ODD CAUSE FOR HOPE

The news has been amazing lately.  There are extreme pro-abortion laws passing in some states.  Government (your) money proposed to teach boys how to be drag queens in libraries which is classified as “art.”  A local government working at closing a Catholic school for hiring teachers and teaching what the Church has always believed and taught.  The Olympics are apparently going to allow transgender (former?) men to compete against women.  And as you well know, it is far crazier than this out there.  Some of the things coming out in the news is the stuff that, when I was a kid, would have been thought ridiculous if used in a work of fiction.

Now, hold on to your hats - I am not entirely sad about this radicalizing of these issues.  In fact, I hope that they continue to get wilder and more extreme.  As it has always been said, “The Devil will out himself.”  In other words, these types of movements are never satisfied with how they impact our culture.  They always stretch to the extreme and logic consequence, which tend to be destructive and deadly.  Eventually (and I believe that I will see it in my lifetime) society, having to cope with and clean up the mess being caused by our world right now will begin a radical (and I hope not too far) swing in the opposite direction.  There is my hope. 

LIVING A FAIRY TALE LIFE

Could we be living out the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood?

One of the original titles of this story is, “The False Grandma,” which might fit better.

A QUICK SYNOPSIS:  The Big Bad Wolf BBW wants to eat Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH) and the food in her basket and so runs ahead of her to grandma’s house, does away with grandma, disguises himself as her and lays in wait for LLRH.  When she comes in, everything SEEMS normal but something is off and she can’t quite put her finger on it.  So she asks questions.  “Gee grandma, what big ears you have.”  “The better to hear you with my dear . . . “

So imagine, if you will, that LLRH is our young.  Grandma stands for 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian culture.  The Big Bad Wolf is modern, politically correct culture that takes its place and seems, in many ways, to be so right, but there is something off about it.

Maybe the BBW is the Gillette commercial.  “This sounds right.  But why am I questioning it?”  Maybe it is the abortion laws coming out of New York.  “The better to give you freedoms my dear.”  “Freedom” and “Choice” sound like such good things.  Why does the country feel uncomfortable about them in this situation and are asking questions?

What we need more than ever is the lumberjack to come on the scene to unmask the BBW for who he is, to restore grandma, and allow LRRH to live in true peace and freedom.  The lumberjack comes in many forms.  One of the most powerful manifestations is Wisdom.  Wisdom sees what is and understands what is beneath the shiny, promising facade, beneath Grandma’s night cap to the self serving predator beneath.

True wisdom comes from contemplation, meditation, study, searching out truths from the past that have been thoroughly thought about by the greatest minds of Western Culture, digging beneath the surface, thinking through to logical conclusions, to grasp the bigger picture, to be a man or woman of intelligence, not just facts. 

Every trap requires some complicity from the prey.  The mouse has to step on the lever when its greed pulls it toward the too easily proffered cheese.  It’s time to stop being mice.

GUARDS AND METAL DECTECTORS VS PRIESTS AND CONFESSIONALS

“Outrage is an appropriate response to the carnage in Parkland, but it’s not an answer.”  This was written by Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune as reprinted in the Akron Beacon Journal on February 18th.  “Those demanding dramatic action accuse those who disagree of enabling murder.  But it’s no sin to reject false remedies.”  

The “cure” for which so many people are looking is various forms of gun control.  Unfortunately, at least according to this article which sited various studies including “a 2013 study of the 1994 law for the National Institute of Justice” which said, “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence” and that any such ban, “is likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.”

But we want this so badly because it seems like an obvious and effective action item.  It seems to make sense.  We can all rally behind this and DO SOMETHING that will help rid us of these atrocious situations and sooner rather than later.

One thing we are sure we CANNOT do is hold a prayer service in the school for the various “good” reasons that such things are banned (although crosses and candles did make an appearance but I am sure that will be overlooked.)  If there is one thing that might bring comfort at all to a horrific situation like this is the idea that these kids have souls that are taken care of, that they live onion some way, and that there is hope.  But instead the will receive metal detectors, guards, safe spaces, counseling, assemblies on how to spot potential threats among their peers, and have active shooter drills.

