Posted by
Anthony on Tuesday, June 02, 2009 3:54:36 PM
Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Conley as well as many other bishops have expressed their concerns over the cold blooded murder of Dr. Tiller http://tinyurl.com/pjltwe. Their statement is very important because it calls the Catholics of Colorado to prayer, the most powerful response to senseless violence. Their statement also implies a concern about the kind of culture we are fostering in our country and the destructiveness of violence to our community. It is the kind of statement that religious leaders are able to effectively make - the kind of statement that provides an opportunity for all of us to examine our conscience and think about how we treat one another.
The concerned response of these Catholic bishops differs greatly from the response of our president. The president unjustly admonishes pro-life activists http://tiny.cc/EbLdx implying that those who stand for life stand in support of the actions of a deranged socio-path. It is very sad that we have a leader who in a moment of crisis would recklessly imply that rational and peaceful pro-life citizens were in anyway associated with or even supportive of the cold blooded killing of another. There is way too much violence in our society already - and all people of goodwill know this. By why the president's reckless rhetoric?
American Catholic signals an alarm in its criticism of Mr. Obama's response and the liberal blog-o-sphere http://tiny.cc/fcZLD; the assumptions and associations left-wing activists make are rash and contentious. There is no attempt to carefully evaluate facts. Instead there is an instant jump to ill founded conclusions. What has possessed the President of the United States to endorse such a view of the problem is very troubling.
But this rashness is about more than the President. This is even true of Catholic liberal leaders like Dr. Whelan http://tinyurl.com/pwjkko who strongly admonishes those who stand against abortion for their rhetoric - with the unfounded assumption that it does society harm to identify those who support abortion rights as in fact pro-abortion. Here, Dr. Whelan makes a dangerous mistake. To say someone is pro-abortion does not impugne evil motives - it is straight forward and clarifies what the issue of disagreement actually is. What promotes violence in society is rather that kind of rhetoric the imputes evil motives through reckless and ambiguous assertions. This is detraction and it leads to rash judgment. Dr. Whelan recklessly detracts from the good reputation of very faithful and honest citizens while admonishing them in a spirit of righteous indignation.
It is as if some have already judged as evil everyone who loves babies and finally their the opportunity to impugne these baby lovers with the most vile motives is at hand. Sadly, human nature is inclined to such rashness. We abhor the thought that our opponents might be a little bigger and better than the straw men and women we believe them to be. Giving into this inclination (whoever the opponent and whatever the cause) never advances the human communtiy but leaves us more vulnerable to strife.
There are those who vocally advocate a social agenda - correctly identifying what they say they want to advance is not making a rash judgment. In fact, there are also whole schools of thought that believe purposefully promoting and acting on such rashness can be used for social change. These schools work because we have lost sight of what a genuinely peaceful society really is. Western atheistic and fanatical islamic thought is full of thinkers who believe society is advanced by rashness, contention and strife. Fear of differences, the desire for order, righteous indignation and resentment collide in a social crisis, and the crafty know that advancing an agenda that promises to satisfy all these tumultous appetites will be tolerated even if it includes the persecution and oppression of certain voices in society. They mistake a peaceful society with a social comfort hedged in by fear. This is why, for those who espouse various forms of dialectic materialism (consumerist or religious), societal chaos is such a tempting opportunity. In the face of chaos, a culture of comfortable fear is deemed acceptable. This kind of thinking was utilized not only by 20th Century totalitarians to promote national socialism, it is also current with some radical islamic leaders. There are even those who see the current crisis in social order brought on by the actions of a socio-path as an opportunity for societal change that should not be wasted. Sadly, not only the cold blooded murder itself but also Obama's remarks play right into this kind of social agenda.
What is sad is the only social order that derives from this is one founded in fear and oppresion - and ultimately this can only be an evil social order. Evil is incapable of advancing the good. A culture of fearful comfort cannot of itself inspire human greatness or noble achievement. This is because fear is not commensurate with the dignity of man. Instead, history shows societies ruled by fear develop an atrocious banality: the despair of goodness robs individuals of their own sense of dignity and self-worth. Men and women no longer live - they exist for reasons too small for them to comprehend. Such a culture of death kills the human spirit and damns society to a living hell.
Promoting a culture of life is needed now more than ever and violence has no place in such a society. This is why the bishop's statements are so important. They know that how dangerous the fruits of villianizing ones opponents and acting on a rhetoric of unfounded accusation. They know that a wholesome society requires an unrelenting participation in a social dialogue committed to the humble pursuit of the truth. True community requires the discipline of renouncing all forms of rash judgment and contention, not only by individuals but also by the community itself. It requires the courage to respect one another's dignity and the readiness to see the good in someone, even if you disagree with them. Promoting life requires hope in everyone's humanity, even those who oppose such a noble effort. To be pro-life is not merely a commitment to a social agenda: it is above all a commitment to the goodness and dignity of life itself.