'Extremism in the Defense of Liberty is No Vice'

During the time when I was a staunch supporter of Barry Goldwater, his remarks at the Republican National Convention in 1964 made sense to me. I actually still find them somewhat appealing, but it is all in the interpretation. If it means that liberty is so precious that one should be passionate in its defense and strive to protect it in every way appropriate, it makes sense. I'm pretty sure however, that what we are seeing from the far right as well as the far left is not what the good senator had in mind.

There is also the issue of how the current political climate compares to periods in our past. When this question comes up we often hear from historians about attacks on George Washington or Abraham Lincoln and are told that the level of hostility may be considerably less than in earlier days. While this conversation may be historically interesting, it is of little value in the present context. I think it more important that we look at what is happening today and address the issues that we are facing right now.

First. Why are people so angry? We know that political polarization is not new, but it is festering at the moment, and often in an alarming manner. The recession and unemployment are legitimately driving discontent with conditions in the country. Fear of too much spending is also a big part of the equation, although it didn't seem to be as big a concern during the previous administration. Actually, by any reasonable analysis, the recession would be far worse if we had not spent large sums of money to ameliorate it. It has always been a principle of business that you have to spend money to make money. I'm not an economist, but the notion of tightening one's belt in the face of financial collapse seems to have been a major failure of the great depression. The point, however, is that this is a legitimate issue, but is it worthy of the intense anger and potential violence it has at times created?

Democracy thrives on lively debate, and differences of opinion. What we are seeing, however, goes far beyond healthy discourse. Threats against members of congress, and even acts of violence are not part of the democracy we pride ourselves on in this country. Talk of secession, taking up arms, and building militias to attack the federal government can only be characterized as extreme. Many of these people consider themselves patriots, yet what is patriotic about trashing your government? What ever happened to working within the system for meaningful change?

No doubt the group I am talking about represents a small fraction of Americans. It is also true that there has always been a fringe group of folks who represent and advocate extreme positions. What I find troubling now, is that these extreme positions are finding their way into the main stream of political discourse and action. This is not by accident, either.

It is a truism that bad things happen when good men (women) do nothing. What we are seeing today includes silence against these festering dangers, and even intentional or unintentional encouragement of some of the worst traits within us. There is a media bias, and well known commentators are encouraging and supporting some of the more extreme positions that are out there. Even worse is responsible officials and politicians are not making clear their opposition to such violence and extreme views. How many politicians challenged their constituents during town meetings and other venues telling them that some of their positions were not accurate? I can only think of two examples. One was in the campaign when John McCain told one of his supporters that Barack Obama was indeed an American, and recently when Senator Tom Coburn told a supporter that her information about health care reform was incorrect and even that Fox news was not always a reliable presenter of facts. So much more of this kind of statesmanship is needed. There are levels of discourse that should be challenged, and we need more responsible officials to make that clear.

The misinformation that is out there obfuscates legitimate concerns. There is also a legitimate concern that racist remarks, spitting, threats and acts of violence could escalate even more, since they are not being stongly repudiated. There is real danger, that a terrible tragedy might ensue, sooner rather that later. The Oklahoma bombing grew out of such misplaced anger. We don't want to see that happen again.

What can be done? As I mentioned, we have seen hints of what can happen, but these efforts need to be coordinated. The messages of people like Tom Coburn and John McCain need to be coordinated and sustained. Finally, this is not a Democratic or Republican issue. It is an American issue. How powerful it would be if Democratic and Republican leaders came before the media together and stated unequivocally, that such behavior cannot be tolerated. That there is no acceptance on either side, of the extreme positions that use falsehoods and calls to unacceptable behavior to pursue their causes. There are enough legitimate different positions on policy matters to argue about without resorting to falsehoods, threats and violence. Can we make common cause on this matter? Although,it seems unlikely given the current political climate, I believe we can. We are all Americans. We believe, not just in Virginia or Texas, but in the United States of America. We believe in our way of government. Let's send the 'crazies' back to the fringes where they belong.