This will possibly keep them alive longer.  But it is not the one thing that will give them hope forever; the one thing that gives them hope even in the very teeth of death.  It is the knowledge that there is hope even in death.  It is this hope that give a person the power to be stronger than their fears.  Bravery gives way to courage.  Courage allows us to crawl out from behind our walls and out of our safe spaces and reach out in charity.  And charity alone will bring about the healing we need to bring about the long term, peaceful solutions we need to foster sanity in our culture.  Granted, it may only bring healing to the individual at first.  Then maybe to those around him.  If they are lucky, they will bring healing to their small community. It may take most of their lives to accomplish this but better to take a long time than waste our time doing things that only work marginally at best.  And kept up, it could eventually change the very culture in which we live, which historically we see can happen.

Have you ever noticed that none of these shootings take place at a Catholic school?  There has been one Catholic school campus shooting since at least the 1920s and that was in 1979 when a 21 year old man shot and wounded 4 people at Gonzaga University.  That is not to say that it could not happen.  Every pastor who has a school prays daily that this will not happen at his school.  But even if there 20 in the next month, it would not remotely come close to the number of schools that have had them.  

There are a lot of factors to give reason for this, but not the least of which is we are allowed to say from a Divine standpoint that killing is wrong, bullying is wrong, shutting out the world is wrong, not caring for others is wrong, and not forgiving and being forgiven is wrong.

A guard and a metal detector or a priest and confessional box?  If you had to take a wild guess, which of these would you say might bring about a longer lasting, more positive change to our nation’s problems?a

THOSE WHO IGNOR THE PAST ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO MANIPULATION

Before you read this I want to make very clear that I am proud of my seminary, recommend it, and have great faith in what is happening there.  These events clearly happened in the past and were limited and are only used as an example.

When I was in the seminary, our entire, official exposure to the Mass as it was celebrated before Vatican II was a videotape played in fast forward by a professor who spent the entire three minutes making fun of the Mass with witticisms such as, “Look how funny they look taking off and putting on their hats.”  The clear message was, “Old is bad, only the new is good.”  I seethed with anger.  This was the Mass my parents, my grandparents, well . . . all of my historical family (and the majority of saints) celebrated and grew in sanctity through.  But we stayed silent.  Even attendance at one of these Masses were possible grounds to be removed from the seminary.

Fortunately things have changed.  The problem with this is the ignorance and error that it promotes.  By removing history and our connection to the past, the sole authority becomes the person in power.  As proof of this, even the Vatican II documents were called into question.  If there were something that directly opposed what a particular professor was saying, the answer was not in debating what was said but a justification was made that the portion of the document in question was clearly a “compromise” (RE: the Holy Spirit was definitely not present in this part of the document) and so it could be ignored - not dealt with - ignored.  From there, a person with power can lead you in all kinds of directions in line with or not in line with the Church and their position would be valid until someone with more power would take their place.

However, a Catholic steeped in history, mired in Church teaching, braced by the hermeneutic continuity can only be set adrift so far before the disharmony of his spiritual life and that of the Democracy of the Dead (as G. K. Lewis spoke our 2,000 year shared history of the practice of the faith) helps correct his course.

This concept is not just handy, it is of vital importance and here are two reasons why:  Say a set of parents has a child and they have decided not to “force” any religion on their child but rather let them decide for themselves what faith they want to be.  Statistically they will choose either nothing or a hodgepodge of convenient things.  This is because they have no ground on which to stand in order to judge all other positions.  It is all just soup.  There is no traction.  But as Archimedes said, “Give me a firm place on which to stand and I will move the earth.”

