The Search for the Single Human Common Denominator
What do the famous people, listed below, have in common? Apart from the demographic and empirical fact of belonging to the human race, they differ significantly in race, creed, culture, financial status, educational levels, nationality, age, talents, interests, hobbies, couture and cuisine styles and a myriad other variables. Is there anything one might find common to all these people? Perhaps it is a Rorschach test. Like looking at cloud formations and seeing what one wants to see. Or is it “quidquid percipitur, percipitur secundum modum percipientis.” Roughly translated, this means we see things through our own personal filters and so interpret them as reality. Let us take a look at this list and see what “variable” we find as a common denominator.
THE LIST
Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Malcolm Muggeridge of the London Times and British Spy. Jackie Gleason, actor, humorist and philosopher. William F. Buckley, Journalist and super conservative. Hugh Carey, Governor of New York State.
Governor John Volpe of Massaschusetts. Governor Richard Hughes of New Jersey. Governor Malcolm Wilson of New York State. Al Capp, creator of Lil’ Abner. Four star General Alfred Gunther, prime military strategist of WWII and Bridge expert.
Jim Farley, maker of American Presidents. Tommy Loughran, World’s light heavyweight boxing champion. Anne Fremantle, English writer and spiritual leader. Robert Rambusch, world class church architect. Cyril Ritchard, star of motion pictures, stage and television. Florence Henderson, Hollywood and television luminary. Miles Ambrose, New York Harbor Commissioner.
Bella Dodd, former Communist organizer. Archbishop Jakavos, Primate of Orthodox Catholics of North America. Rabbit Marc Tannenbaum, voice of Jewish thought in America. Elie Weisel, Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor. George Sokolsky, Jewish journalist. Gene Ward, sports writer. Bill Considine, sports writer.
Harry Goz, as Tevyev in Fiddler on the Roof. Johnny Desmond, Broadway Musical comedy star. David Susskind, Television Entrepreneur. David Merrick, Broadway producer. Frank Blair, NBC-TV commentator. Henry Cabot Lodge, diplomat and politician from Beverly, Mass. Thomas Melady, Ambassador to Burundi-Rwanda, and Uganda. Eamon Kennedy, Irish representative to the UN. Milton Monez, Portuguese Representative to the UN. Mario Amadeus, Ambassador from Argentina to the UN. Dr. Alice Jourdain, Belgian philosopher and University professor. Dr. Detreich Von Hildebrand, German philosopher with International fame.
Norman Mailer, Pulitzer Prize winner and liberal philosopher, Ed McMahon of the TONIGHT show and “heeeeere’s Johnny”. Mel Allen, the voice of the Yankees. Jeanne Dixon, famed psychic. Roy Wilkins, National Director of the NAACP. Dr. Ken Clark, famed psychologist who did early studies on psyches of black children and early race integrationist. Bricktop, Grande Dame of Rome’s night life. Dizzy Gillispie, classic jazz trumpeter. Bayard Rustin, black leader in ‘60s and art collector.
All these and multitudes of others were interviewed on WNBC-TV by a balding, Jewish-Irish American priest, ME! During my television years at NBC, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, from 1958 to 1973, I interviewed psychiatrists, psychologists sociologists and paleontologists from the University of Pennsylvania, political scientists from Johns Hopkins University, surgeons, educators, politicians, house wives, actors, diplomats and ordinary folk from the street.
Hence, commonality number ONE! They all, besides sharing basic human nature, experienced a television interview with an outright believer in God. And a further SECOND variable found (through skillful questioning) was that ALL of them were seeking some kind of stable and permanent meaning in their own lives. Even the very sophisticated and apparently totally self sufficient showed glimmers of yearning. Sometimes, this quality was glossed over with the “hip” talk and slight cynicism. But it was there if one had ears to hear. One hears the relevance of God.
A person of Faith simply nods in agreement and repeats the age old wisdom of the great psychologist of Hippo, St. Augustine who summed it all up thusly:
THOU HAST MADE US FOR THY SELF O GOD AND OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS UNTIL THEY REST IN THEE !!
Monday, August 1, 2005
Monday, July 18, 2005
Will the REAL Catholic Church Please Stand Up!
The June 27, 2005 issue of THE NEW YORKER carried a series of letters from a group of self-styled Catholics generally denigrating Pope Benedict XVI in response to a lengthy article by Peter J. Boyer entitled A Hard Faith. Interestingly, there were no letters counseling patience, no “wait and see” letters, no recognition of the towering intellect of the Pope and his quiet, sincere devotion to the Church over many years. This hard veering to the theological left by extreme dissidents illustrates and explains, in part, the current confusion about some basic questions: “What IS the Catholic Church about anyway?” or “What is the REAL Catholic teaching?” or “Who is the Church?”
For example, one of the contributors was a nun, of the “modern” variety who was aghast that some YOUNG seminarians would find her placard (which read Nuns for Kerry) “scandalous.” These young men were not tired old carryovers from the Woodstock era but bright and INFORMED contemporary thinkers. That young Catholics would be upset by a NUN supporting an extremely liberal “Catholic” who voted for abortion rights, same sex marriage, late term abortion and who claimed that his conscience was formed by Pope Pius 23rd, is apparently incomprehensible to her. How explain her “unawareness” of this existential contradiction? Or is it that she is irritated that today’s young people are not buying into her patently obsolete and oxymoronic perception? Is it that Sister can’t understand why young people don’t see HER view of the Church? Perhaps, she might recall that the magnetic and instant bonding between Pope John Paul II and young people was partially because he KNEW WHERE THEY WERE SPIRITUALLY AND EMOTIONALLY!
