It’s amazing what nervous bureaucrats can squeeze out of the U.S. Constitution when they want to. Take the case of one Teresa Becker. According to the New York Times (“Courts Weighing Rights of States to Curb Aid for Religion Majors,” August 10, 2003):
“[Becker] had received $1,200 in state scholarship money for her freshman year at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 2000. The next year she received $2,750 in state aid. Last June, she was promised that amount for her junior year, too.
A month later, when word of her choice of a major reached state officials, they wrote her a new letter.
‘Students enrolled in a course of study leading to a degree in theology, divinity, or religious education are not eligible to receive an award,’ it said, paraphrasing a state law. ‘Your award has changed from $2,750.00 to $0.00.’”
Now, you may have missed the part of the U.S. Constitution that empowers the federal government to punish people for their choice of college majors. Most people, when they read the Bill of Rights, see these words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” You may be wondering how on earth letting Ms. Becker have her tuition money to study what she likes was an “establishment of religion.” Ms. Becker did too, since it looked more like an attempt to prohibit the free exercise of her religion. So she sued.
“On July 21, Judge George Caram Steeh of the federal district court in Detroit issued a preliminary ruling in her favor, saying the state had probably engaged in religious discrimination. Judge Steeh ordered the state to put her scholarship money in escrow until there is a final court ruling.”
The article goes on to point out something so obvious that only jittery bureaucrats, under the impression that the phrase “wall of separation” occurs somewhere in the Constitution, could miss it: “Ms. Becker’s lawyers at the Thomas More Law Center, a conservative public interest law firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, emphasized what they called the unfairness of the distinction the Michigan law draws.
“‘An atheist committed to scientific materialism may study the Big Bang, the laws governing the subsequent organization of matter and, ultimately, the amphibian from which man is said to have evolved—all without forfeiting his scholarship,’ they wrote in court papers. ‘But Teresa must forfeit her scholarship if she wishes to discuss the Uncaused Cause that created the stuff of the Big Bang, and the notion that the laws that govern creation are not merely statistically improbable but so irreducibly complex that the heavens proclaim the glory of the Lord.’”
You May Want to Sit Down for This News Flash
According to the Washington Times (“Study Finds Gay Unions Brief,” July 11, 2003):
“A recent study on homosexual relationships finds they last 1-1/2 years on average—even as homosexual groups are pushing nationwide to legalize same-sex ‘marriages.’”
Amazing. A subculture notorious for promiscuity and self-destructive behavior doesn’t tend to foster lasting relationships?
In other news, science notices correlation between standing out in the rain and getting wet. However, the media have not yet noticed that this makes the case for gay “marriage” even more untenable than ever.
C. Peter Wagner Has Decided that Catholicism Is a Demonic Covenant
Wagner has been a pretty big noise among Charismatics and Pentecostals. He has such strong ties in Evangelical missions and is one of the big wheels of something called the “New Apostolic Reformation.” He is trying to lead a resistance to the general warming trend of many non-denominational Christian groups toward the Catholic Church, publishing such fine tomes as Freedom from Catholicism and sponsoring stuff like the “Cleansing Stream” movement (which has featured apostolic practices like barfing up evil spirits).
The interesting thing is, Wagner seems to be being treated with polite silence by his fellow non-denominational Christians, like a batty uncle shunted to the attic when the guests come over. Catholics should be grateful for this. It will be interesting to see how Wagner’s latest “revelations” are received by mainstream Evangelicalism. Meantime, here’s hoping that he comes to his senses.
One amusing sidelight to the various agitations in the non-denominational world is that some of Wagner’s enemies accuse him of being too close to . . . Catholicism! The delightful Cephas Ministries (a peculiar name for an outfit so dedicated to opposition to the popish Church) indulges in six-degrees-of-separation thinking at its finest by noting that Wagner was educated at Fuller Theological Seminary, which was founded (as you might suppose) by a Dr. Fuller, who in turn brought Billy Graham on to his board of trustees in 1958. And the Cephas Ministries web site puts it, “Apparently Dr. Graham is the connection to Catholicism.” Because, you know, Dr. Graham has spoken well of and worked with Catholics in the past. So there you are: C. Peter Wagner is covering his Romanist tracks by denouncing the Catholic Church as a “demonic covenant.” An especially tricky man, that guy.
