|
|
|
|
||
| Bishop Speaks | ||
|
||
| October 11, 2007 Edition | ||
|
||
<< Back to regular Bishop Speaks page
Dear Friends,
|
 |
|
|
|
|
||||
As I've said before, I really don't have a one-track mind, but circumstances not of my own making force me to return to themes all too familiar.
The new large billboard along "the beltline" and near St. Joseph Parish, Madison, with the message "Beware of Dogma" written with a stained-glass-window background has a very clear intent. The billboard is sponsored by the "Freedom from Religion Foundation" with which many of us are familiar. The foundation is, of course, against all religion as far as I know - except, of course, the dogmatism of secular relativism - but in a special way this billboard seems directed against Catholicism in particular.
After all, the word dogma finds a home most commonly in Catholic usage, and most of the other churches or ecclesial communities would rarely use that term. Furthermore, the spokesman for the Freedom from Religion Foundation told a local newspaper, "We don't go to Mass but we're going to the masses" - again the use of the term Mass to designate the liturgy, by in large, finds its home in the Catholic Church. Other churches who celebrate a Divine or Eucharistic liturgy generally do not call it "the Mass."
So it would not be unreasonable for me to think that the message of this billboard, while being directed toward religion in general, takes clear aim at the Catholic faith. Thus, I must admit that on this count I find the billboard particularly offensive - which should surprise no one and which will probably please the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
"Beware of Dogma" - that statement could very accurately be reworded "beware of objective truth." Dogma is nothing other than objective truth, with - in this case - the additional connotation that this objective truth is being forced down someone's throat. The Catholic Church does believe in objective truth, and I believe those who support the billboard do not believe in objective truth.
I do understand why anyone would resist having the objective truth forced upon him or herself. But, as my spokesman said in commenting about the billboard for the newspaper, it is not the intention of the Catholic Church to force objective truth upon anyone - in fact we have not the ability to do that - nor would we want to do that, because, as Pope John Paul the Great always said, the truth impresses itself on the human mind and heart by its own gentle power, never by external force.
I would add that when someone freely claims to be a Catholic, one is freely choosing to believe everything in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word "Catholic" has a meaning, and to be a Catholic means that one believes and adheres to all of the teachings that are contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Now, one is perfectly free to claim to be Catholic or not, but one is not free to claim to be Catholic and reject any of the teachings in the Catechism of the Catholic Church - one cannot make up one's faith as one goes along. So if one freely chooses to be Catholic, the Catholic Church does not coerce them to believe any dogma of the Catholic faith - rather in freely claiming to call themselves Catholic they freely choose to believe those dogmas, those objective truths.
The implication that somehow the Catholic Church forces anyone to be Catholic is utterly mistaken, but it is equally mistaken to think that one can claim to be Catholic and then define what it means to be Catholic as one wishes. In such cases the Church sometimes finds a need to tell people who claim to be Catholic that in fact they are not Catholic, and this is always a regrettable situation.
That warning "beware of dogma" seems very much directed toward Catholics in particular, but the Catholic Church in no way operates so as to merit such a warning. There are those religious groups who make claims that are in fact irrational and who enforce those claims as dogma, even through violence, but they are not Catholic.
Importantly, I hope that the billboard will provoke you, with love and gentleness and with a smile, to proclaim the dogmas, the objective truths of the faith, with ever-deeper conviction, a conviction backed up by the way in which you choose to live your life each day, according to the mind of Jesus Christ our Lord. Simply taking offense will not do much to counter any harmful effects that such a misleading message on a billboard might proclaim. But the word of Jesus Christ, spoken and lived in gentleness, love, and humility, will change the world, because that word is backed up by His own glorious Resurrection in which we have the victory that has conquered the world. Let's spread far and wide our reading of the message "Beware of Dogma" - that is beware of the dogma of secular relativism that there is no objective truth.
Thank you for reading this and God bless each one of you. Praised be Jesus Christ!