locations 255-259). BB Bookstore. Kindle Edition.

Dr. Ruckman is certainly within his right not to like the Kennedys - and as an Irish-Catholic whose mother hails from Boston I am proud of the fact that I will not accept second-place to anyone in my feeling of antipathy for the entire Kennedy clan - but it is just hideous for any person claiming the title of "Christian" to exploit such a moment of personal tragedy to take some kind of excitement in the death of anyone.

Here is another example:

"(They ought to call Catholic birth control pills "St. Joseph's Aspirin." You should be able to buy them in a Monastery: that is a "home for unwed fathers.")"

Ruckman, Dr. Peter S. (2011-10-12). Why I Am Not A Catholic (Kindle Locations 232-233). BB Bookstore. Kindle Edition.

And that must be really have busted them up at Klan meetings.

Here's another one that must have had many a wise head nodding before they put on their hoods for a round of church burning:

"I do not feel at all uneasy about claiming to be more Biblical than ANY Catholic priest who ever donned the Black African (the Latin Church originated in Africa, not Rome) Halloween costume, for I wear the common, ordinary, everyday clothing of my age and time--exactly like Jesus Christ did."

Ruckman, Dr. Peter S. (2011-10-12). Why I Am Not A Catholic (Kindle Locations 321-323). BB Bookstore. Kindle Edition.

And this:

"What would Paul or Jesus Christ have in common with a wine-drinking, pot-bellied, international politician who was head of a State (The Vatican State) and sat on a throne, and has people carry him around in a palanquin on their shoulders?"

Ruckman, Dr. Peter S. (2011-10-12). Why I Am Not A Catholic (Kindle Locations 65-67). BB Bookstore. Kindle Edition.

Particularly if they were "wops" or "pollacks."

And this:

"A brief roll call of the Roman Catholic Church would exhibit such an array of military dictators, hired killers, torturers, bootleggers, drug lords, assassins, cursing Catholic "hit men," extorting Catholic gangsters, and demon-possessed "saints" (Ligouri and Torquemada, for example) that it would make you sick to have to sit in the same auditorium with them if they were forty rows of pews away: Kennedy Sr. (bootlegger), Vito Genovese (professional killer), Lucky Luciano (head of the Cosa Nostra), Joe Bonanno (head of a Mafia family), "Chin" Gigante (Mafia capo), Salvatore Leggio (international drug lord), Dutch Schultz (gangster and bootlegger), Al Capone (Chicago gangster), Fidel Castro (Communist dictator), Tom Reina ("The Beast"), Pablo Escobar (drug lord), Albert Anastasia (head of Murder Incorporated), Joe Valachi (Mafia "wise guy"), John Gotti (Mafia capo), Sammy Granzano (Mafia "rat"), Paul Castellano (Mafia capo), Tony Arcardo (gangster), Vincent Spicuzza (hired killer), Bobby Kennedy (fornicator and kidnapper), Dion O' Banion (Chicago gangster), Vincent Drucci (gangster and killer), Giuseppe Masseria (Mafia capo), Carlo Gambino (Mafia drug lord), Sam Giancana (Mafia capo), Santo Trafficante (Tampa Mafia capo), Carlos Marcellow (New Orleans Mafia capo), Johnny Torrio (Chicago gangster), Salvatore Maranzano (Mafia capo), JFK (habitual fornicator, guilty of TREASON), Frank Costello (Mafia "advisor"), Big Jim Colismo (Chicago gangster), Pendergast (Kansas City gangster), Batista, Noreiga, and Marcos (Catholic Dictators)."

Ruckman, Dr. Peter S. (2011-10-12). Why I Am Not A Catholic (Kindle Locations 93-102). BB Bookstore. Kindle Edition.

Because, obviously, no one could come up with a similar list of Baptists or Lutherans.

Then there is this which is unintentionally funny:

"What a membership roll for the "ONE, TRUE, HOLY," Apostolic Church that the "Good Shepherd" (John 10; Matt. 16) founded! What a remarkable, progressive "improvement" over a membership that began with Peter, James, John, Paul, Thomas, Barnabas, Timothy, Matthew, Jude, Mark, Silas, Stephen, James (the Lord's brother), and Apollos!"

Ruckman, Dr. Peter S. (2011-10-12). Why I Am Not A Catholic (Kindle Locations 107-110). BB Bookstore. Kindle Edition.

Hmm...is anyone missing from that list?

Hey, how about Judas Iscariot, i.e., 1/12 of the Apostles?

I don't know who Dr. Ruckman is. I assume that he was an elderly man who was deeply set in the prejudices of another age and may well have gone very down the path of senile dementia when he published this book in 1997. We should, therefore, pray for him in that he was a product of his culture. However, his prejudice was not entirely excusable in that this pamphlet was written in 1997 and he claims to have heard Pope John Paul II, so he should have known better than to engage in this Know-Nothing kind of vitriol that - we hope - had died out of the culture of the Bible Belt in the waning days of the 20th Century.
 
Apart from the bizarre and dated bigotry of this short pamphlet, Dr. Ruckman's arguments are cliche and he makes numerous mistakes of fact. Even if you are someone looking for arguments to use against Catholics, I would recommend that you give this pamphlet a pass; if you read it, you may find yourself unintentionally quoting Dr. Ruckman's claims, which will cause you to suffer embarrassment when his factual mistakes are uncovered.

Update:

Wiki advises:

Other ideas

Ruckman does not believe that a fetus becomes a living soul until it is born and takes its first breath.[14] Ruckman also believes in UFOs and blue aliens with blue blood, black aliens with green blood, and gray aliens with clear blood.[15] Further, he believes the CIA has implanted brain transmitters in children, old people, and African-Americans and that the agency operates underground alien breeding facilities.[16] In 1997, Ruckman claimed that Attorney General Janet Reno had drawn up a list with his name on it and predicted that the "Government Mafia" would make a hit on him during "the next two or three years."[17]


Personal style

Ruckman is known for his confrontational approach. Beacham and Bauder declare that "Ruckman is without any doubt the most caustic and abusive among King James-Only partisans."[18] James R. White states in his book, The King James Only Controversy, that to call Ruckman "outspoken is to engage in an exercise in understatement. Caustic is too mild a term; bombastic is a little more accurate.…There is no doubt that Peter S. Ruckman is brilliant, in a strange sort of way. His mental powers are plainly demonstrated in his books, though most people do not bother to read far enough to recognize this due to the constant stream of invective that is to be found on nearly every page. And yet his cocky confidence attracts many people to his viewpoint."[19] One Ruckman letter to an opponent begins, "Dear Scumbucket."[20] The website of Ruckman's press notes that although some have called his writings "mean spirited," "we refer to them as 'Truth With An Attitude.'"[21] He once described the New American Standard Bible as "more of the same old godless, depraved crap"[22] and a rival KJV-Only supporter, a "puffed up conceited ass."[23] Although Ruckman graduated from Bob Jones University, he has referred to it as "the World's Most Unusual Hell Hole."[24]

Well, alrighty then...

Bottom line, save you hard-earned $2.99. 

I've read the book so that you don't have to.