On A Big Week in Politics and Catholicism

I miss my blog, so I wanted to post since it's been a while. Life has been crazy but that's what happens when life happens and work does as well. This, however, is a big couple of weeks in Catholicism so I want to be creative and write a post responding to the big two weeks which are occurring. In a short post, I hope to cover topics of racism, ecumenism, and abortion, so this will be a heavy post, but I hope a productive one.

The first big day in Catholic world is MLK day. It's a big day for a lot of people, not just Catholics.
What Martin Luther King, Jr. teaches us is about dignity and love of all people. I hope this internal dialogue can bring a little light to what Dr. King teaches us.

"What does this person mean that I can't hang out or play games with my friend? He says we also can't talk about spirituality, because I'm white trailer trash and he's a native. But I like my online multiplayer games with my friend, and I like my deeper conversations with him. Just because he's native and I'm white doesn't mean we can't relate. We're still people capable of loving others and participating in a friendship. I'm not intrinsically different because I'm white and he's not. To say that means that one is capable of love and good and the other not, and that's not my experience. I also have seen the inverse be true where white people are awful and people of other races show generous mercy and hospitality."

In caring about racism, it is important to affirm the dignity of people because all are capable of love, and all deserve to be loved because God creates all things. The lesson from Dr. King is this precise message, that people must be treated equally, and all people are capable of love.

This week is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. I believe Cardinal Kasper has been quoted as saying that the greatest scandal in Christianity is the division of the Church. The divisions of the Church are a deep problem because it divides the message of Christ. The reading from Mass today from 1 Corinthians places Paul in a situation where he is dealing with a divided community and focusing on their leader. Some are for Paul, some are for Cephas, and some are for Christ. This divides the community because people are unsure of their leader, and which path they should follow. Paul calls the community to be one and remember their call to Christ (1 Cor 8).

There are two major problems that come with ecumenical discussions. Some believe that the differences in faith need to be blurred and people are really more alike than different in their belief. Others believe that their one religion is the true religion and there can be no compromise and everyone else must convert. I want to challenge these ecumenical classifications and as my discussion on racism I want to bring the focus on people who love and people who are really trying their best to love God and neighbor. The problem with the first ideology of ecumenism is that people show they are not really listening and loving to the unique experience of people. The problem with the second mentality is that it is a) judgmental and b) not reflective of the ways their Church may have screwed up in the past. (This is particularly common in Catholic circles among people of more traditional belief.) To love means to be willing to engage experiences different than one's own. Ecumenism is a deep need because it opens people up to listen to the heart of other's experience.

Now before we continue to the final reflection, I want to expose the real reason I'm writing this piece. There are many issues which come up in theology, but one issue which is exposed by this time in the calendar is the divisions between people who value fighting racism and ecumenism, and people who value fighting abortion. Often times people who value fighting racism and ecumenism become angry at people who fight against abortion because of a perceived judgmental mentality which contributes to racism and superiority and too narrow of a worldview since many sources who fight against abortion proclaim it is the greatest moral evil in society. This caricature leads to hatred. However, there is also a problem with people who fight against abortion. They tend to believe those who are fighting against racism and for ecumenism are contributing to the moral degrading of society because they don't focus enough on sexuality and there is a perceived lack of objective truth which leads to a degrading of morals. This caricature is built up by elites on both sides who want to lead people to do something for society, but their imagery causes more hurt than help. When a perceived other is made to be the cause of problems in society and imagery of what is good and bad continues to build up this animosity, then people lose the ability to listen and understand the other. All three issues: racism, ecumenism, and abortion, require a deep empathy in listening in order to deal with these major societal problems. Listening allows us to love even when it is hard to, and even if it seems like an everyday, ordinary thing. To deal with the major societal issues, people also have to think differently, because a narrow, judgmental, non-listening thought process inhibits one's ability to act.

So now let's think about abortion. Abortion is just as intrinsically evil as racism because it is lacking care toward a vulnerable and different member of society (e.g. born and unborn). Abortion is just as scandalous as the division of Christian religions because it ruptures a deep union between family and child. Abortion divides couples, their friends, and their extended family because many people have different feelings about abortion. Abortion, racism and the division of Christian religions are all serious problems because they all have implications for the dignity of people. All of these problems invade the dignity of people because the emphasize difference to an extreme and do not take into account that all people love, and all people are loved by God. Our response to these issues can only be to love, and this starts with listening and engaging others in their lives. This week can be a great week to listen to other's stories and share lives in order to grow the community but also affirm the individual who acts in community. When love is love, and dignity is dignity, in the big and the small, will the Catholic Church as a people grow to be the symbol of love that it seeks to represent in its sacrament and life.

Aristocrates