The same magazine in an editorial (May 2, 2005) innocently comments that certain matters do not concern Faith----like sexuality, celibacy, Choice (presumably about abortion), the use of condoms and stem-cell research (again presumably EMBRYONIC since the Church clearly supports appropriate stem cell research). Such commentators would reduce the Church to the levels of irrelevance which characterize so many of the Main line Christian groups today. They urge us to be like so many others and endorse abortion and same sex marriage. Teach pretty Bible stories, give to AIDS research and be “nice” and don’t dig too deep! Demonstrate for the protection of whales and oppose oil exploration. But do stay on the sidelines of Life. In effect these “modern” thinkers tell the Church what she ought to do and what to teach and how to behave for acceptance into the Politically correct world. Or more bluntly, become religiously castrated!
We saw a certain anguish at the election of a believing and courageous Pope when the “modern” Catholic had hoped for someone who would “go with the times.” Going with the times usually means unimpeded license to implement the politically correct list in the May 2nd comment noted above.
One such disappointed Catholic, on April 19, 2005, shouted, in St. Peter’s Square, “He is the WORST possible choice.” Whom are we to believe? Who can tell us what is the Catholic Church’s true position on life and eternity? Consider even the ROLE of God Himself in our way of life and our political decisions. Is it healthy to have the Lord in the midst of everything? Is a “Public Square” unhealthy and unnatural where religious Faith seems unwelcome and dangerous? Does the Catholic Church acquiesce to a public square stripped of God and religious faith? Incidentally, we might remember that the statement “Jesus is Lord” is not religious but political. Jesus was hung on a cross for His claim of “Lordship.” Christianity was ILLEGAL for the first 250 years of the Church’s life BECAUSE Christians proclaimed in the public square (where the Emperor was ALL) that “Jesus is Lord” not Caesar. It looks to me to be a fairly obvious political focus.
So then, to whom does one go for the REAL Catholicism? Is there any real structure of Orthodox Catholicism? There are so many voices claiming to have the authentic Catholic answer. Is it Catholics for a Free Choice which demands that abortion be removed from the categories of evil? They call themselves “Catholic.” Is it Richard McBrien? Or Charles Curran? Or Gregory Baum? They claim that they, as theologians, though controversial or dissident, are truly Catholic. Is the Theologian more precisely Catholic than Pope Benedict XVI? Or is it that everyone is right and no one has a monopoly on denotative Catholic truth? Didn’t someone note that “tolerance is the last virtue of a degenerate society”? Is Catholic truth to be operationally defined by well-heeled “Catholics” who, without knowing it, have gradually become non–Catholics and who happen to go to Mass for some anachronistic social or political reason? Does political and financial clout empower the Big Names to make theologic decisions over the Faith of the poor, little non-Harvard guy who just about “makes it” in life?
My old Irish Grandmother who went to the Third grade in a parochial school knew the answer with ease. JESUS IS THE TEACHER! In the words of Dylan Thomas, “Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” Catholicism obviously bases everything on the total belief in and trust of a loving God Who became man and died for our sins and by His resurrection promised us eternal life with Him. This Divine Jesus left His legacy in a Church which He promised would never fail nor (in the ancient formulary) be overcome by “the gates of Hell.” This Church would be harassed and persecuted through the ages by Arians, Gnostics, Cathari, Albigensians, Jansenists, angry dissidents and slick talkers but would always survive, even if bloodied and weakened.
It would be burdened from the start with the Judas type adherent, through hypocritical teachers and evil homosexual priest molesters of young people but would survive. It would produce thousands and thousands of holy women and men whom we call saints, publicly acclaimed or otherwise. It would be entrusted to Peter (Cephas) and his successors whom we have called “Popes.” These Popes in collegiality with those who succeeded the Apostles (Bishops) would articulate the teachings of Christ’s Church with protection from the Holy Spirit of God Himself, and though they, themselves would be weak (like Peter) the TEACHING would be transmitted unscathed.
Jesus left His gifts of the seven sacraments whereby we can become holy. We would become children of God through Baptism. Our sins would be forgiven by the Sacrament of Penance and our souls nourished by the Eucharist. There would be high requirements expected of these Catholics and many would rebel and dissent from basics. Some would break off and create new forms of the ancient Faith--- which would not be Catholicism but another form of Christianity. While thoughtful disagreement about Policy was encouraged, rejection of revealed truth was not. Refusal of Christ’s truth through His Holy Church, mainly the infrequent infallible teaching of the Pope, was considered “heresy.” To dismiss the Pope’s teaching, even in an ordinary form, was considered theologically gauche. To split off from Christ’s own Church was called “schism.”
One clear criterion to determine which group was Heretical or Schismatic or Authentic was to search for the Bishop of Rome or the Pope. The old axiom was: Ubi Petrus est, ibi ecclesia. Where you find the Pope, you find the Church. God’s Will would be gleaned and taught from Sacred Scripture and the Living Tradition. And God’s Will is important for the serious Catholic. Our Catholic Truth would be expressed through the teaching organ of the Church, the Magisterium, always under the protection of the Holy Spirit. Hence, serious positions of Christ’s Church, even if not infallible, are to be taken seriously. A “serious” Catholic does not dismiss, out of hand, a strong if controversial global Catholic position on faith and morals, but considers the position with respect and maturity before considering a legitimate disagreement. But the mature Catholic is exceedingly clear about the REAL Catholic Church. The “marks” are all there for those who “can see”. Pope Benedict XVI and his remark about “studied ambiguity” are of particular relevance here.
