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THE TWO SIDES OF CATHOLICISM
Lynne Williams is running for Maine governor as a Green Independent
Lynne Williams, Mt Desert Islander - I was raised in an Irish Catholic family in New York City, and spent twelve years in Catholic schools. I had my son baptized, and he also received his sacrament of Holy Communion. I even taught Sunday school to little kids. I've attended luncheons for Catholic lawyers and even gone to some Red Masses in Portland, where the Catholic bar and judiciary gather. I took five years of Latin and participated in the Latin mass prior to Vatican II in 1960.
I was always drawn to the social justice elements of Catholicism, at the same time as I was repelled by its rabid anti-choice rhetoric, which was grounded in hypocrisy. To this day I greatly respect the internal moral consistency of conservative Justice John Noonan, of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, who challenged the bishop of San Francisco to require his priests to spend as much time speaking against capital punishment as they spend speaking against choice. At the same time, that same diocese was welcoming and supporting of gay and lesbian congregants, and provided a lifeline for many of those congregants who were living with AIDS.
However, the schizoid nature of the church is becoming overwhelmingly apparent in Maine as we move along towards a November vote on Proposition One, the repeal of marriage equality. On one hand is the social justice work that many parishes engage in, including food banks, support of the homeless and literacy programs. On the other hand is the mean-spirited resistance to marriage equality. . . . However, a closer look at the church's support suggests a much more sinister motive, a motive focused on shoring up the reputation of an institution that has been hit hard in recent years, particularly by the priest abuse scandals, which the Diocese of Portland was late to acknowledge.
Yet the diocese is risking a lot of good will in underwriting the Yes on One campaign. First, while it is passing the collection basket at Sunday masses throughout the state, asking for contributions for the "Yes on One" campaign, the diocese is simultaneously closing parishes that have for generations of Mainers been a religious home. More troubling than such closures, however, is the fact that the church is putting its non-profit status at risk by not only politicizing the pulpit but also deploying congregants' donations for political purposes.
In the early 1500s, German priest Martin Luther mounted a campaign against the Catholic Church's secular practices, most notably the selling of indulgences, by which Catholics could "buy" a better post-death situation. Pope Leo responded by stating, "whoever says that the Church of Rome may not do what it is actually doing in the manner of indulgences is a heretic." Luther stood up to this threat, as well as to subsequent threats from Rome - hence the birth of the Reformation.
The Diocese of Portland would be well advised to review Martin Luther's successful resistance to being told what to do by the Rome. Rather than supporting Rome's order to Luther that he "cease and desist," Germans overwhelmingly supported the priest's challenges to Rome's practices. Pope Leo died without muzzling Luther, due to the German people's embrace of Luther's call for reform.
Pope Leo never responded to Luther by citing scripture - there was no scripture to cite in support of the selling of indulgences. Rather, Luther argued - successfully - that the Church, on the matter of indulgences, was a political power not a spiritual one and, like any other political campaign, the Church was engaging in spurious arguments, fear mongering and lies. In the end, the German people rejected the Church's arguments and sided with Luther.
I call on the good voters of Maine to do likewise - reject the unfounded arguments of the Catholic Church against marriage equality. The 16th century German people rejected the arguments of the Catholic Church and embraced Luther, the truth teller. We must do likewise, by rejecting the lies and embracing the truth - that support of marriage equality is the moral position.
I could end this by passing along the following Latin phrase to the Diocese of Portland – "Equalitas pro omnibus," which translates as "Equality for all." However, I feel the more appropriate phrase is the title of a song written by my friend Ethan Miller – "Wait 'til Jesus gets his hands on you."
Lynne Williams, Mt Desert Islander - I was raised in an Irish Catholic family in New York City, and spent twelve years in Catholic schools. I had my son baptized, and he also received his sacrament of Holy Communion. I even taught Sunday school to little kids. I've attended luncheons for Catholic lawyers and even gone to some Red Masses in Portland, where the Catholic bar and judiciary gather. I took five years of Latin and participated in the Latin mass prior to Vatican II in 1960.
