The Heart of the Matter

Extreme Prejudice

I don’t get it.  Some of my parishioners tell me that in the local public schools can teach about Hanukah.  It's not only permissible but expected.  They also teach about Kwanza.  But there can be no mention of Christmas at all.  Why?

 

I agree with teaching kids about the wonderful story of Hanukah and the relatively new story of Kwanza.  But why is it forbidden to mention the word “Christmas”?   Why is it OK to tell of gift giving at Hanukah but it is forbidden to tell of gift giving at Christmas?

 

This is extreme prejudice.  If the reasoning is to draw a line between religion and our school systems, then why is the Jewish story part of the curriculum?

 

I suggest that everyone who has kids in public school invite their children to ask their teachers why they can’t talk about Christmas but they can talk about Hanukah. 

 

This prejudice is so pervasive that it has taken over Starbucks.  Here’s a little vignette from one of my parishioners, Jill:

 

The kids and I just stopped into a Starbucks in our town, Longmont, to pick up some coffee beans. I noted a sign on the door which read "Christmas Blend $5 off today only." I don't normally buy those beans.....but it was a great deal, more than 40% off! So, I asked the young man at the counter to tell me how the Christmas blend was different than my usual bean and his pitch was good enough that I said, "Ok, I'll try it!" When I reached for a bag of "Christmas blend" all that was left in the closest basket was decaf. Yet, in this giant festive basket near the counter there were tons of "Holiday Blend" bags. I kind of pouted and told the young man at the counter, "I guess your out." He leaned over and whispered, "No we're not really.....Holiday and Christmas blend are the same thing! One is just in a politically correct package." I told him, "Well, I want the Christmas Blend!" His response was to laugh and say...."You and everyone else!" Sadly, I went home with a Holiday Blend bag as there was truly not one bag of Christmas Blend coffee beans left in the store.

Anti-Slavery and Anti-Abortion Similarities

Have you ever thought that the now decades-long hassle over abortion is somewhat similar to the hassle over slavery in the decades between our country’s founding in 1776 and the Civil War? Abolitionists were taking every opportunity they could to decry the evils of slavery, while their opponents who were pro-slavery wanted to keep the system going.  

Attempts to define the slave as a person were fought in courts, and the courts rejected these calls to define the black person as a human person deserving of all of the rights of a white person.  The courts found that slavery was constitutional.  Compromises were sought between those who were abolitionists and those who were pro-slavery; and still the issue would not go away.   The 1820 Missouri Compromise limited the spread of slavery into the new territories as the US expanded west.  This Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery north of the parallel 36°30´ in the Louisiana Purchase, but it was knocked down by the Supreme Court in the infamous Dred Scott Decision in 1857.  That decision declared that the Compromise violated the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution which prohibits Congress from depriving persons of their property without due process of law. 

Hmmm.  The slave was the owner’s property.  Sounds like “my body, and I’ll do what I want.”

In that Dred Scott decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857, seven out of nine Justices on the Supreme Court declared no slave or descendant of a slave could be a U.S. citizen, or ever had been a U.S. citizen. As a non-citizen, the court stated, Dred Scott had no rights and could not sue in a Federal Court and must remain a slave.

The abolitionists’ persistence, however, won the day, and won the war.

Do you see the similarity that I see?

 

[Image Credit: Digital image ©1998 Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis]

More Americans “Pro-Life” Than “Pro-Choice” for First Time

Check out the new Gallup Poll on Americans' attitudes about abortion.  The results are surprising.

Click here to read the poll results for yourself.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey day!

Harry Truman - a 20th Century Cyrus

Did you know that Harry Truman saw a similarity between himself and the Persian emperor, Cyrus?  Cyrus was the figure lionized by the prophet Isaiah in this past Sunday's first reading at Mass, from Isaiah 45.  Cyrus was the Persian emperor who conquered the Babylonian empire in 539 BC.  The Jews, defeated earlier by the Babylonians, had spent 70 years in their "Babylonian captivity," that is, in their exile from the Holy Land, until Cyrus set them free and allowed them to return to their homeland.

In 1948 the State of Israel was established by Jews who had returned to the homeland after nearly 2000 years of another exile.  For a state to be duly recognized as a legitimate nation, other nations have to give recognition that the new state is indeed a nation.  The critical issue in 1948 was: would any nation recognize this new state?  There was a great reticence among nations to give their recognition, for the very same reasons that haunt the Palestinian-Israel battle to this day.

