DOSSIER # 9: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH STRIKES BACK
There is only one thing in this world that upsets me to the point of seeing red more than arrogance…it is arrogance backed up by ignorance.When we read late yesterday (in the Ottawa Citizen via Neale News) that NDP MP Charlie Angus and his wife Celina Symmonds had been informed that they could no longer take communion in the Roman Catholic Church they had attended in their Ottawa riding, our first reaction was to be thankful the church was finally fighting back. As we continued to read however, we grew increasingly angry at both the pure ignorance of these people on church philosophy and their selfish arrogance in not even trying to understand it.
Angus was denied communion because of his public vote on same-sex marriage. Angus goes on to say that he is upset because of "the rising militancy of language within the church. I went to Ottawa feeling that I would be speaking as someone rooted in a faith tradition and rooted in a justice tradition.”
It is because of ignorant and arrogant individuals like Charlie Angus that the Catholic Church is having such a difficult time in its history right now. They are people who have no basic understanding of the philosophy of the faith and merely travel in the window dressing of it. They like that they get presents at Christmas because it’s like, hey…Christ’s birth dontcha know.
We also wonder if Charlie Angus comforted NDP MP Bev Dejalais who used her faith and conscience to vote against Bill C-38 and was then promptly demoted by Jack Layton. She will most likely not have her nomination papers signed in the next election. Apparently some types of militancy are alright for Charlie.
The faith and justice tradition of Roman Catholicism is rooted in a seamless garment view of human life. It is a philosophy of Natural Law; that from the time of conception to the last breath, the human being deserves dignity and respect. It is this basic philosophy that informs all of the churches’ teachings.
It is complex and uncompromising.
It is neither liberal nor conservative.
The same philosophy that makes the church oppose abortion and same-sex marriage also makes them oppose the war in Iraq and call for the eradication of Third World debt. To hear Angus describe it, one would think that the teachings of Christ were no more complex than the last words of E.T. to Gertie before he went onto the mother ship, “Be good.” Sorry Chuck; wrong faith, wrong philosopher.
For simplistic life musings of this sort perhaps you should check to see when the Dalai Lama is coming to town next, or maybe Oprah.
His wife, Celina Symmonds, earlier had been denied having a wedding in another Catholic church because of her pro-abortion beliefs and her running of a Planned Parenthood office, where one might assume she went about her daily business of informing little girls how to put condoms on bananas and how to do a good job of not telling their parents if they ever needed an abortion because they failed to put a condom on a banana properly.
To hear her say it; "When you grow up Catholic you grow up awaiting the day where you can walk into that great big cathedral with your husband. It's something you dream of as a little girl.”
Why?
Why would she wish to get married in a church whose core philosophy she vehemently opposes? Why not a Jewish synagogue, Muslim Mosque, a Buddhist Temple? Incidentally there is a Christian denomination that believes in abortion and same-sex marriage; it’s called the
United Church of Canada. Why not get married there, Celina?
Oh right, those Catholic churches just have such wonderful architectural arches and Buddhists don’t get chocolate at Easter…something like that?
The Celina Symmonds’ and Charlie Angus’ of the world, prefer to think of the ‘Buddy Christ’. The one with the big smile on his face who gives the thumbs up to everything they do because, like hey, they are nice people and all.
The thought of the bloodied, philosophical Christ who died on the cross for some thing called sin doesn’t occur to them because then they would have to accept that perhaps there is a right and wrong world view. That is the Christ of the Roman Catholic faith. It is His body and blood one drinks if one is Roman Catholic.
Belief systems are sacred and difficult, none so much as Roman Catholicism. No one is forced to be Catholic but if one is going to call themselves Catholic they should at least behave like they are informed by the consciousness of their faith. Faith is not a shirt you put on in the morning and take off when it is convenient.
In voting for Bill-C-38, Angus not only showed an ignorance of his ‘faith’, but a blatant disdain for it. His vote said his Catholicism in no way formed his conscience about who he was as a human being. By claiming to still be a Catholic he in essence said he knew better than God as to what the true definition of justice was.