The same thing could be said of a study of Western culture.  It is vital that we hand on the culture that has been given to us to the next generation.  As much as it may need “fixing” it has gotten us somewhere.  It is not a marble statue to be handed on and preserved exactly.  It is rather like a clay statue to be improved by every generation.  If it is not handed on, then every generation must start from scratch.  Instead of being handed a clay statue, they are given a formless lump of clay.  This leaves them vulnerable to persons of unchallenged and perhaps unproven power to come along and shape their clay for them and not having anything to which they might compare it, allows for manipulation in the extreme.

History and culture are not weights to be discarded so that we might be free to have a better future, they ARE the very tools we need to create a better future.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ELEVATING AND USE OF THE WORD "INTERESTING"

I was so disturbed yesterday I was nauseous.  On my day away I went to a museum to be inspired and rejuvenated by beauty.  My disappointment knew no bounds.  Far from being inspired in my vocation and personal life, I felt cheated (mostly out of the price of admission.)  There were (granted - in my estimation) a few worthy pieces but the rest were laughable, requiring dossier length descriptions with the kicker line, “which means this piece means nothing” or something rather ridiculous that no-one would pick up on their own.  It is interesting to note that nobody was there and it was all funded by corporations.  

Then it hit me.  If the name of the institution was changed I MIGHT be less inclined to feel insulted.  Let us suppose that the name of the place to which I went was the Ohio Museum of Art.  If it were changed to the Ohio Museum of Interesting, I think I might be less inclined to be  insulted (but still a little bitter about my loss of money.)  (INTERESTING:  That which draws one's attention.  Note that this word does not infer a value judgement.)  I thought, what if this display was introduced with a sign the read in part, “Here are some objects showing some techniques and ideas that might be of interest to you.”  Seeing it in that light (making the admission that these objects, while interesting, are not necessarily pieces of art) allowed me to at least take in the displays without anger.

To be fair, I did see two other people there (the only two) who DID seem engrossed in the works - sitting and staring, not with looks of disbelief but with what appeared to be genuine interest.  (Unless, of course, I mistook them for another installation entitled Interested Museum Patrons.)  

Yes, I know I am not sophisticated enough to “get it.”  Who am I to say what art is and isn’t.  But I have a very difficult time imagining that much of this display will be around a 100 years inspiring the next generation of artists.  And I know that Rocco architecture was considered by many to be terrible when it was first introduced and now it is cherished.  But so much of what I saw yesterday appeared to me to be so self involved and un-beautiful that it did not inspire me to go out and make a more beautiful, fascinating world, but rather, a piece of me was left behind and died there.

If you agree, what can you do about it?  Support arts when you see something worthwhile.  Go see an installment you think worthy.  Make a donation.  Stop buying “art” out of catalogues and buy or commission a piece for your home.  Encourage your parish and your community to sponsor art that you deem worthwhile.  He who pays the fiddler calls the tune.  Those who support artists also influence what they create and lean.  

There is an artist I recently asked to create for me a drawing of St. Sebastian.  The work he normally does and is paid for is a bit lurid.  But I saw a lot of potential there and for at least one project he had to learn about a saint and his story and create something (once again, I know, in my opinion) beautiful  It’s a drop in the bucket - but hey - it was a drop in the bucket!

MAYBE IT SHOULDN'T MATTER - BUT IT DOES

In the constant war over what is appropriate clothing for any given situation, there is the assumption that we are dealing with the same philosophy, which we are not.  Just as much of the art world turned from an expression of a shared truth or beauty to an almost masterbatory self expression, the way many present themselves to the public has turned from my respect of the other in the way I dress to “This is me and you need to accept me for who I am.”  I doubt anybody is 100% in one category or the other, but a person tends to fall more heavily into one than the other.

I remember an interview an actress about 30 years ago on television.  She wore jeans, had bare feet, and sat cross legged on her couch and proclaimed, “This is me!  This is who I am.”  What she was saying in that is, “and you matter less.  I am popular enough to pull this off.  And if you want to interview me - deal with it.”