Meanwhile, we hear the chilling threats of “dissidents” telling us if we do not “line up” with “Their” thought, millions will leave the Church abandoning her to become just another musty museum! How convenient to overlook the Lord’s PROMISE: “I am with you all days even unto the consummation of the world.” And yet so intimidating! Fr. Ronald Knox, a brilliant English convert and son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote, many years ago, of a future age when there would be a “remnant” of those Catholics who kept the Faith and whose numbers greatly diminished in the face of outside pressures. They would keep the Faith pure and untarnished to hand over to the Lord on His Second Coming. It is somewhat reflected in the Pope’s vision of the “creative minority” whereby the Catholic stronghold (do we call it siege?) becomes highly unified and cohesive. Meanwhile, modern disagreements are not always respectful and issue-oriented but are often resulting in lamentable and vicious personal attacks on the “Messenger.” This technique may have been borrowed from American “dirty” politics whereby one American attacks another, not on the issue, but on the person. Consult the Sen. Kennedy attack on the person of Sen. Santorum in the recent case of the ill woman in Florida.
To dismiss such latent apprehension might be naïve. In an interesting piece by Fr. Paul Mankowski, S.J. entitled “Liberal Jesuits and the Late Pope” a point is made that there was wide spread Wojtyla hatred in his Society (posted April 4,2005, No Sound Off). He illustrates:
1) “…..I’d hear my Superiors pray that Wojtyla come to an early death…..and go unrebuked in that jocular vein that signals sympathy...”
2) Fr. Cyril Barrett, S.J. “….in a bellow that filled a London restaurant, ‘The only thing wrong with that bloody Turk was that he couldn’t shoot straight.’ ”
P. Mankowski assesses the remark: “Note that this is not the language of passionate disagreement, this is hatred, pure and simple.”
3) From a Jesuit academic: “The Society has not sold its soul to the “restoration” of John Paul II.”
4) From a Jesuit Historian: “he is not one of the worst popes: he’s THE worst. Don’t misquote me.”
The author claims that the reason for the hatred is no mystery. There is a pressure for doctrine to change. The venom of critics toward this charismatic Pope was the bitterest in the area where he differed least from his predecessors (and in which his successor will differ least from him) IN REPEATING THE TRUISM THAT DOCTRINE, BEING UNCHANGEAGEABLE, WILL NOT BE CHANGED. Mankowski suggests that these critics did the Pope an injustice in pretending that he is free to unpope himself by altering the deposit of Faith. Even the Protestant politician Newt Gingrich points out that the Pope being the Vicar of Christ can do nothing but speak the truth. He has no choice.
The dreams of the “Progressivists” were frankly “infantile.” They were and are stunned that JPII didn’t make their dreams come true. One thing we do know. What they clamor for is not the Catholic Church. They seek some kind of make-believe Church of their own making without which they will continue to seethe, no matter who is the Pope. Some one jested on a recent TV talk show that disaffected Catholics might join some other Church more to their liking where there are plenty of empty pews.
A similar kind of venom was spewed at Cardinal O’Connor when he was Archbishop of New York basically because he steadfastly taught official Catholic doctrine. This was unacceptable to many and hence he was caricatured and insulted regularly by those who wanted him to change Church teaching!! The plan is to destroy the messenger if he will not change his message to suit the desires of the attacker!
In my own Website, I often articulate what my Church teaches to the chagrin and fury of some of my readers. A recent e-mail to me read thusly: “Thank god [note the lower case] you are close to death [a reference to my 84 years]. You are a …. Supersititious Fascist. You write lies about a natural thing like homosexuality. Your Church is likewise dying. Ha Ha!…………………………”
Another reader characterized me as a “……mean spirited old man…” after I had been interviewed in MSNBC by Ron Reagan Jr. and Monica Crowley in which I stated the simple and loving rationale of the Church towards the same-sex attraction tendency. I am an old bat and dinosaur but I have never been categorized as mean spirited by those who know me. But I plead for adult dialogue on the ISSUE not on my character or on the character of Pope John Paul II or Cardinal O’Connor or anyone who sincerely tries to implement the Catholic teaching.
If one wishes for the Real Catholic Church to stand up amid all the pretenders, one must look at the Teachings and Presence and Traditions and indeed the theology and Scripture which “Rome” represents. But look and study the role of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. Finally, if bias, prejudice and personal desires blind a person who seeks real fulfillment, it is God’s grace that helps one see the TRUTH of Catholicism. A short cut to it: Seek the help of Mary, the Mother of the Lord, the Patroness of Catholicism and ideal of women. She has helped many to inner Peace and ultimate Salvation.
For example, one of the contributors was a nun, of the “modern” variety who was aghast that some YOUNG seminarians would find her placard (which read Nuns for Kerry) “scandalous.” These young men were not tired old carryovers from the Woodstock era but bright and INFORMED contemporary thinkers. That young Catholics would be upset by a NUN supporting an extremely liberal “Catholic” who voted for abortion rights, same sex marriage, late term abortion and who claimed that his conscience was formed by Pope Pius 23rd, is apparently incomprehensible to her. How explain her “unawareness” of this existential contradiction? Or is it that she is irritated that today’s young people are not buying into her patently obsolete and oxymoronic perception? Is it that Sister can’t understand why young people don’t see HER view of the Church? Perhaps, she might recall that the magnetic and instant bonding between Pope John Paul II and young people was partially because he KNEW WHERE THEY WERE SPIRITUALLY AND EMOTIONALLY!
The same magazine in an editorial (May 2, 2005) innocently comments that certain matters do not concern Faith----like sexuality, celibacy, Choice (presumably about abortion), the use of condoms and stem-cell research (again presumably EMBRYONIC since the Church clearly supports appropriate stem cell research). Such commentators would reduce the Church to the levels of irrelevance which characterize so many of the Main line Christian groups today. They urge us to be like so many others and endorse abortion and same sex marriage. Teach pretty Bible stories, give to AIDS research and be “nice” and don’t dig too deep! Demonstrate for the protection of whales and oppose oil exploration. But do stay on the sidelines of Life. In effect these “modern” thinkers tell the Church what she ought to do and what to teach and how to behave for acceptance into the Politically correct world. Or more bluntly, become religiously castrated!