To the Charlie Angus’ and Celina Symmonds’ of the world I ask, “If man can dictate to God what man needs to learn from God, why then does man need God?”
We are unequivocally rapturous that this diocese made the decision they did.
There will be repercussions for this, of course. The rising tide of hatred against Catholics in Canada will increase and the selfish Charlie Angus’ of the world will continue their cries of ‘intolerance’ or ‘bigotry’.
Let them.
We were certainly happy to see that the church finally struck back.
posted by Nicol DuMoulin @ 6:07 AM
7 Comments:
Yes, I certainly agree that many Christians are and will continue to deal with these issues. I merely focussed on the Catholic Church in this Dossier because it was the one concerned with in the article.
However, I do believe it will be the Catholic Church that is attacked most vociferously by the culture and Liberal government in the near future mostly due to their numbers and unwillingness to budge.
Comments made by people I consider friends only foster this belief in me.
I will certainly have a look at your column. And yes, Evangelicals will certainly be in same boat. They are easily one of the groups it is safe to malign.
Ironically though, at least when someone says they are Evangelical, more often than not, they are. More often than not, when someone says they are Catholic, they usually have the beliefs of our NDP 'friends' here.
I agree with your present tense also. Things ARE worse than most people think.
I am just saddened that there are so many apathetic people in Canada who don't quite see the writing on the wall.
Great post Nicol.
I like the parallel between the NDP demotion, and the church refusing communion -- you're right, each is enforcing its value system -- why should the church be questioned for upholding its standards.
Cheers.
Interesting thought. You would be surprised at the number of people who give me adisgusted look simply because I say I was an altar server in high school and elementary. There are many people content to keep the facts out of their view of the church and assume the worst about every corner of it. It's the oldest most tiresome act reminiscent of that week of marxism and secular every other freshman in college goes through where they think they're so revolutionary for parroting their profs and reading half of Neticzche and half of Marx.... Then, most of them grow up... ;-)
Liam O'Brien says the college Freshman go through a period of reading Nietzsche and Marx and then grow up....
A lot of them don't however. They begin the long march through the institutions and end with senior positions in education, the civil service, The CBC, The Globe and Mail and the Liberal Party.
Perhaps the most indicitive of this type was Pierre Elliot Trudeau. We have our equivalents in the UK and I'm sure there others across the world.
Thanks everyone for their comments.
To the prophet,
I could not agree more. So many people don't realize this but more and more young people do not give up their hard left belief systems. They merely join the government and civil service.
I say without any sense of irony or embellishment that I have at least two friends that proudly defend the cause of communism. The next time you are around town take note of how many young people wear shirts with the hammer and scicle on it or Che. In TO it is very common. I also have friends with these same beliefs who are on the verge of having PHD's and influencing another generation. They believe all religion is a source of evil and have no tolerance for it. How will their students end up?
Most of academia in the modern university is taught through the paradigm of Radical Marxist Oppression theory and Radical Feminsist Gender Identity theory. This carries through to the law faculties as well. The hard core PC movement of the early nineties did not fade away, instead it's proponents now make our laws and write our news.
I'll be writing more about this very soon with specific references to my own experiences. When someone at my school ran for student body president and was framed for rape because the feminists on campus said 'someone had to pay for two-thousand years of oppression' I knew things were more than getting out of hand.
I'll be more specific in the near future.
All the best.
Also to Liam,
I was an altar server too. No bad experiences to report at all. Thanks.
Akira,
Great photo!
I'll gladly go up against Cotler (why can't we have a Coulter?) or any type of left-wing censorship to defend people of faith.
That people like Cotler, Martin and Layton want to equivocate Catholics, Evangelicals, Orthodox Jews and Muslims with racists or bigots or hate because of their morals is indefensible.
Again, I applaud the church and was glad another NDP MP was rejected. I only hope people like Paul Martin, Joe Volpe etc. are next.
Best.
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