Vatican Stonewalling

Recently, the news has been full of two embarrassing situations for the Vatican. First was the Irish sex abuse scandal and the failure of the Bishops to protect children. Then there was the news of a sex abuse crisis in Germany, and specifically in the diocese formerly headed by the current Pope, Benedict XVI.

What has been the Vatican reaction to these news stories? Have they come forward and admitted mistakes? Well, maybe. A few Bishops have even resigned. Several bishops have expressed regret. So the Church is moving in the right direction? Well, not exactly. Basically, we are continuing to see business as usual and even worse. The regrets we are hearing from bishops turn out to be merely a vehicle for expressing solidarity with the Pope and attacking those who would voice even indirect criticism of the Pope's actions prior to his becoming Pope.

I guess it is a nice sentiment to rally behind your leader, yet there are some real concerns. First, where is the concern for the victims - the young people whose trust has been betrayed, and the families who have suffered. There can be no doubt that protecting the church and its secrets has been far more important than protecting young people who have been entrusted to the care of the clergy.

The strategy is to blame the messenger. It is the fault of the New York Times, the media, and even petty gossip. Can the Vatican really be resorting to this type of defense? And of course, there is also the fact that The Pope is being persecuted just like the Jews have been persecuted in the past. Any criticism of the Vatican is not only unfair, but a shameful attack that must be condemned. This is a conspiracy by anti-Catholics to discredit the Pope.

Can the Vatican be so naive as to think nobody will notice their refusal to face facts, or do they just not care? Do they really believe they can ignore the facts and carry on with business as usual? And, could they in fact be right? Let's examine the situation. Nobody can doubt that the Church as an institution did everything they could to keep the sex abuse crisis quiet. They paid the victims. They threatened the victims with ecclesiatical punsishments if they spoke up. Bottom line - they acted like any large corporation. Though indefensible, it is at least at some level understandable. Tobacco companies were not going to admit they knew their product was dangerous. Restaurants are not going to tell people not to eat menu items that might be bad for their health.

So, the Church operated like any other large institution. One would have hoped for something better from the Church, but the fact is they chose and have chosen for generations to protect themselves. As Bishop and Cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger was part of that church and part of that deception. No one can doubt that is true. Let's give Pope Benedict the benefit of the doubt and assume that as Pope he has not been part of the business as usual operation on this issue. All the more reason not to strain credulity by denying any knowledge or complicitness in earlier years of striving to keep this scandal out of the press, and even reassigning abusive priests to pastoral work.

Is there a way to restore credibility? I believe there is. What should the Vatican do at this point? How about a little candor? I would recommend that the Pope make a statement that includes something like what follows:

"We grieve individually and collectively as Church for the pain and suffering that has been caused to so many of our young people and their families. Clearly, very bad judgements were made by many in authority that has added to the harm that has been done to members of the body of Christ. I myself have been guilty of poor judgement at times in the past, and regret these lapses with all my being.

What must be done now is to ensure that such harm shall never again come to any of our members. Justice must be meted out to those guilty of doing harm to others. Structures must be put in place to deal with any future cases of abuse. Even more importantly, we must undertake an exhaustive examination of the operation of the church and the priesthood to determine if there are any changes that need to be made to ensure the safety of our young people and to preserve the integrity of the priesthood. Experts in every relevant field will be brought in to explore the structure and culture of the heirarchy. The church at every level and in every country will openly and forthrightly cooperate with all interested parties to address these issues in the most comprehensive manner possible. No facet of the operation of the church will be untouched including celibacy. We owe it to the faithful to study this issue in a transparent and open fashion and make what changes are necessary to hand over the legacy of the church in a healthy and holy fashion to its future members.

We will protect the church and lead it into the future, but not by hiding its secrets and its failings, but by putting the scrutiny of the light of day onto the activities of the church, and assuring future generations of a holier, healthier, and better servant church than we have had in this generation."

I believe such an announcement and appropriate follow through by this Pope would be well received by the faithful and the community at large. I believe it would almost instantly strengthen the credibility of the church and promote a vibrant future, and healthier church for all of us.