We saw a certain anguish at the election of a believing and courageous Pope when the “modern” Catholic had hoped for someone who would “go with the times.” Going with the times usually means unimpeded license to implement the politically correct list in the May 2nd comment noted above.
One such disappointed Catholic, on April 19, 2005, shouted, in St. Peter’s Square, “He is the WORST possible choice.” Whom are we to believe? Who can tell us what is the Catholic Church’s true position on life and eternity? Consider even the ROLE of God Himself in our way of life and our political decisions. Is it healthy to have the Lord in the midst of everything? Is a “Public Square” unhealthy and unnatural where religious Faith seems unwelcome and dangerous? Does the Catholic Church acquiesce to a public square stripped of God and religious faith? Incidentally, we might remember that the statement “Jesus is Lord” is not religious but political. Jesus was hung on a cross for His claim of “Lordship.” Christianity was ILLEGAL for the first 250 years of the Church’s life BECAUSE Christians proclaimed in the public square (where the Emperor was ALL) that “Jesus is Lord” not Caesar. It looks to me to be a fairly obvious political focus.
So then, to whom does one go for the REAL Catholicism? Is there any real structure of Orthodox Catholicism? There are so many voices claiming to have the authentic Catholic answer. Is it Catholics for a Free Choice which demands that abortion be removed from the categories of evil? They call themselves “Catholic.” Is it Richard McBrien? Or Charles Curran? Or Gregory Baum? They claim that they, as theologians, though controversial or dissident, are truly Catholic. Is the Theologian more precisely Catholic than Pope Benedict XVI? Or is it that everyone is right and no one has a monopoly on denotative Catholic truth? Didn’t someone note that “tolerance is the last virtue of a degenerate society”? Is Catholic truth to be operationally defined by well-heeled “Catholics” who, without knowing it, have gradually become non–Catholics and who happen to go to Mass for some anachronistic social or political reason? Does political and financial clout empower the Big Names to make theologic decisions over the Faith of the poor, little non-Harvard guy who just about “makes it” in life?
My old Irish Grandmother who went to the Third grade in a parochial school knew the answer with ease. JESUS IS THE TEACHER! In the words of Dylan Thomas, “Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” Catholicism obviously bases everything on the total belief in and trust of a loving God Who became man and died for our sins and by His resurrection promised us eternal life with Him. This Divine Jesus left His legacy in a Church which He promised would never fail nor (in the ancient formulary) be overcome by “the gates of Hell.” This Church would be harassed and persecuted through the ages by Arians, Gnostics, Cathari, Albigensians, Jansenists, angry dissidents and slick talkers but would always survive, even if bloodied and weakened.
It would be burdened from the start with the Judas type adherent, through hypocritical teachers and evil homosexual priest molesters of young people but would survive. It would produce thousands and thousands of holy women and men whom we call saints, publicly acclaimed or otherwise. It would be entrusted to Peter (Cephas) and his successors whom we have called “Popes.” These Popes in collegiality with those who succeeded the Apostles (Bishops) would articulate the teachings of Christ’s Church with protection from the Holy Spirit of God Himself, and though they, themselves would be weak (like Peter) the TEACHING would be transmitted unscathed.
Jesus left His gifts of the seven sacraments whereby we can become holy. We would become children of God through Baptism. Our sins would be forgiven by the Sacrament of Penance and our souls nourished by the Eucharist. There would be high requirements expected of these Catholics and many would rebel and dissent from basics. Some would break off and create new forms of the ancient Faith--- which would not be Catholicism but another form of Christianity. While thoughtful disagreement about Policy was encouraged, rejection of revealed truth was not. Refusal of Christ’s truth through His Holy Church, mainly the infrequent infallible teaching of the Pope, was considered “heresy.” To dismiss the Pope’s teaching, even in an ordinary form, was considered theologically gauche. To split off from Christ’s own Church was called “schism.”
One clear criterion to determine which group was Heretical or Schismatic or Authentic was to search for the Bishop of Rome or the Pope. The old axiom was: Ubi Petrus est, ibi ecclesia. Where you find the Pope, you find the Church. God’s Will would be gleaned and taught from Sacred Scripture and the Living Tradition. And God’s Will is important for the serious Catholic. Our Catholic Truth would be expressed through the teaching organ of the Church, the Magisterium, always under the protection of the Holy Spirit. Hence, serious positions of Christ’s Church, even if not infallible, are to be taken seriously. A “serious” Catholic does not dismiss, out of hand, a strong if controversial global Catholic position on faith and morals, but considers the position with respect and maturity before considering a legitimate disagreement. But the mature Catholic is exceedingly clear about the REAL Catholic Church. The “marks” are all there for those who “can see”. Pope Benedict XVI and his remark about “studied ambiguity” are of particular relevance here.
Meanwhile, we hear the chilling threats of “dissidents” telling us if we do not “line up” with “Their” thought, millions will leave the Church abandoning her to become just another musty museum! How convenient to overlook the Lord’s PROMISE: “I am with you all days even unto the consummation of the world.” And yet so intimidating! Fr. Ronald Knox, a brilliant English convert and son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote, many years ago, of a future age when there would be a “remnant” of those Catholics who kept the Faith and whose numbers greatly diminished in the face of outside pressures. They would keep the Faith pure and untarnished to hand over to the Lord on His Second Coming. It is somewhat reflected in the Pope’s vision of the “creative minority” whereby the Catholic stronghold (do we call it siege?) becomes highly unified and cohesive. Meanwhile, modern disagreements are not always respectful and issue-oriented but are often resulting in lamentable and vicious personal attacks on the “Messenger.” This technique may have been borrowed from American “dirty” politics whereby one American attacks another, not on the issue, but on the person. Consult the Sen. Kennedy attack on the person of Sen. Santorum in the recent case of the ill woman in Florida.
