“Is Anger Ever Justified?”

Lee Podles gives a response to Richard John Neuhaus, who didn’t think it was right to be angry at the Catholic bishops for how they have handled the sex abuse problem.

“Perversion of Power” in Dublin

Another report released on sexual abuse by Catholic priests (and cover-up by bishops)–this time in Ireland.

From Independent.ie:

The Catholic hierarchy in Ireland was granted immunity to cover up child sex abuse among paedophile priests in Dublin, a damning report has revealed.

Authorities enjoyed a cosy relationship with the Church and did not enforce the law as four archbishops, obsessed with secrecy and avoiding scandal, protected abusers and reputations at all costs.

Hundreds of crimes against defenceless children from the 1960s to the 1990s were not reported while gardai treated clergy as though they were above the law.

In a three-year inquiry, the Commission to Inquire into the Dublin Archdiocese uncovered a sickening tactic of “don’t ask, don’t tell” throughout the Church.

“The Commission has no doubt that clerical child sexual abuse was covered up by the Archdiocese of Dublin and other Church authorities,” it said. “The structures and rules of the Catholic Church facilitated that cover-up. The State authorities facilitated that cover-up by not fulfilling their responsibilities to ensure that the law was applied equally to all and allowing the Church institutions to be beyond the reach of the normal law enforcement processes.”

The Vatican ignored letters sent to it by the Irish commission.

To Tell the Truth

When I took my oath as an Army officer, I had to say that I took it freely, “without mental reservation.”

What is “mental reservation”? Learn from the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The Manhattan Declaration

Mere Comments tells why Albert Mohler signed the Manhattan Declaration.

Group Challenges Indianapolis Schools’ Internet Filtering Policy

From Howard Friedman:

The Freedom From Religion Foundation last week (press release) wrote to the Indianapolis (IN) school system (full text of letter) complaining that the Indianapolis Public Schools Internet Filtering Policy violates the First Amendment as well as regulations under the federal Children’s Internet Protection Act. Among the nearly 30 categories of website that are blocked on school computers are “Alternative Spirituality/ Belief Sites.” These are described as:

Sites that promote and provide information on religions such as Wicca, Witchcraft or Satanism. Occult practices, atheistic views, vodoo rituals or any form of mysticism are represented here. Includes sites that … [instruct in the use of] spells, incantations, curses and magic powers.

FFRF contends that this policy amounts to viewpoint discrimination and a violation of the Establishment Clause because it allows access to sites offering information about Christianity and other mainstream religions, but not about atheism.

I rarely agree with FFRF, but I think they are right here. To allow access to sites that promote some religions but not atheism is an unconstitutional promotion of religion. And to link “any other form of mysticism” with Wicca, etc., would also exclude Jewish and Christian mysticism. The state has no business being in the religion business. It has no business defining it or saying what is or is not appropriate.

Same Sex Marriage vs. Religious Freedom

Laws permitting same-sex “marriage” are fundamentally an attack on religious liberty. Those advancing them seek to put those religious institutions disagreeing with them out of business. This was clear in Boston and San Francisco, where Catholics were forced out of the adoption business. It’s happening again in Washington, DC.  The animus against Christian teaching is clear:

In separate interviews Wednesday, council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) referred to the church as “somewhat childish.” Another council member, David A. Catania (I-At Large), said he would rather end the city’s relationship with the church than give in to its demands.

“They don’t represent, in my mind, an indispensable component of our social services infrastructure,” said Catania, the sponsor of the same-sex marriage bill and the chairman of the Health Committee.

The Washington Post’s opinion of traditional moral teaching has already been made known.

Anti-Muslim McCarthyism?

Glenn Greenwald writes at Salon.com.

Veterans’ Day 2009

Though I elected to keep this blog, posting has dropped drastically due to my very busy schedule. But it is Veterans’ Day, and this year finds me back in uniform after a 15 year break in service. I’m a chaplain in the Texas Army National Guard, serving with 1-149th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion at Ellington Field. I’ve had two drills with them now, and am getting to know the soldiers and to hear the stories of their deployments to Bosnia and Iraq. It’s a different Guard than I served in last time around–these are experienced warriors who know the pain of separation and the gritty reality of combat.

We went to San Antonio on Friday for a three day weekend of weapons qualification (for everyone but me). We were all in a somber mood in the wake of the murders at Fort Hood the previous day. Soldiers know the risks they assume when they put on the uniform–but this wasn’t one. We expect to face bullets on foreign soil, not at home; we expect to face that danger before an enemy, not a fellow soldier. We expect those to crack those who are young, immature, inexperienced, under stress–not a major. Not someone trained to heal. Not someone trained to help us. And so our emotions are many: grief, anger, confusion, and fear.

But I do not fear the Muslims who serve. This guy does not represent them. His reference to Islam and the Koran were excuses, not reasons; manipulated facts, not motivations. I am afraid, in fact, for Muslims, who may be scapegoated, feared, accused, suspected, despite a personal history of commitment and valor. The wrong response to this tragedy would be to single out members of a particular religion–the right response is to take seriously the words and actions of soldiers who, for whatever reason, are on the edge.

Tomorrow, I’m going to a dinner sponsored by Military Ministry (a branch of Campus Crusade) focusing on how churches can reach out to and heal veterans suffering from PTSD; on Friday, I’m going to a training they are offering at Encourager Church on the Katy Freeway in Houston (it will be repeated on Saturday at Lakewood–for details, see http://ptsdusa.org). I don’t think this guy suffered from PTSD–he hadn’t ever been deployed; he had just finished his psychiatric residency. He did have the experience of soaking in a lot of pain, and that can have its own impact; he was confused, it appears, about the conflict he perceived between his faith and his duty as an officer. He was afraid, it appears. More will come out in the trial to come. I’m glad he lived to be able to tell. But the tragedy is that this healer left only more pain in his wake. Pain that we, the living, have to heal. Pain that many veterans endure in silence.

Pray for us all.

ELCA will not allow synods to maintain traditional standards

From Lutheran CORE.