Maybe this is coming off a bit hard.  There is some amount of good in this (and is perhaps why most people fall to some degree into both categories.)  People should be accepted for who they are.  Judgement should not be passed on somebody because of their appearance.  There are all kinds of reasonable explanations why someone might not appear in what others may consider appropriate in any given situation.  Soon I will find myself in a part of Florida where nobody has a beard and they wear pastel clothing while all I own is northern, darkly saturated colors.  They will have to get over it.

ON THE OTHER HAND, a healthy society also takes in to account the other person.  How I appear also expresses my respect for you.  From fast food restaurants to lawyer’s offices they get this.  This is why they have uniforms and dress codes and don’t allow their employees to wear cut off jeans and T-shirts.  And if a man puts on a tie (or a collar) in order to speak with you, he is showing you great respect.  If I go to court in a torn undershirt and biker pants, it may be a clear indication that I am not taking this or your authority very seriously.  

A certain amount of conformity (dressing up for Mass for example) means that I think Mass important and that I identity and respect the people of this community.  Dressing down is often a sign that I don’t think that this is all THAT important and perhaps I am more concerned with finding “my look” than being part of the group.  (And then a person gets to judge the group for being judgmental.)  

That being said, there have been plenty of times, before I was a priest, that I ended up at Mass in band and basketball uniforms, and any other number of unusual costumes.  I was the organist and often had weekend gigs doing something that I had to sneak out of long enough to play Mass and then run back.  

In any event, how one adorns their body says SOMETHING.  Maybe not always aligned with the judgement of another (good or bad) but is a good idea to be aware of where on the scale of “All About Me” and “All About You” that you fall.

"ONE OF THE WORSE CASES WE'VE SEEN IN A LONG TIME"

When a woman wants to marry a man, she should check out to see how he treats his mother.  That should give her some clue as to his character.  At least that is the theory.

If that is true, it might be divined that you might be able to tell how a country treats it’s most vulnerable citizens by how it treats its animals.  And recently a young Akron man was sentenced under a new Ohio law that makes cruelty an to an animal a felony.  A pet cat relieved himself on him and scratched him and then he threw the cat against a wall so seriously injuring the animal that it later died.  Since it was his first offense, he avoided serving six to twelve months in jail.  The judge gave him a suspended 9 month prison sentence with two years probation during which time he, “must stay away from and not possess pets . . . undergo assessments for anger management, mental illness, and drug dependency, remain drug and alcohol free, and have no contact with his former roommate.”

All this sends a clear signal that we will not tolerate cruel treatment of our animals.  The judge said that the defendant’s actions, “led to a death in one of our most vulnerable populations.”  These are lives entrusted to us, who are dependent upon us, who have no voice, no vote, few rights, and who are almost completely dependent upon the beneficence of humankind.  It is unconscionable that we should have been given such a great responsibility and then to be the agent pain and death.  So we have legislated morality to make sure that careless, thoughtless human beings will stand up to the task of caring for vulnerable animal life while at the same time having protected rights and even government assistance when needed to do away with their own children in the womb.  

SAVE CIVILIZATION - BUY ART

You want to start influencing our culture by supporting artists but you aren’t ready to commission a work yet.  Maybe you are more interested in purchasing a painting already produced.  That is also very helpful.

A good first step is visiting galleries.  This can be intimidating at first.  Depending on where you go there may be a certain “snooty” atmosphere.  Other places are very welcoming.  

RULE NUMBER ONE:  Do NOT be intimidated by the snooty factor.  You have every right to be in the store.  That’s what it is.  A store.  But because they sell art they call it a gallery.  Conduct yourself (and your children) as you would in a museum and you will be fine.

RULE NUMBER TWO:  Do NOT be concerned that gallery owner is following you around at a polite distance.  You will find this at museums also.  This is in order for the gallery owner to protect his art and to be ready at hand should you want to ask a question.

