http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8533
The Vatican's New Crusade Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University. Back in September 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy had to reassure Americans that his first loyalty was to his country, not his church. In a speech before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, the presidential candidate declared, "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute -- where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act... where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source -- where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials." Kennedy's enduring speech reaffirmed for Americans the values of religious tolerance and the separation of church and state. It's as relevant now as then, given that last week the Vatican issued a papal mandate instructing Catholic legislators, both around the world and in the United States, to vote against gay marriage whenever possible. The document, titled "Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons," calls on Catholics to treat "men and women with homosexual tendencies" with respect and compassion, and to avoid "unjust discrimination." But avoiding discrimination does not mean according gays a right that straights have long enjoyed. "Those who would move from tolerance to the legitimization of specific rights for cohabiting homosexual persons need to be reminded that the approval of legalization of evil is something far different from the toleration of evil." (Italics mine.) A Calgary bishop actually warned that, for proposing legislation in favor of gay marriage, Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien may burn in hell. It is striking that a church hierarchy, which for decades ignored or covered up the evil of child abuse, feels that it has the moral credibility to deliver such edicts. It is equally curious that old men who have never married and may never have had sex -- although increasingly one doubts this -- feel competent to judge the loving relationships of anyone who wishes to wed. And it is tempting to suggest that gay marriage might be an ideal solution for the Catholic priesthood, replete with men whose normal, healthy sexual desires have been abnormally redirected toward children. That, however, would be unfair to those heterosexual priests who battened upon the young and helpless. It is striking that a church hierarchy... feels that it has the moral credibility to deliver such edicts. But perhaps I am being too harsh. After all, it has been a difficult summer for the Catholic church. The Massachusetts attorney general announced that Catholic priests in that state had probably molested over 1,000 children. A Supreme Court decision affirmed the right of both straights and gays to enjoy oral and anal sex. Adding insult to sodomy, next came a television show, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which suggests not only that gays are perfectly normal, but that -- gasp! -- they have better taste than heterosexuals do. This week The Magdalene Sisters, a horrifying expose of Ireland's abusive and prison-like Catholic workhouses, opened in the United States to rave reviews. And one can pick up The New York Times "Sunday Styles" section to read about the Canadian wedding of 70-year-old Marvin Yost Schofer and 49-year-old James David Rosenthal. They met in 1978 and have been together for 25 years, and in their picture, they do not look evil to me. They look happy and kind of sweet. No, I take it back. To suggest that the Vatican's church has become a church of bigotry and buggery is not too harsh at all. American Catholics have long had a tradition of picking and choosing which elements of church dogma they choose to believe, and surely they will do the same regarding this latest declaration. For their part, American politicians are answerable to the voters, not the vicars. As John F. Kennedy said, "I do not speak for my church on public matters -- and my church does not speak for me." Kennedy's words still ring true. Thank God. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