When Harry Truman was asked by American Jews to recognize the State of Israel, he had to weigh the pros and cons very seriously because the issue was fraught with trouble.  When he finally decided to give recognition, that very act by the most powerful nation on earth made the State of Israel sure and certain. 

When asked about this decision later on, he said that he saw himself as in the same position as Cyrus who enabled the Jews to return to their homeland.  He said, "I am Cyrus!"  Now, that was indeed making a connection between Scripture and the present day!

How a death can be a gift

Somebody I know, not a parishioner, was recently talking about finalizing the estate of her deceased husband.  Those of us who knew the couple didn't think it was an especially happy marriage, but who knows what goes on in the lives of others?  As she talked, though, she referred to needing her husband's "gift certificate."  No one knew what she was talking about, so the natural question was asked: What "gift certificate" are you talking about?  She said, "I didn't say gift certificate, did I?  I meant death certificate!" 

What is a "sanatio in radice"?

Did you know that if a Catholic is married to someone who refuses to enter a Catholic Church, and will have nothing to do with the Church, the Catholic party can have their civil marriage validated?  This canonical process is called a "sanatio in radice," meaning a healing of the invalid nature of the marriage so that the marriage becomes a recognized marriage according to the law of the Catholic Church, even without a ceremony.  This assumes that there is no existing impediment like a previous marriage that would need an annulment. 

Conversation over dinner

I had dinner last night with 2 priests who come from other countries but are now serving here in the United States.  They have told me before of the common reaction of Latino priests who find that the Church in the United States is too heavily tilted for their taste in the direction of Church as business.

Here in the U.S. there is a constant expectation that priests be preoccupied with matters that pertain more to an accountant, like ensuring proper documentation for just about everything that happens in a parish; like being aware of and implementing an ever increasing set of policies and procedures for every aspect of parish life; like knowing who has had the safe environment training among all employees and volunteers, and who has not; like making sure that verification of their training is secured in two locations (if a parish has a school); like chasing away from the parish property any skateboarders (a requirement from insurance companies); like checking all the canceled checks to see if someone slipped something through, and on and on. 

So over dinner one of the foreign born priests said, "The Church isn't like this anywhere else in the world.  Here no one asks if the people are being properly evangelized, or if religious education of the young is effective.  Instead in the USA the questions are: did you initial every invoice, sign every check, and get background checks on all your volunteers?  It's an American phenomenon."

There's an old story told about the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, whose empire covered many nations in Europe.  He is said to have described the languages of his empire in this fashion:  "If I want to talk to my generals, I speak to them in German.  If I want to talk to people in business, I speak to them in English.  If I want to talk to children, I speak to them in Italian.  If I want to women I love, I speak in French.  But when I want to talk to God, I speak in Spanish."

Our American culture sprang from our English roots as a nation.  We inherited many fine qualities that have led to our country having the most unparalleled wealth, leisure, and luxury, and ingenuity and hard work and great creativity - because our culture encourages and expects good business practices.  Even the President of France envies our nation's penchant for industriousness.

But the "business-ification" of the Church is a huge learning curve for your ordinary parish priests.  And my Latino friends want more emphasis on speaking to and about God.  Who says we don't have a lot to learn from our immigrants?

Thoughts on the pre-Christmas buying season

           One of my better friends in Boulder is a Presbyterian pastor, Rich Bledsoe, who sends out very thought provoking ideas, questions, and reflections to his friends. In one of his recent reflections he deals with the question of suffering and asks this question:

           "Modern Western man is now strangely living in an age of psychic misery, neurosis, and alienation, all the while living in the midst of unparalleled wealth, leisure, and luxury. It is by now becoming an ordinary experience, with the ease of travel in the Western world, that many Westerners are traveling to and amongst the very poor in what is now termed 'The Third World'. The disquieting discovery, that is now becoming commonplace, is that often the poorest of the poor have a radiance and joy about them that is quite unknown in the wealthy West. How can this be?"

           And yet they pour into our country wanting the material wellbeing we have.  Who wouldn't?  Still, the disturbing truth is that happiness eludes many, many people who seek after passing material things without seeking after the things that have enduring value. 

           I invite you to respond back with your own ideas on how to answer Rich's question.  How can it be that the poorest of the poor have a radiance and joy about them that is quite unknown in the wealthy West?