RULE NUMBER THREE:  Do NOT be intimidated by sticker shock.  It is going to cost more than you hoped.  Some things are just going to be ridiculously out of your price range.  STILL LOOK!  It is still there to be enjoyed and for you to see what is being produced and to refine what you like.  (And more expensive does not necessarily mean better.)

Lots of things can happen here.  Twice now I’ve met artists doing this.  Once was with a painting that was so far out of my reach as to be ridiculous.  Getting to know the artist and telling him what I liked about the painting (but with the forewarning that I was NOT going to buy it) he was able to produce something for me closer to my comfort level (price wise) and we have had a good relationship ever since.  Once I just plain met an artist and his story about his background and the about the painting just led me to buy it.

RULE NUMBER FOUR:  It’s Okay to be “Just looking.”

RULE NUMBER FIVE:  Some galleries carry new artists that are just getting started.  The have not fully matured yet but their work is very promising and much more affordable (or you just plain like it.)  That is why visiting galleries is valuable.  You get an idea of artists, prices, and what an individual gallery carries.  (Some are just always ridiculous.)

RULE NUMBER SIX:  Don’t invest in paintings like stocks and bonds.  You most likely will lose out.  Buy it because it is art and you like it.  And like wine, don’t say you like it just because somebody said you should.  (Be open to appreciating the work, but that is different than liking it.)  My mother had a secret love for wine others considered low brow.  But you know what, when she drank it she was happy.  Get the painting you want to live with.

RULE NUMBER SEVEN:  Don’t buy it because it’s “pretty.”  Ask yourself what it means to you.  How does it speak to you on a deeper level?  How does it make you feel?  Does it spark memories?  Does it resonate with something you believe in?  Is it “different?”  What does the artist, in your estimation, seem to be doing?  What was the artist’s technique?  Does that strike you as fascinating?  Do you hope that more of the type and subject of painting that you purchased will be produced?  Especially in this last point - if you don’t like it, don’t support it.

Determine as much about the painting as you can in your own mind before asking about it.  The gallery owner or the artists may have insights incredibly different than your own.  Once they tell you theirs, yours may be gone lost forever.  

RULE NUMBER EIGHT:  Walk away.  Buy it tomorrow.  See if it still calls to you after you leave.  This has worked tremendously with me.  Only one time did I ever look back and regret not buying a painting.  (20 years ago.)  It was in Hot Springs Arkansas.  Gosh!  I liked that painting and would like to have it to this day to share with others.  But . . . whatever.

RULE NUMBER NINE:  Have things in mind such as how large of a painting you can accommodate.  I made a fatal error once.  I have a painting too big to hang.  Something will done.  I have ideas.  But for now . . . hmmmmmm.

RULE NUMBER TEN:  Don’t be talked into something you don’t like.  The person doing the talking doesn’t have to live with it.  But DO spend some time with things and try to understand things that you don't like.  It can be fun and enlightening like eating your broccoli that later you discover you like.

RULE NUMBER ELEVEN:  Have fun.  Enjoy this.  If you are getting too tense walk away, shake it off, get a cup of coffee, and come back when you are in a better state of mind. 

IS IT TIME FOR THE RETURN OF THE GOOD DAD?

As mentioned Monday I was with some other priests during the Super Bowl.  Although it turned out to be a great game, at first I had more investment in the commercials than in the particular teams.  At one point during the commercials we looked at each other and said, “What is this?  Good Father Week or something?”  There just seemed to be a preponderance of “good Dad” commercials.

 

It is sad that we are so incredibly used to poor father figures in movies, in sit-comes, in books, and in the public awareness that we would find the presentation of positive role models odd.  One of them actually made me tear up a bit – not something you want to do during a football game, and so I excused myself to get another snack before anyone would notice.

 

A commentary recently said that Super Bowl commercials reflect where the nation is at the moment.  I don’t know if I would go quite that far, but it is an indication of something going on within at least a portion of our culture.  If it wouldn’t sell, they wouldn’t have used it for a commercial.