I was always drawn to the social justice elements of Catholicism, at the same time as I was repelled by its rabid anti-choice rhetoric, which was grounded in hypocrisy. To this day I greatly respect the internal moral consistency of conservative Justice John Noonan, of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, who challenged the bishop of San Francisco to require his priests to spend as much time speaking against capital punishment as they spend speaking against choice. At the same time, that same diocese was welcoming and supporting of gay and lesbian congregants, and provided a lifeline for many of those congregants who were living with AIDS.
However, the schizoid nature of the church is becoming overwhelmingly apparent in Maine as we move along towards a November vote on Proposition One, the repeal of marriage equality. On one hand is the social justice work that many parishes engage in, including food banks, support of the homeless and literacy programs. On the other hand is the mean-spirited resistance to marriage equality. . . . However, a closer look at the church's support suggests a much more sinister motive, a motive focused on shoring up the reputation of an institution that has been hit hard in recent years, particularly by the priest abuse scandals, which the Diocese of Portland was late to acknowledge.
Yet the diocese is risking a lot of good will in underwriting the Yes on One campaign. First, while it is passing the collection basket at Sunday masses throughout the state, asking for contributions for the "Yes on One" campaign, the diocese is simultaneously closing parishes that have for generations of Mainers been a religious home. More troubling than such closures, however, is the fact that the church is putting its non-profit status at risk by not only politicizing the pulpit but also deploying congregants' donations for political purposes.
In the early 1500s, German priest Martin Luther mounted a campaign against the Catholic Church's secular practices, most notably the selling of indulgences, by which Catholics could "buy" a better post-death situation. Pope Leo responded by stating, "whoever says that the Church of Rome may not do what it is actually doing in the manner of indulgences is a heretic." Luther stood up to this threat, as well as to subsequent threats from Rome - hence the birth of the Reformation.
The Diocese of Portland would be well advised to review Martin Luther's successful resistance to being told what to do by the Rome. Rather than supporting Rome's order to Luther that he "cease and desist," Germans overwhelmingly supported the priest's challenges to Rome's practices. Pope Leo died without muzzling Luther, due to the German people's embrace of Luther's call for reform.
Pope Leo never responded to Luther by citing scripture - there was no scripture to cite in support of the selling of indulgences. Rather, Luther argued - successfully - that the Church, on the matter of indulgences, was a political power not a spiritual one and, like any other political campaign, the Church was engaging in spurious arguments, fear mongering and lies. In the end, the German people rejected the Church's arguments and sided with Luther.
I call on the good voters of Maine to do likewise - reject the unfounded arguments of the Catholic Church against marriage equality. The 16th century German people rejected the arguments of the Catholic Church and embraced Luther, the truth teller. We must do likewise, by rejecting the lies and embracing the truth - that support of marriage equality is the moral position.
I could end this by passing along the following Latin phrase to the Diocese of Portland – "Equalitas pro omnibus," which translates as "Equality for all." However, I feel the more appropriate phrase is the title of a song written by my friend Ethan Miller – "Wait 'til Jesus gets his hands on you."
2 Comments:
Maybe we're swimming upstream here.
Some Lutheran Synods are more "Strict" than the Catholic Church. At least now days, maybe not back when “The Church” would sooner send your ugly-a$$ soul to heaven than to look at you.
Religions have allowed effete Passive-Aggressive wanna-be's to act in an Authoritarian manner because we let them. Either because of our belief that Religion is "Holy", or if you're pragmatic maybe just because you believe they have done "good works".
It's our own fault if we cease appreciating our religions more as guides for good and proper ways to live our lives... and begin to ascribe virtues that aren't there. Some see an innate intelligence that just isn't there, some actually think that priests are closer to god than anybody else, and some merely sit there and complain wondering why religions aren't the perfect entity they believe they should be. It'll never happen.
-DaTheorist
The Church, as most Catholics refer to it, lost the battle with the Faithful when it decided to declare war on the South American Liberation theologists. St. Louis was once probably the the idealogical stronghold of the Church in America, but the Papacy has gone out of it's way to insult the faithful starting with disrespecting Bishop May, then sending us an array of dogmatic lackeys soley to let us know our place. It'll be interesting how they'll pay the bills when the souls who did pay have left the Church.
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