Letter to the Editor

Frequent reader, gadfly, and attempter at keeping Dan honest, 'Chode' sent me this letter today and gave me permission to re-post it. He submitted it to the editor of the Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

At the risk of stepping in on a well-written letter I should probably just leave as it is for the reader, I'll only offer that I largely agree with him and he has a slightly different flavor of my argument to some right winger friends the other day here in Cleveland. They were bent out of shape about news reports that Barry might use executive orders to reverse some of Shrub's decisions on stem cells (among others).

While I don't pretend to be a scientist, I appreciate and respect the viewpoint some hold on stem cells, but I'm disturbed about their terribly narrow definition of what constitutes a "respect for life." It seems to me that there are so many more egregious affronts to life and to pretend that abortion and stem cells constitutes the most important parts of it is either dangerously ignorant or cynical.

Sorry for editorializing so much...this stands well-enough on its own.

After briefly catching up on today's news, both online and in the local print, one thing jumped out at me as particularly disturbing. The article titles said it all: "Bishops Fire Shots At", "Bishops Warn", and the "Bishops Plan to Forcefully Confront" Obama over abortion. It became clear that the formal representers of our faith, who are meeting in Washington DC this week, are preparing to douse the embers of real progress on issues of social justice in favor of continuing to fight the old fight and of playing the old games.

Not only are the bishops pursing a faulty strategy of confrontation rather than partnership with the President-Elect, they fail to understand the sentiment and attitudes of lay parishioners from around the country--particularly young Catholics. Many of us see much more pressing issues such as poverty, injustice, war, and disease as much more urgent issues for the clergy--and the Church-- to be focused on. These are issues on which the Church can provide a valuable leadership role, and where there is broad consensus for action. The Church should be focused on the very real needs of people, rather than the political squabbles of yesterday.

Sincerely,

(Chode)

How You Can Tell John McCain Didn't Go to Catholic School

One thing I noticed last night, as the candidates rushed to their chairs to start scribbling their notes, was that John McCain appears to be left-handed.

I didn't care enough to research this much, but when I listened to the replay of Hardball as I woke up this morning, they were talking about it, too...apparently several of our last few Oval occupants have been cursed this way.

As Chris Matthews observed, we are now certain that McCain didn't go to Catholic school...where, back in the day, the habit would have been beaten out of him!

I wonder what ever happened to Sr. Theresa Claire? She sure didn't look like our friend on the left...

The Missionary Position

I read a pretty interesting book, The Missionary Position, Mother Theresa in Theory and Practice, by Christopher Hitchens, this weekend.

I've always kind of gotten a kick out of the author's magazine articles as well as his television interviews and debates, but had never read any of his books.

It's about Mother Theresa and takes a stand that I've never taken notice of anyone else defending...that this saint-to-be may not be so saintly after all. He equates MT with a slick televangelist who dupes the willing and the unwitting into supporting (both financially and through actions) their fanatical, often-destructive beliefs.

He cites compelling evidence that she was not the simple little Albanian farm girl the Church's PR folks would have you believe in. MT was as slick as they come when you talk about getting world leaders in line.

While I won't recount the whole book to you, a striking example of her method was the letter she wrote to the judge presiding over the (Charles) Keating Five trial in California.

Keating, a devout Catholic, had donated many of his ill-gotten monies to the Missionaries of Charity and, as the trial neared its close, got a letter on his behalf from MT requesting leniency. In it, MT feigned the bumpkin who does not understand "the matters you are dealing with," and only asked for the judge to do what Jesus would do.

When you contrast this letter with the comparatively sophisticated arguments she laid out when speaking to political or church bodies, one can be quickly disgusted by the faux naivte in the letter to Judge Ito.

Paul Turley, one of the prosecutors, later wrote MT back, informing her that the monies she recieved from the convicted Keating were stolen and asked her what Jesus would do if he found himself in posession of the fruits of a crime. He offered to put her in touch with the fleeced Americans, but never heard back from her.

He also takes considerable issue with her crazed opposition to contraception, finishing one chapter with the following:

(Her) call to go forth and multiply , and to take no thought for the morrow, sounds grotesque when uttered by an elderly virgin whose chief claim to reverence is that she ministers to the inevitble losers of this very lottery.

As with anything of this sort, particularly something written by an author with an axe to grind, I don't take it as the final world on her life or role on earth, but it was a strangely refreshing book for me.

Pfleger Reels It In

Father Michael Pfleger apologized to his parish this morning for the allegedly racist and sexist words he spoke last week as a guest pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ.

I don't care enough to repost the rant (even though I got kind of a charge out of it), but his only sin as far as I'm concerned, is that he should have known better.