 

Is it true?  Are we ready for positive father figures?  Do we yearn of the “good father?”  Are we ready to inspire instead of pander?  Are we willing to reinvest in the family?  As they used to say, “Stay tuned.”

HAMBURGER VOCATION

This weekend is vocation awareness weekend.  “Vocation” means more than a priestly or religious life.  There are many vocations within the Church.  Marriage is also a vocation.  Religious life is a vocation.  The chosen single life is a vocation.  A vocation helps us live out our service to God.  One first chooses how they are called to serve and then figures out which vocation best fits their calling. 

If you have yet to figure out your vocation, actively look into it, pursue it, and live it with a vengeance!  Choose rather than settle for what is left to you.  If you are already in a vocation, start today to rededicate yourself to your vocation.  Let it never grow cool.  Be a person on fire, fully alive, living your life and your vocation to the fullest.  Be a light to others; a fire burning brightly and remarkably in a world that so desperately needs it.

Someone asked about a communion wafer on a hamburger.  (See yesterday's comments.)  One of the great things about being a Catholic is knowing the difference between an indelicacy and an indecency.  This one, however runs very close to the indecency.  Long time readers of Adam's Ale may be a bit surprised that I don't come down more directly and harshly on this matter.  Whereas I would never go to this restaurant, there may be more here than meets the eye and may point toward a deeper problem that this highlights.

 

It should be pointed out that even though they do use a communion wafer it does not mean a direct assault on the Catholic Church.  Other denomination also use communion wafers.  Let us make the grand assumption for the moment that they are good, practicing, non-Catholic Christians.  It may simply be that they do not have the same idea of what the wafer signifies as it does Catholics.  After all, if it is simply a symbol for example, so is bread.  Does that mean that we cannot use bread on our hamburger because it is a symbol of Christ Who says, "I am the Bread of Life"?  Of course not.

 

This is yet another reason we do not randomly say, "Do you believe in Christ?  Then come to the altar and receive the Eucharist."  Someone may indeed believe in Christ, may believe that the host is somehow connected to Christ, but then see no reason why it (unconsecrated) c

ouldn't be put on top of a hamburger.

 

With this in mind, I would not step foot in the establishment but would be moved to write a very kind note explaining why and wait to see if any kind of action takes place.  Who knows? Maybe the best kind of evangelization might take place because of this faux pas.  Nothing will happen if we let it slide under the table, not movement toward the unity to which Christ calls us if either we eat the hamburger with no comment or willy nilly share the Eucharist.

RANT - COUNTER RANT: SOME REFRESHING ARGUMENTS

I must say that I started off enjoying Mark Ira Kaufman’s letter to the editor in 11 September’s edition of the Akron Beacon Journal supporting abortion rights.  Not that I agree with him, but that he supplied some different things about which to think – until he fell into the pothole of mudslinging at the end.  But if you don’t mind, let us take a look at what he said.

 

Concerning whether a pregnant woman is one person or two, he makes the arguments that it is completely subjective and up to the woman.  Those who see things otherwise “cannot distinguish between an acorn and an oak tree.”  Using his same metaphor I would argue that the actually is referring to himself.  The root of the word semen means “seed.”  There is the seed, not after it has been sown.

 

Referring to another letter he writes, “the writer and her ilk insist that one is a person from conception.  Do they calculate their ages from conception of from birth?”  This is a clever argument though he is debating a convention, nothing scientific or theological.  That is why they are called “birth”days and not “having become a person” days.  Can you imagine trying to calculate when a person was conceived (especially in ages before modern science?)  With some couples it might be easy, with others – it could have been any number of times.  Celebrating birthdays is a convention, not a theological declaration.

 

“Do they demand citizenship for the conceived?”  Yes.  Well, at least protection from the government that is charged for the protection of all in their care.  But once again, it is highly impractical.  If one travels out of the country much, how does one prove where one is conceived?  It is far easier to prove where one is born.  This again is a convention, not a statement on personhood.