To dismiss such latent apprehension might be naïve. In an interesting piece by Fr. Paul Mankowski, S.J. entitled “Liberal Jesuits and the Late Pope” a point is made that there was wide spread Wojtyla hatred in his Society (posted April 4,2005, No Sound Off). He illustrates:
1) “…..I’d hear my Superiors pray that Wojtyla come to an early death…..and go unrebuked in that jocular vein that signals sympathy...”
2) Fr. Cyril Barrett, S.J. “….in a bellow that filled a London restaurant, ‘The only thing wrong with that bloody Turk was that he couldn’t shoot straight.’ ”
P. Mankowski assesses the remark: “Note that this is not the language of passionate disagreement, this is hatred, pure and simple.”
3) From a Jesuit academic: “The Society has not sold its soul to the “restoration” of John Paul II.”
4) From a Jesuit Historian: “he is not one of the worst popes: he’s THE worst. Don’t misquote me.”
The author claims that the reason for the hatred is no mystery. There is a pressure for doctrine to change. The venom of critics toward this charismatic Pope was the bitterest in the area where he differed least from his predecessors (and in which his successor will differ least from him) IN REPEATING THE TRUISM THAT DOCTRINE, BEING UNCHANGEAGEABLE, WILL NOT BE CHANGED. Mankowski suggests that these critics did the Pope an injustice in pretending that he is free to unpope himself by altering the deposit of Faith. Even the Protestant politician Newt Gingrich points out that the Pope being the Vicar of Christ can do nothing but speak the truth. He has no choice.
The dreams of the “Progressivists” were frankly “infantile.” They were and are stunned that JPII didn’t make their dreams come true. One thing we do know. What they clamor for is not the Catholic Church. They seek some kind of make-believe Church of their own making without which they will continue to seethe, no matter who is the Pope. Some one jested on a recent TV talk show that disaffected Catholics might join some other Church more to their liking where there are plenty of empty pews.
A similar kind of venom was spewed at Cardinal O’Connor when he was Archbishop of New York basically because he steadfastly taught official Catholic doctrine. This was unacceptable to many and hence he was caricatured and insulted regularly by those who wanted him to change Church teaching!! The plan is to destroy the messenger if he will not change his message to suit the desires of the attacker!
In my own Website, I often articulate what my Church teaches to the chagrin and fury of some of my readers. A recent e-mail to me read thusly: “Thank god [note the lower case] you are close to death [a reference to my 84 years]. You are a …. Supersititious Fascist. You write lies about a natural thing like homosexuality. Your Church is likewise dying. Ha Ha!…………………………”
Another reader characterized me as a “……mean spirited old man…” after I had been interviewed in MSNBC by Ron Reagan Jr. and Monica Crowley in which I stated the simple and loving rationale of the Church towards the same-sex attraction tendency. I am an old bat and dinosaur but I have never been categorized as mean spirited by those who know me. But I plead for adult dialogue on the ISSUE not on my character or on the character of Pope John Paul II or Cardinal O’Connor or anyone who sincerely tries to implement the Catholic teaching.
If one wishes for the Real Catholic Church to stand up amid all the pretenders, one must look at the Teachings and Presence and Traditions and indeed the theology and Scripture which “Rome” represents. But look and study the role of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. Finally, if bias, prejudice and personal desires blind a person who seeks real fulfillment, it is God’s grace that helps one see the TRUTH of Catholicism. A short cut to it: Seek the help of Mary, the Mother of the Lord, the Patroness of Catholicism and ideal of women. She has helped many to inner Peace and ultimate Salvation.
Monday, June 20, 2005
To Speak or Not to Speak! Is Silence always Golden?
Dante of Divine Comedy fame wrote “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their NEUTRALITY.”
Edmund Burke, the noted British Parliamentarian, wrote “the easiest way for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” (or say nothing?)
Elie Weisel, the Jewish teller of tales and Concentration camp survivor, wrote “Silence in the face of oppression helps only the oppressor.”
Jesus, the Lord and Master of all sternly reminds us that the “lukewarm” are nauseous to Him ---- a fairly clear implication that serious Christians must take a position on crucial moral problems. Pope Benedict XVI wrote, in 1985, with great lament about those Catholic leaders who teach with “studied ambiguity” when presenting the basic teachings of Catholicism. I am uncomfortably reminded of Yale’s Stephen Carter with his definition of Integrity: the person of integrity must be willing, if necessary, to verbalize his values regardless of consequences. What kind of Christian and masculine responsibility falls on me or on anyone else who seeks God’s approval and one’s own self respect when we speak of clarity of personal stance?
Yet, in Eccl. 3,7, we are told that there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak…” Even the great and brave Thomas More, confronted by legally astute accusers seeking his very life for his refusal to endorse his King’s unruly libidinous behaviors, faltered and hedged and ducked their attacks. He tried, in his own skillful and juridically experienced manner, every way to protect his life-- principally by appealing to the age old legal axiom: TACET, CONSENSIT! Freely translated, this means—“By silence, one gives consent.” Of course, ultimately he was forced to verbalize his position and to face the brutal consequence of openness–his own de-capitation. Sometimes, even saints waffle when facing fearsome possibilities.. Nevertheless we, generally, do interpret one’s silence on a serious issue to be an agreement with the stated proposition at hand.
Perhaps, sometimes, silence is golden. Perhaps, it is prudent and helpful to be quiet in a specific circumstance.. But, sometimes, silence is cowardice. Most of us have seen and, sometimes, even experienced the self condemnation and dislike which comes with “being cowed.” I know that I SHOULD speak, but I do not! Why do I not--even when my own inner cowardice or inertia sickens me, psychically and morally?