He expressed surprise and disappointment this morning that people are fixating on a minute or two of his sermon and not on the larger problems facing our society. Furthermore, I guess he's gotten quite a few angry and threatening emails since he went nationwide.

This is a disappointment to me. I've casually admired the Loyola Chicago grad from afar for some time. He's certainly way out there on the fringes (and if a certain Catholic friend still reads this, he'd probably argue that Pfleger should be sent packing), but he appears to be associated with more positive work, and puts himself in more danger while doing said work, than a lot of other men who wear the collar.

Keep you chin up, Padre.

Obama's Catholic Problem?

Marc Ambinder over at The Atlantic was on to something this week.

He had some exit and public opinion polling showing that Barack has a clear deficit amongst those who look to Rome for guidance in matters of faith.

Turns out the campaign was pretty well aware of this as they formed a pro-life advisory council this week, presumably with the aim of making inroads with them.

At First, It Sounded Hot...But It's Not

Easter services at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago (just across the street from Loyola's beautiful Water Tower Campus) were interrupted yesterday by Iraq War protesters belonging to Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War.

Pity...because the concept had some really good possibilities.

I Couldn't Help But Post This

Having been raised a Catholic in Indiana, I do reflexively root for the Irish if they're on but a little schadenfreude can be a good thing now and then.

Best line is the sung, "BC has better Christians..."

Sorry, GB....

Okay, Enough Negativity Out of Me

Well, I've been jumping on the Church pretty hard the last few days.

What better way to get off of my moral high horse than with a little Frank Zappa interlude.

From the rock opera, Joe's Garage, please enjoy this downright awful Youtube of Catholic Girls....air guitar and all!

Just remember, 'the white zone is for loading and unloading only.'

The Church Misses The Mark Again

The Vatican is out today, after their $600M payout the other day to cover sex abuse in California, talking about how everyone else needs to worry about sex abuse, as well.

The statement carries on about how we need to work together to avoid such "wickedness" in the future.

While not untrue, this statement clearly reflects either a complete failure to understand what we're talking about or another outright attempt at deception.

The ordained priests who engaged in this behavior are the first ones at fault and guilty of first-class sins.

But my take is that the problem lies at least equally, if not moreso, with the structures within the Church that acted to cover this up on such a wide scale.

The persons who did this are individually responsible for their own sins and should pay a price, but one has to accept at least the possibility that they are damaged individuals giving in to things that no healthy individual would take part in. They're sick.

But what's to be said about the power structure of the church, presumably-fit individuals, who let this carry on? They acted as enablers and are, in my opinon, much more to blame than anyone else.

Shame.

I Don't Often Hope for a Vengeful God

...especially given the slightly-less-than-saintly-track-record I've managed to cobble together.

I find exception to that whenever I come across these rats in gowns that aren't imprisoned under some sort of RICO crackdown.

I like to joke here and there about the mafia trials going on, but if you want to talk about an organized criminal conspiracy going on in this country, you need look no further than some of the powerful folks in the Roman Catholic Church.

The people who like to tell you that they have a good handle on how God thinks you should live your life and allegedly hold the power to forgive YOUR sins are agreeing to pay out over $600M to compensate for their priests' raping of our children.

Peace be with you.

Pope to Other Religions: Go to Hell!

Pope Benedict is making friends all over God's green earth!

Quasi-Catholics

David Brooks' column this morning again proves why the NY Times Opinon page continues to be an every-day must-read and why he's one of the reasons for that.

He walks through evidence of the changing status and mindset of American Catholics over the last generation or two. The skinny is that they've become better off in a socioeconomic sense by retaining the good elements of Catholicism but not blind obedience to its more ridiculous ones.

To put it succinctly...Always try to be the least believing member of one of the more observant sects.

Reminds me of a few people who I admire.

My Sweet Lord

Predictably, the fair-and-balanced folks over at Fox are running with this story above stories about the dog food scare and a how-to video for wannabe pedophiles that is circulating.

Basically, this is the same song and dance we see all the time....attention-seeking artist comes out with something meant to offend only the most moronic of zealots (whether they be genderzealots, religiozealots, politicozealots....) and, like trained dolphins, they play the game.

Some yo-yo out in New York decided to put on a show this week with a milk chocolate replica of Christ on the cross. Predictably, Bill Donohue came out complaining as if old ladies were being beaten with the Holy Chalice on their way into morning Mass.

"This is one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever."

Bill Donohue, The Catholic League

Honestly, if your faith is so fragile that some half-cocked artist can shake your foundation by melting down some Hershey bars and molding them, then it might be time for a little bit of self-examination. And for a man whose church has had more than its share of scandals recently, Billy should remember that those in glass sanctuaries should not throw stones.