The test is not in the easy cases but the hard ones.
Are you pro-life? Are you against torture? Do you believe completely in what the Church teaches or are you one of those ‘except’ people? This is the question I have been asking my self and I would venture that some of the commenters here might do well to do the same.
When one runs a website such as this you see many different types of ‘Catholics.’ You get the fire breathers who question parenting fitness because you let your 17 yr old go to see Harry Potter or that write very serious private emails because it is not ‘Catholic’ to make a joke about the Pope.
You also see another type, the ‘except’ Catholics. We saw this in the debate over torture. Now let me be clear. I am not referring to those who genuinely and honestly debated with themselves over where the line could be properly drawn or if there were ever mitigating circumstances. I don’t think think, as some might argue, that you stray from the faith just for wondering about these issues. That said, there are others who while ostensibly maintaining their Catholic bona fides, say ‘Who cares, they are our enemies -a bunch or terrorists and murderers. I am not shedding one tear for these thugs if they get tortured? They had it coming.’ This is an ‘except’ Catholic. Catholic, with exceptions.
I write this today because I have had to delete too many comments over this Tiller murder. Ostensibly pro life Catholics who have cluttered up the combox with quotes about “Who cares? He had it coming! He just got what he has been dishing out all these years. He was a monster who got what he deserved!”
Long time readers here know that we very very rarely delete comments on CMR. I will, however, delete any comments in which I even get a whiff of this sentiment. I will not have this blogs comments be used by the enemies of life to paint a picture of intolerance. No. Not here. No exceptions.
As for the notion that he got what he deserved? I certainly don’t want what I deserve, do you? With my sins I deserve to be permanently excluded from the company of the God who created me. This is what I deserve. I pray that through the merits of the suffering of Jesus that God overlooks my transgressions so that I do NOT get what I deserve. Remember, if you make exceptions about the faith here on Earth so that folks like Tiller get what they deserve, I fear you may lose the ability to ask for your own exception. I am not willing to take that risk. Are you?
June 1, 2009 at 2:35 pm
“…forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..”
How many of us routinely say those words without realizing the terrifying request we’re actually making?
I’ll pray for Tiller today. May he rest in peace.
June 1, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Good point, hoping to not get what I deserve either. I wasn’t going to write the type of comment that you’d have to delete, but I was kind of thinking it, if I’m being honest.
June 1, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Well written, and taken to heart.
June 1, 2009 at 3:22 pm
With real confusion yesterday, I was tempted to rejoice. I was wrong.
This post did a great job of encapsulating the Gospel message in a real and and graspable way.
June 1, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I call them Buffet Catholics – picking and choosing what they’d like on their plates. Sigh. Very sad day yesterday. I discovered a group called Catholics for Choice. I don’t understand that concept. I’m just so sad.
June 1, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I certainly agree with you about cafeteria Catholics. However, do you not think that perhaps you are over-simplifying the issue? There is room in the Church for dissent from the majority view. Murder is always wrong, but killing isn’t. Inflicting pain for the sake of pain is always wrong, but it becomes much more unclear when used for the greater good. Capital punishment. War. These are questions and issues which are necessary and indelibly part of human existence, and there is room for disagreement in Catholic doctrine.
The fact is that I am a Catholic,and a devout one. (So much so that if it was required of me I would submit my judgement to the dictates of the Church.) But, I also support the death penalty, the use of controlled violence in interrogation, and the use of War when prudent. I am also against abortion without equivocation. You may that is inconsistant, but it really isn’t. I think it is intellectual laziness to not distingush between all these issues – to make generalizations and blanket statements, and paper over the very real and meaningful delineations. There is no one idea, even the idea of inalienable human dignity, which is a pancea for all the world’s issues, and wraps it all up in a nice bow. The world is a gray place, and so much depends on conscience and prudence.
Clearly, you are against these things, but I have yet to hear a very convincing argument from you about it. Basically, I find this post insulting.
June 1, 2009 at 4:16 pm
man with black hat: Matthew 26:52
June 1, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Thank you very much for this post. This murder of this man in no way helps the prolife movement and saying horrible things like “he deserved it” only gives the proaborts fodder to use against it. I sometimes wonder if this is not the reason why we have not accomplished more to put an end to abortion. How Christian is someone who would even say something like that? Anger, yes I feel angry about this administration and the way things seem to be going. But murder-NEVER!
June 1, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Well said. Bravo.
June 1, 2009 at 4:43 pm
— Comment on judgement
I think it was the Bard who wrote and I paraphrase, “If God does not judge us until the end of our lives, so why should you and I judge others?”
— Comment on cafeteria Catholics
It is scandalous now as it was before to “strain the gnat and swallow the camel”. So, I can understand your frustration and even righteous indignation.
June 1, 2009 at 4:52 pm
It is sad that there really are so many people saying things like that.
Very discouraging.
Where is the trust in Divine Mercy?
We really need to realize what Sts. Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila, among others, say: that even a single thought against God or the Church merits us eternal damnation.
June 1, 2009 at 5:14 pm
It makes me very sad that you had to delete comments. That kind of vitriol is not what the pro-life movement needs, especially as details continue to emerge regarding Tiller’s murderer. My first reaction was disappointment. Tiller’s murderer only hurt the credibility of all pro-lifers. Rejoicing in his death also hurts our credibility. I truly feel sorry for Dr. Tiller. As a christian and a pro-lifer I hope and pray he had an opportunity to unburden his soul. May God have mercy on him, and on us all. Not a one of us wants what we truly deserve.
June 1, 2009 at 5:25 pm
I know I should pray for him, I want to pray for him, but it is such a struggle. He murdered helpless human beings for a living—it is hard to find compassion for such a person, but if I am to live my faith—then I must.
Pray for me too, because I am really struggling to do what is right.
June 1, 2009 at 5:38 pm
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
June 1, 2009 at 5:45 pm
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
June 1, 2009 at 5:51 pm
“Similarly I refuse to condemn the killing of a serial murderer whom society won’t restrain.”Okay, before we delete this comment, let’s take a good look at it. Here’s the rub: “…whom society won’t restrain.”
This implies a responsibility upon society, or more precisely, the State. This, as opposed to Joe Citizen who disagrees with the State (albeit with good reason). The allowance of capital punishment is based upon the right of the State to its defense given the failure of all else, and the Angelic Doctor is clear on this. At the same time, it does not grant that right to individuals acting on their own initiative. Those who govern are bound to govern justly, and according to the natural law. Failure to do so does not justify vigilantism. It DOES justify due process, to replace those who govern.
It is here that we as Catholics have failed. We have failed to properly inculcate our values upon the larger society. We have failed to spread the Gospel. A majority of Catholics voted for Obama. Why? Did they really think he favored the Gospel of Life? Did it even matter to them?
June 1, 2009 at 6:00 pm
The censoring is getting a little overboard. You’ve got people quoting and refuting posts that were deleted. I’ve got respect for this blogger, and I want to keep it.
June 1, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Ahem!
“I will, however, delete any comments in which I even get a whiff of this sentiment. I will not have this blogs comments be used by the enemies of life to paint a picture of intolerance. No. Not here. No exceptions.”What part of this is hard to understand?
June 1, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Heaven forbid we be perceived intolerant of abortion!
June 1, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Great Point! I would hope that all those comments deleted were made by trouble makers trying to give this site or pro-lifers a bad name. I don’t know anyone who would call themselves pro-life and agree with what happened yesterday.