 

“How about habeas corpus for unlawful incarcerated “citizen” inside a pregnant prison inmate?”  Interesting but silly.  This one made me smile.  Of course the natural place for a baby is in the womb.  That is where the baby experiences health and the baby’s most ideal freedom.  That is true almost wherever the mother is.  The baby is not also incarcerated, he is where he is supposed to be.

 

“Can a pregnant woman take a tax deduction the moment the test strip turns blue?”  No she can’t.  But this argument supposes that the state has the power to make morals.  It does not have that power unless there is no God.  If there is no God, then those with power make the morals.  If there is a God, persons have dignity no matter what the state says since it is their inalienable right given to them by their Creator and not by any human person or action. 

 

So can a woman be the only person who can decide if she is two persons or one?  No.  Either a person is a person or they are not.  If the issue is in doubt, we must err toward the possibility that we are dealing with a human person.  If we are willing to take the risk that we are killing off thousands of our own human beings, then I throw Mr. Kaufman’s line back at him with slight modifications: 

 

Any nation allowing its mothers to kill the babies in their wombs surrenders the privilege of self-identifying as civilized. 

 

The rest of his letter is unsubstantiated statements and little mudslinging and not worthy of comment.

RANT - COUNTER RANT: WHY WE STILL NEED TO THINK

It is time to return to the ancient craft of thinking.  We have handed over so much of our thinking to remembering devices and calculating devices, and instead of freeing up our brains for more lofty endeavors, have mindlessly given over that time to other devices that whittle away life for us while we put thinking on hold aside from wondering who might get kicked off of the island next.

 

As a counter to this a book was recently suggested to me: Peter Kreeft’s, “Socratic Logic; A Logic Text Using Socratic Method, Platonic Questions, and Aristotelian Principles.”

 

There’s a winning title.

 

And I will admit, as admirably as Mr. Kreeft tries to make it a fun exercise, it is a lot of work learning how to think.  But the pay offs are magnificent.  Like learning another language, if you can put up with the long fuse, the boom at the end is well worth it.

 

I would love have a course like this taught in our parish school and even open it up to the rest of the parish.  (We shall see.)  This is for two reasons: first, it would prevent people from embarrassing themselves writing mindless drivel as Mr. Richard Kunkel did in his letter to the editor in the Akron Beacon Journal on Wednesday, August 14^th concerning abortion, and second, it would help students to see mindless drivel when it appears before them.

 

There is so much to write about in this letter I doubt I can do it in one post but here are some high – er – lowlights.  After stating that a recent letter to the editor really made him think, he wrote, “Suppose Honda had a bad model, and it was recalled.  Should we make a law forcing Honda to close?  Or how about a law that would close every automaker in the state?”  Is this a fair comparison?

 

To begin with, Honda does not design anything that is intended to kill anybody.  Their products are supposed to be convenient and safe.  Therefore, if something goes wrong, we make them fix their product and make them safe once again.  Abortion is not designed to keep a person safe but to kill them.  If we don’t want people killed, then yes, we do shut them down.

 

Further, the product that Honda makes does not affect the morality of a nation, the family structure, religious freedom, or health care.  It is a false example.  A better one would be independent brain surgery clinics (if such a thing existed.)  If they were in violation should we keep letting them perform brain surgeries and work with them in eventually coming around to being a safer clinic?  No.  I would say stop all surgeries now.

 

Mr. Kunkel also states that the only problem here is that one group doesn’t want abortion so therefore it should be legal.  Really?  There are (essentially) three groups out there: those who want abortion, those who don’t, and those somewhere in between.  In a democracy such as ours that is always the case and we vote to see what we should do.  For example, there are a great number of people out there who enjoy smoking.  There are those who think it should not be done in public, and the somewhere in between group.  I could use his same argument to say that only one group wants there to be no smoking in our country – therefore the rest of us should be able to smoke next to him at his favorite restaurant.  Bet he doesn’t buy it.  (All of a sudden his call for tolerance disappears.)

