Catholics need to do a gut check

Perez Hilton’s recent public pummeling of Miss California for politely stating she did not support gay marriage recently drew plenty of commentary. But none of that rhetoric addressed a much bigger and more disturbing issue. Is there a new religion in America known as the Church of the Almighty Media, one which demands devout allegiance, preaches total intolerance and is waging war on all other religions? And is it about time we Catholics did something about it?

Whether its abortion, gay rights, responsibility for the environment, pornography or a host of other socio-moral issues, the new Church is willing and able to persecute, censor and even in some cases prosecute whoever sins against their code of behavior. Last month a whopping contradiction in the Catholic world set those media pundits ablaze in full glory attacking Catholics.

Amidst the uproar over anti-Pro-Life President Obama’s scheduled commencement address at Notre Dame University, a Gallup Report released claimed there was virtually no difference between the number of Catholics and non-Catholics who opposed abortion, and that Catholics were more liberal on most other life issues.
Did that mean that the outrage was nothing more than that – a public display of the feigned anger of hypocritical Catholics?

Or did this point to a misunderstanding, or misappropriation of what it means to be Catholic amongst non-Catholics, and a new mission for American Catholics?

Let’s take the misunderstanding before the mission. The aforementioned Gallup study claimed that on a range of issues such as abortion, sex before marriage, stem cell research, gambling and homosexual relations, Catholics were more accepting than non-Catholics. Seems like an iron clad argument for the faithlessness of Catholics. But a little logic and analysis of the results reveals something at the heart of Catholicism – unconditional love and acceptance, which makes it difficult for us to condemn others and/or their actions - “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”

That non-judgmental love and character seeps into so much that Catholics do and think. It’s one of the cornerstones of Catholic missionary work – in which we love rather than preach, and we pray for souls rather than insist on converting them. At times it can also seep into our psyche when asked how we “judge” an action or behavior.

Our seeming moral reticence doesn’t always sit well with more emphatically “inspired” Christians and non-believers who often see us ineffective or hypocritical. But their protestations not withstanding, does our love make us morally lackluster? Does our non-judgmental nature make us too willing to be swayed morally by public opinion?

Maybe a look at another result of the study can yield an answer.

There was a stark difference in the respondents’ answers for Catholics who attended church regularly and those who didn’t. The number of objectors to most of the acts questioned was doubled in the group of those who attended. We Catholics do a pretty job of loving and accepting all those that come our way. That’s a good thing. But with a little help from the Body of Christ (both literally and figuratively) maybe we can be bolstered in our beliefs, and find the strength to stick to our guns on our beliefs too – just like Miss. California, no matter how hard or how much is at stake.

And that my Catholic brothers and sisters might be a great model for America in the years that come. (Here comes that mission part.). Isn’t it time that this nation fully understand the difference between tolerance and acceptance. Disagreeing with someone’s values does not give any of us the right to hate or hurt another. But agreeing not to hurt and hate does not mean we must agree and accept their values.

Whether its abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, or a host of other hot topics, opposition to Obama speaking at Notre Dame and the Miss California spectacle can and should be a flash point, not for radical hate, but for a resurgence of our beliefs. And it’s a call to action for 70 million Catholics to lead this nation to a better understanding of what humanitarian leadership means – that at the end of the day we stand up for real love and respect for EVERY human.

Chris Benguhe is a columnist for the Catholic Sun and Author of "Overcoming Life's 7 Common Tragedies: opportunities for Discovering God" available at Amazon.com