Legitimate silence aside, why do we fear to speak up or disagree or confront? What are we REALLY afraid of? How can one possibly understand the “wimp” reaction? Is it that one fears rejection of others? Does one have some kind of unresolved Oedipal conflict whereby he still unconsciously fears retaliation from his parent? Is it that I am never allowed to be in disagreement? Is it all right to be disapproved? Must I always say “yes” to another’s opinion and viewpoint? Is it all right to be the Odd Man Out? Must every one like me? Do I not have a right, as a child of the good God, to think my own thoughts and reach my own conclusions and live by them as I see fit?
The questions are rhetorical and the answers obvious. Yet for many of us it IS a difficulty to speak up when facing evil or wrong or power even though we can get nauseated and revolted with sycophantic, bootlicking “yes men” who seek career advancement or temporary “lollipops” from those deemed powerful and bountiful!
Is it the profound fear of exclusion and social shunning which terrorizes me? I recall the once popular little book -- JONATHON LIVINGSTON SEAGULL -- which details the inner life of a rebellious bird who pulls off from the “herd” because he cannot “fly” with the others in THEIR manner. He seeks his own way, suffers the loss of his past and pursues what for him is authentic. Applied to human experience this can happen only if the person truly believes in his own values and convictions. Hence, Stephen Carter’s suggestion that –first of all—one must know clearly what is authentic and real for him. Secondly, one must live in accord with the inner convictions and lastly one MUST be integral enough to verbalize such values.
I recall a specific example from my years in South Africa under the iniquitous social system called Apartheid. Helen Sussman, a white member of the Parliament, represented the Non-European population of the country (i.e. any one who was NOT white). While I basically disagreed with her Communistic tinge, I admired her fearless insistence on the right to disagree with the overwhelming majority of politicians with whom she served. She was derided, shunned, isolated and mocked. Never did she falter. It was HER own honest view which she persistently articulated as the Political voice of the disenfranchised. Whether she was politically right or wrong is incidental to this paper. It is her integrity which is at issue.
Integrity has to insist that sometimes THERE ARE NOT TWO SIDES to an issue. The grisly Nazi Shoah has one side---an evil one. The rationalization/ justification that Germany needed a “Pure” race is inherently evil and wrong. Fancy talk cannot cover the core rot of this “Plan”. Slavery is always wrong, regardless of the urgent pleas of a growing economy of the South. No one can own someone else. Only God owns us. Same-sex marriage, similarly is evil since it “covers over” inherently sinful behavior with the ambiguous plea for “right to love” and “tolerance.” The argument that NAMBLA, a movement to legitimize sexual relations between adult men and little boys, should be accepted because “it would help boys to mature sexually in a healthy manner”, is inherently evil because it would destroy children almost beyond repair. When a couple perform pseudo sexual copulation in the vestibule of St. Patrick’s Cathedral with the justification that the First Amendment protects their “demonstration”, there is no other side. Such behavior, besides being lewd and offensive in se, is also inherently evil.
The contention of this paper is simply this: integrity shrieks that such patent evil be called by its name! Euphemisms must be exposed as Masks covering over what really “is”. To be silent lest one become unpopular is base. Whether or not Pope Pius XII, in his alleged silence in World War II was strategically wise is strongly debated. Perhaps his silence helped save many lives but today it would appear that “speaking the speech plainly” is appropriate. “Studied ambiguity” should be avoided.
The world is filled with and knee deep with the people-pleasing population. We see all around us, amid the oases of healthy and self-respecting people, the hypocrite who says what he does not believe or denies what he does believe. A prime example is the “with it” Catholic who, needing acceptance by the “right” people, wishes to appear sophisticated to the Georgetown/UN crowd and who joins in the chorus of criticisms and putdowns of the Church—who sneers at the notion that abortion is evil, exalts the “right” of homosexuals to marry and enthusiastically endorses moral relativism and who loudly proclaims to all that HE is a Catholic and was once an altar boy, and perhaps even thought of entering the seminary.. In fact, he is, as was stated in a recent NEW YORKER article, gradually becoming a non-Catholic who happens to go to Mass.
Actually, the person so described is a hypocrite. If he is that faithful Catholic he describes, he has the obligation (as pointed out by Archbishop Chaput of Denver in the May 2005 issue of the Catholic Eye) to speak the truth of soul IF HE IS ASKED!!! If his criticisms and disagreements with BASIC Catholic teaching are what he really believes then, he should resign from the Church instead of pretending to be the devout believer. In either case, he is behaving with deceit. Nor can his behavior be called legitimate dissent (which is appropriate and necessary) since he departs from what is ESSENTIAL to the Catholic position where dissent is Inappropriate. These “Catholics”, of course, might follow an honored family tradition of public worship. Let us pray that there is a sincere spiritual motivation impelling them. Keeping a “nice” public persona, carrying Bibles exiting Churches on Sunday mornings might even have a “bump” upwards in the polls. Particularly if media people are present. Nevertheless, by their SILENCE they show, at least, a disloyalty and, perhaps, a disbelief in basic Catholic teaching. Helen Sussman was not a hypocrite even if “off course” on spiritual matters.
These “Catholics” are, in the street term, “phonies” and from my point of view sadly lacking in Integrity.
Jesus teaches that he who publicly acknowledges Him before the world will be acknowledged before the Father in Heaven. And, conversely and even frighteningly, those who DENY Him before the world will be denied before the Father. But would I be shouting at the wind if I verbalize my own true convictions? Does it matter to any one? Does it help anything? What do I gain other than derision and unpopularity?
In a large meeting of Catholic religious personnel held in New Mexico, convening the day after the November 2004 presidential election, the first two speakers publicly expressed their “depression” at the outcome and deeply lamented the behavior of those Catholic Bishops who dared to try to influence the Catholic vote. They wished that our leaders had kept silent and not made their own values known. Many heads nodded in vigorous agreement.