The Illogic of Balkanization
“Celibate clergy should not be allowed to talk about marriage!” I thought of this common piece of TV wisdom as I read “Parents: White Teacher Should Not Teach Black History” (www.newsnet5.com/news/2360897/detail.html). Of course, it goes without saying that black people should not teach European history and healthy doctors shouldn’t be allowed to operate on conditions they’ve never suffered from and reporters should not be allowed to talk about politics if they’ve never held office and women shouldn’t be allowed to discuss men.
One of the great things about the Catholic faith is that it retains the commonsense ability to affirm not only what is particular but what is common. That is why Jesus Christ, a Jew of the house of David, retains the power to save not only other Jews of the house of David but every person without any exception whatsoever. Our strangely balkanized culture is, in the very act of trying to assert the complete sameness of all individuals, fast losing the capacity to recognize what is common to all human beings and what is rightly particular.
Gay Fascism Watch
Speaking of the glories of the post-Christian West, homosexual brownshirts exhibit the commitment to respect for diversity of opinion that characterizes the gay movement (“Legal warning to church on gay stance” (www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2003/0802/720611077HM1POPE.html):
“Clergy and bishops who distribute the Vatican’s latest publication describing homosexual activity as ‘evil’ could face prosecution under incitement to hatred legislation.
“The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has warned that the language in the twelve-page booklet is so strong it could be interpreted as being in breach of the Act.
“Published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, it states that Catholics have a duty to oppose the introduction and operation of legislation recognizing same-sex unions. It identifies politicians as having a duty to vote against any such moves.
“According to the document, Catholic teaching states that while homosexuals should be treated with ‘respect, compassion and sensitivity,’ homosexuality was ‘objectively disordered.’
“‘Those who would move from tolerance to the legitimization of specific rights for cohabiting homosexual persons need to be reminded that the approval or legalization of evil is something far different from the toleration of evil,’ it states.
“It also claims that allowing children to be adopted into same-sex unions would mean ‘doing violence to these children.’ This would place them ‘in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development.’
“Ms. Aisling Reidy, director of the ICCL, warned yesterday that the statement could be in violation of the 1989 Incitement to Hatred Act. Those convicted under the Act can face jail terms of up to six months.”
Catch that? Merely teaching what the Church teaches about homosexual practice might get you a six-month jail term.
Be prepared to fight this or assume that you will, within your lifetime, be subject to prosecution for simply holding the Catholic faith. Remember that the patron of apologists is Justin Martyr. He got that name for a reason. Not everybody is interested in hearing reasons for the faith. Sometimes they just want to muzzle or kill you.
Attention Must Be Paid
“Priest saves children then drowns” (www.cathnews.com/news/308/5.asp):
“An Italian parish priest jumped into the sea and saved seven children before drowning.
“Fr Stefano Gorzegno, 44, dived into the waves in his priestly dress when the children got trapped by strong undercurrents, but collapsed with his lungs full of water, local police said.
“He had taken about fifty children aged between twelve and sixteen to Termoli, on the Adriatic coast, on a day trip Wednesday. Seven of them got into difficulties.
“‘He saved all of them, but just barely,’ a local police officer told Reuters. ‘A hero’s funeral will be held on Friday morning.’
“He said the priest, from the southern Bojano parish—a mountain town west of Termoli—was an expert swimmer and scuba diver.”
Why mention this story in the Apologist’s Eye? Because this brave man bears witness to the love of Jesus Christ better than anything you’ll ever read in this space. We see God clearly in his saints, which is itself a simple point of Catholic evangelization often overlooked. Pray for us, Fr. Stefano!
The Most Difficult Christian Doctrine Is Not about Divorce, Contraception, Sex, or Adultery
It’s not even about stratospheric and eye-crossing details of the Trinitarian Circumincession of divine Persons or the two wills of Christ or the procession of the Holy Spirit.
Nope. The most difficult and viscerally repulsive teaching of the faith is its demand for mercy for the sinner. Exhibit A is found in the following remark: “It reinforces the notion that these guys always win,” he said. “I worry that will make it harder for some victims to report their abuse” (www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/appe08272003.htm).