 

Ah!  See?  I’m already going too long.  But I can’t stop.  “If you don’t want abortion, don’t have one,” is another tired and silly diatribe.  He likens it to, “If you don’t like alcohol, don’t drink,” as if it were an equal case.  How about this better one: If you don’t like racial prejudice, don’t use racial slurs, but don’t trample on the rights of those who want to use them or burn crosses on public property as long as they have a permit.  But that hardly solves the problem.  (And really, there is only one group that wants us to get rid of racial inequality – right???)

And he calls this a “war on women.”  Switching the conversation to women’s health and rights is a clever way of covering over what is at the center of this debate: another innocent human being.  It is a war on humanity and the rights of the weakest and least politically connected among us.  And as we become a nation that takes the throwing away of human life more and more easily, we become less human, appreciate all human life less, and take another step backward in the advancement of human dignity, worth, and love.

 

Last point and then I will try to stop.  Mr. Kunkel states that we should be able to do whatever is legal and not be unfettered “by my or anyone else’s dislike.”  The tyranny of tolerance.  Of course what I want to do may be in direct contradiction to what you want to do.  Who gets to win?  My Aunt had a neighbor who put in a chimney that met code but only caused smoke to be trapped between the houses and forcing smoke into her house, leaving an odor and making a mess.  Yet it was legal.  Was the neighbor therefore morally in the right because the city said they had their hands tied because he was up to code? 

 

And once again (I know, I said I would stop) we forget the idea that there is a human person in the womb.  He was a human person at conception, as he develops he is a human person, and he will only ever be a human person as he develops.  He struggles for life and will be born and grow if we let him.  I would say these are signs of what this human person wants.  But we silence him so that he does not have a say and we can do away with him without giving him any real consideration.  It is legal after all and therefore must be morally right and good for us as a nation.  Right?

WORSHIPPING THE MIRROR

“I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members,” so said the comedian Groucho Marks.  I would probably say the same thing about a Church.  I don’t want a Church that says I have no need to grow and develop.  Nor do I need a Church that validates my held beliefs.  I want a Church that challenges me, asks me difficult questions, shakes up my assumptions, makes me think, urges me to growth, and ardently desires to transform me into a saint.

 

Many Christian Churches have, for the large part, abandoned this vision.  I was riding with a gentleman the other day who proudly spoke of his Church and how they do not even expect him to make an effort to look like Church is anything special on Sunday.  “I can go in ratty shorts and T-shirt.  And the music is rock and roll.”  He was in his upper 50s.  I said, “Wow.  My parish is kinda headed in the opposite direction.  I think it attracts the younger families more.  It is my goal to expect more of them.”

 

The same could be said of philosophy and theology.  Many Churches (non-Catholic) have changed their beliefs to an extraordinary degree.  Go back to even the year 1900, and if we could do a graph, the rate of change would start slowly and then skyrocket.  Really, what teaching in most Christian denominations do not simply mimic popular culture?  Abortion, contraception, same sex marriage . . . gads, why even bother listing them all?  Modern Church is about worshipping what we already believe and enshrining it in our weekend services.

 

Cultures cultivate.  And our current culture is cultivating our Churches.  It reforms them, informs them, coaxing God to change His mind on virtually any popular topic on order to match ours, the enlightened ones.  Glad God is catching up.

 

It is one of the strengths of the Catholic Church that it is also so terribly cultural on a world wide (and historical) scale.  It is a culture that cannot be voted into changing, or coaxed into matching the local thought beliefs, or pressured into accepting outside influence on its theology.  It is designed to influence culture, not be influenced by it.  If your faith, parish, or diocese is not working to change the family, city, or nation for the good, then it is failing.  (If it is more influenced than influencing, it is dying.) 

 

It doesn’t mean anybody has to listen.  But we are not excused from being loyal to the truths of the faith.  For if we are not leaven, we are salt that has gone flat.