This writer, as the third speaker, to the contrary, expressed his own euphoria at the outcome, announcing that he had made a Novena ending the day before the actual election aimed at the victory of the “right” candidate. His euphoria included the defeat of a so-called Catholic Senator, the Democratic leader, who had directed legislation uncongenial to Catholic convictions and values. Further, he applauded the bravery and the leadership of those Catholic Bishops who had the moral courage to clarify and publish the guide lines for a true Catholic conscience.
Many of these “Catholic” leaders (mostly self described as Liberal or progressive) looked at me AGHAST, mouths agape, wide-eyed, unbelieving. My expressed views were foreign to their taste and certainly I was considered Neanderthal. But apart from the complex causation of such widely different world views, can we assess the effect of such openness in a public forum? There is very little, if any, change in the thinking of others. The REAL value is within oneself, in the very soul of the one who dares to exercise integrity. Was it not the Bard of Avon who urged: “Above all, to thine own self be true”? It is in the Court of one’s own soul that the meaningful judgment is given. I must face myself ultimately since I can run from me only so long! Yet, obviously, IN THE FINAL analysis, only God’s view of us is what really matters.
So now I ask myself what can “they” do to any of us, if we preface our view with the honest prefix “From my point of view” or “It seems to me” or “It strikes me this way”? Cannot one can learn to disagree without being disagreeable? Perhaps, recourse to the Holy Spirit is the one practical way to handle this very human dilemma. When to speak and when to be silent. It can be a puzzlement. Let us pray for such light and courage. Without it, we probably would profoundly dislike ourselves----in which case, one might ask: Is life worth living? Heaven forbid. Does God make junk? Life is meant to be enjoyed. So, loosen my tongue, O Lord, and give me the courage to speak Your truth with humility, openness and compassion. Take from me fear and brutality. Help me to see that I can be wrong but also that I can be right and with Your help, my brave, if frightened, speech will not only help me but hopefully others of Your children.
Edmund Burke, the noted British Parliamentarian, wrote “the easiest way for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” (or say nothing?)
Elie Weisel, the Jewish teller of tales and Concentration camp survivor, wrote “Silence in the face of oppression helps only the oppressor.”
Jesus, the Lord and Master of all sternly reminds us that the “lukewarm” are nauseous to Him ---- a fairly clear implication that serious Christians must take a position on crucial moral problems. Pope Benedict XVI wrote, in 1985, with great lament about those Catholic leaders who teach with “studied ambiguity” when presenting the basic teachings of Catholicism. I am uncomfortably reminded of Yale’s Stephen Carter with his definition of Integrity: the person of integrity must be willing, if necessary, to verbalize his values regardless of consequences. What kind of Christian and masculine responsibility falls on me or on anyone else who seeks God’s approval and one’s own self respect when we speak of clarity of personal stance?
Yet, in Eccl. 3,7, we are told that there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak…” Even the great and brave Thomas More, confronted by legally astute accusers seeking his very life for his refusal to endorse his King’s unruly libidinous behaviors, faltered and hedged and ducked their attacks. He tried, in his own skillful and juridically experienced manner, every way to protect his life-- principally by appealing to the age old legal axiom: TACET, CONSENSIT! Freely translated, this means—“By silence, one gives consent.” Of course, ultimately he was forced to verbalize his position and to face the brutal consequence of openness–his own de-capitation. Sometimes, even saints waffle when facing fearsome possibilities.. Nevertheless we, generally, do interpret one’s silence on a serious issue to be an agreement with the stated proposition at hand.
Perhaps, sometimes, silence is golden. Perhaps, it is prudent and helpful to be quiet in a specific circumstance.. But, sometimes, silence is cowardice. Most of us have seen and, sometimes, even experienced the self condemnation and dislike which comes with “being cowed.” I know that I SHOULD speak, but I do not! Why do I not--even when my own inner cowardice or inertia sickens me, psychically and morally?
Legitimate silence aside, why do we fear to speak up or disagree or confront? What are we REALLY afraid of? How can one possibly understand the “wimp” reaction? Is it that one fears rejection of others? Does one have some kind of unresolved Oedipal conflict whereby he still unconsciously fears retaliation from his parent? Is it that I am never allowed to be in disagreement? Is it all right to be disapproved? Must I always say “yes” to another’s opinion and viewpoint? Is it all right to be the Odd Man Out? Must every one like me? Do I not have a right, as a child of the good God, to think my own thoughts and reach my own conclusions and live by them as I see fit?
The questions are rhetorical and the answers obvious. Yet for many of us it IS a difficulty to speak up when facing evil or wrong or power even though we can get nauseated and revolted with sycophantic, bootlicking “yes men” who seek career advancement or temporary “lollipops” from those deemed powerful and bountiful!
Is it the profound fear of exclusion and social shunning which terrorizes me? I recall the once popular little book -- JONATHON LIVINGSTON SEAGULL -- which details the inner life of a rebellious bird who pulls off from the “herd” because he cannot “fly” with the others in THEIR manner. He seeks his own way, suffers the loss of his past and pursues what for him is authentic. Applied to human experience this can happen only if the person truly believes in his own values and convictions. Hence, Stephen Carter’s suggestion that –first of all—one must know clearly what is authentic and real for him. Secondly, one must live in accord with the inner convictions and lastly one MUST be integral enough to verbalize such values.
I recall a specific example from my years in South Africa under the iniquitous social system called Apartheid. Helen Sussman, a white member of the Parliament, represented the Non-European population of the country (i.e. any one who was NOT white). While I basically disagreed with her Communistic tinge, I admired her fearless insistence on the right to disagree with the overwhelming majority of politicians with whom she served. She was derided, shunned, isolated and mocked. Never did she falter. It was HER own honest view which she persistently articulated as the Political voice of the disenfranchised. Whether she was politically right or wrong is incidental to this paper. It is her integrity which is at issue.