Those are the words of David Clohessy of SNAP regarding the death—the death, mind you—of John Geoghan, the Boston priest who abused numerous children and was sentenced to prison in early 2002. Apparently, because of some stupid technicality, Geoghan’s conviction could be voided because he can’t be present for his appeal. The man was strangled and stomped to death in prison, yet Clohessy still sees Geoghan as the “winner.”
This is one of the reasons Christ demands that we extend unconditional forgiveness to those who sin against us. For, very simply, unforgiveness is an eternal prison. Geoghan is a “winner” only in Clohessy’s mind. But the mind can be a very effective prison until the bars are shattered by forgiveness and abandonment of the demand for the victimizer to be punished. Geoghan will, paradoxically, continue to have power over every victim who imitates poor Mr. Clohessy’s mindset.
Christianity and a Piece of Rubber
Sometimes silence is most eloquent. That’s why we’re tempted to run without comment an entire piece from the November 26, 2003, New York Times opinion page by columnist Nicholas D. Krsitof. But we’ve edited it down a bit for your enrichment. It’s headlined, “Don’t Tell the Pope” and stands as dumb testimony to the chasm-like misunderstanding of the secular culture to the nuances of Catholic truth.
ONSONATE, El Salvador
Pope John Paul II would be scandalized if he came to the Roman Catholic hospital here in the poor southwestern part of El Salvador.
Thank God!
The Vatican is increasingly out of touch and exerts a reactionary—even, in this world of AIDS, deadly—influence on health policy in the developing world. Here in El Salvador, church leaders in 1998 helped ban abortions even when necessary to save the life of a woman, and, much worse, helped pass a law, which took effect last month, requiring condoms to carry warnings that they do not protect against AIDS. . . .
Here at the grass roots, the Catholic Church is a vibrant, flexible organization enormously different from the out-of-touch Vatican. At the Catholic-run hospital here in Sonsonate, doctors tell women about IUDs and the pill—and especially about using condoms to protect against AIDS. Their humanitarian work is a reminder that the Catholic Church is much greater than the Vatican: Local priests and nuns often ignore the troglodytes in Rome and quietly do what they can to save parishioners from AIDS.
“The bishop is in San Salvador and never comes here,” explains Dr. Martha Alica De Regalada. “So we never get in trouble.”
The Vatican has consistently opposed condoms and safe-sex education, even claiming falsely that condoms don’t protect against AIDS. That’s on par with the church under Pope Urban VIII putting Galileo under house arrest — except that this will have more deadly results.
Yet I take my hat off to the much broader Catholic Church that is toiling in the barrios of Latin America and the slums of Africa and Asia. Catholic Relief Services, one of the most vigorous aid organizations in the third world, is an example of humanitarianism at its noblest.
At ground level, priests apply doctrine with a flexibility that must drive the pope wild. . . .
In the remote Guatemalan town of Coatepeque, Maryknoll sisters run a first-rate AIDS clinic and prevention program, saving lives on a vast scale. They work with prostitutes and school children and explain how condoms can protect against AIDS.
So what about Vatican teachings?
“Certainly, God does not want us to kill each other,” responded Marlene Condon, who works with AIDS patients. “You’ve got to do something.”
Elsewhere in Coatepeque, some priests hold meetings where young people preparing for confirmation learn about AIDS — and condoms. . . .
The irony is that no organization does more to help AIDS victims and their orphans than the Catholic Church. Some 25 percent of AIDS care worldwide is provided by church- related groups. Yet the Vatican blindly opposes condoms, even within a marriage when a husband or wife is infected with H.I.V. A member of the Kenyan Parliament has called the church “the greatest impediment in the fight against H.I.V./AIDS.”
Let’s hope the Vatican will learn from its priests and nuns on the ground, who do so much heroic work fighting the disease. In Coatepeque, I spoke with Father Mario Adolfo Dominguez, who sighed as I grilled him on the theology of condoms.
“We don’t recommend the use of condoms, but we’re not opposed to their use because we know they prevent AIDS,” he said, looking nervous as I wrote down his words. “There is no contradiction between Christianity and a piece of rubber.”