Integrity has to insist that sometimes THERE ARE NOT TWO SIDES to an issue. The grisly Nazi Shoah has one side---an evil one. The rationalization/ justification that Germany needed a “Pure” race is inherently evil and wrong. Fancy talk cannot cover the core rot of this “Plan”. Slavery is always wrong, regardless of the urgent pleas of a growing economy of the South. No one can own someone else. Only God owns us. Same-sex marriage, similarly is evil since it “covers over” inherently sinful behavior with the ambiguous plea for “right to love” and “tolerance.” The argument that NAMBLA, a movement to legitimize sexual relations between adult men and little boys, should be accepted because “it would help boys to mature sexually in a healthy manner”, is inherently evil because it would destroy children almost beyond repair. When a couple perform pseudo sexual copulation in the vestibule of St. Patrick’s Cathedral with the justification that the First Amendment protects their “demonstration”, there is no other side. Such behavior, besides being lewd and offensive in se, is also inherently evil.
The contention of this paper is simply this: integrity shrieks that such patent evil be called by its name! Euphemisms must be exposed as Masks covering over what really “is”. To be silent lest one become unpopular is base. Whether or not Pope Pius XII, in his alleged silence in World War II was strategically wise is strongly debated. Perhaps his silence helped save many lives but today it would appear that “speaking the speech plainly” is appropriate. “Studied ambiguity” should be avoided.
The world is filled with and knee deep with the people-pleasing population. We see all around us, amid the oases of healthy and self-respecting people, the hypocrite who says what he does not believe or denies what he does believe. A prime example is the “with it” Catholic who, needing acceptance by the “right” people, wishes to appear sophisticated to the Georgetown/UN crowd and who joins in the chorus of criticisms and putdowns of the Church—who sneers at the notion that abortion is evil, exalts the “right” of homosexuals to marry and enthusiastically endorses moral relativism and who loudly proclaims to all that HE is a Catholic and was once an altar boy, and perhaps even thought of entering the seminary.. In fact, he is, as was stated in a recent NEW YORKER article, gradually becoming a non-Catholic who happens to go to Mass.
Actually, the person so described is a hypocrite. If he is that faithful Catholic he describes, he has the obligation (as pointed out by Archbishop Chaput of Denver in the May 2005 issue of the Catholic Eye) to speak the truth of soul IF HE IS ASKED!!! If his criticisms and disagreements with BASIC Catholic teaching are what he really believes then, he should resign from the Church instead of pretending to be the devout believer. In either case, he is behaving with deceit. Nor can his behavior be called legitimate dissent (which is appropriate and necessary) since he departs from what is ESSENTIAL to the Catholic position where dissent is Inappropriate. These “Catholics”, of course, might follow an honored family tradition of public worship. Let us pray that there is a sincere spiritual motivation impelling them. Keeping a “nice” public persona, carrying Bibles exiting Churches on Sunday mornings might even have a “bump” upwards in the polls. Particularly if media people are present. Nevertheless, by their SILENCE they show, at least, a disloyalty and, perhaps, a disbelief in basic Catholic teaching. Helen Sussman was not a hypocrite even if “off course” on spiritual matters.
These “Catholics” are, in the street term, “phonies” and from my point of view sadly lacking in Integrity.
Jesus teaches that he who publicly acknowledges Him before the world will be acknowledged before the Father in Heaven. And, conversely and even frighteningly, those who DENY Him before the world will be denied before the Father. But would I be shouting at the wind if I verbalize my own true convictions? Does it matter to any one? Does it help anything? What do I gain other than derision and unpopularity?
In a large meeting of Catholic religious personnel held in New Mexico, convening the day after the November 2004 presidential election, the first two speakers publicly expressed their “depression” at the outcome and deeply lamented the behavior of those Catholic Bishops who dared to try to influence the Catholic vote. They wished that our leaders had kept silent and not made their own values known. Many heads nodded in vigorous agreement.
This writer, as the third speaker, to the contrary, expressed his own euphoria at the outcome, announcing that he had made a Novena ending the day before the actual election aimed at the victory of the “right” candidate. His euphoria included the defeat of a so-called Catholic Senator, the Democratic leader, who had directed legislation uncongenial to Catholic convictions and values. Further, he applauded the bravery and the leadership of those Catholic Bishops who had the moral courage to clarify and publish the guide lines for a true Catholic conscience.
Many of these “Catholic” leaders (mostly self described as Liberal or progressive) looked at me AGHAST, mouths agape, wide-eyed, unbelieving. My expressed views were foreign to their taste and certainly I was considered Neanderthal. But apart from the complex causation of such widely different world views, can we assess the effect of such openness in a public forum? There is very little, if any, change in the thinking of others. The REAL value is within oneself, in the very soul of the one who dares to exercise integrity. Was it not the Bard of Avon who urged: “Above all, to thine own self be true”? It is in the Court of one’s own soul that the meaningful judgment is given. I must face myself ultimately since I can run from me only so long! Yet, obviously, IN THE FINAL analysis, only God’s view of us is what really matters.
So now I ask myself what can “they” do to any of us, if we preface our view with the honest prefix “From my point of view” or “It seems to me” or “It strikes me this way”? Cannot one can learn to disagree without being disagreeable? Perhaps, recourse to the Holy Spirit is the one practical way to handle this very human dilemma. When to speak and when to be silent. It can be a puzzlement. Let us pray for such light and courage. Without it, we probably would profoundly dislike ourselves----in which case, one might ask: Is life worth living? Heaven forbid. Does God make junk? Life is meant to be enjoyed. So, loosen my tongue, O Lord, and give me the courage to speak Your truth with humility, openness and compassion. Take from me fear and brutality. Help me to see that I can be wrong but also that I can be right and with Your help, my brave, if frightened, speech will not only help me but hopefully others of Your children.
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