No Place to Stand
When you’re Christian, progressive, and “pro-life,” voting your conscience is often easier said than done.
by Heidi Schlumpf
What does it mean to be “pro-life”? For some, the term is understood very narrowly as the opposition to abortion, particularly through legal sanction. Others are committed to reducing the number of abortions, truly making them rare, but favor policies that don’t criminalize abortion—and prosecute women and/or their doctors—to do so. And as U.S. Catholic’s Heidi Schlumpf explains in this article, many people, on both sides of the legality question, see a genuinely pro-life stance as one that embraces respect for the human person at every stage—a position that’s hard to find in today’s polarized politics, and one that cries out for broad (and civil) dialogue across our various divides. —The Editors
It’s an election year, and once again Jennifer Roth is wondering if she might as well flip a coin. The 31-year-old systems administrator is one of those “swing voters” who could go either way—a demographic highly coveted by both Democrats and Republicans as the key to winning in 2004. But neither the Dems nor the GOP does much to inspire or excite Roth.
The problem? Roth is a self-described liberal on nearly all issues except one: Abortion. It’s a view that she—and countless other “pro-life progressives”—finds entirely consistent. “In my view liberalism is all about looking out for the little guy, the people who don’t have power, money, or protection,” she says.
But where does that leave her when it comes to the political process? Read more
“Enough to Go Around”
by Eric Massanari
“We are all standing in a river of Christ,
and we are being carried along by currents we cannot comprehend.”
Those struck me as very wise and timely words when I heard them spoken a few weeks ago by a former Mennonite, and now Catholic, Ivan Kauffman. Ivan was speaking to a group of sixty of us (roughly half Mennonites and half Catholics) who had gathered for discussions on peacemaking and spirituality at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. We are all standing in a river of Christ, and we are being carried along by currents we cannot comprehend.
They were appropriate words to begin our time together because we soon realized that although many different life experiences (or, “currents”) had brought us to that place, we could find a common place on which to stand because of our common faith in Christ. Read more
Three Things for Conservatives to Ponder
by Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Last week’s column suggested three areas for liberal self-scrutiny. It’s time for the flip-side. What three areas might conservatives ponder? Read more
Crisis in the Catholic Church versus New Springtime
by Mark and Louise Zwick
Houston Catholic Worker
Never has there been such a growth in the life of the Church as is occurring today throughout the world.
The Church has entered a new era as many groups burst forth like a new spring. There is a virtual explosion of ideas and commitment as Catholics develop and utilize their skills in living out the faith in their daily lives. This development reminds us of initiation of religious communities of the past.
Catholics, especially young Catholics, are revolting against the usual life scenario to which we have been accustomed: Go to the university, buy a house (a nice house with a nice lawn), have babies, make money for their college, make money for retirement, retire, have a painless death and a nice eulogy. If one is lucky there will be some recognition for one’s wealth creation by church or state. Read more
How to be a Christian in a Non-Christian World?
Is there a Lay Theology?
by Mark and Louise Zwick
It happened again, and as usual we had become upset and angry. An
immigrant just asked us for the upteenth time, “Marcos, usted es un
sacerdote y Luisa una monja?” (Mark, are you a priest and Louise a
nun?)
“No! No!” We say for the upteenth time. “Somos laicos.” We are lay
people. And if they insist, we say in frustration, “No! Somos laicos
tontos y estupidos.”
A priest or sister might run Casa Juan Diego better than lay people. No
matter what they say, all the good people have not left the active
ministry. As a matter of fact, priests and sisters have been
instrumental in bringing Casa Juan Diego to where it is today–and that
includes our chief shepherds.
But the point is: Lay people can and should be doing this work. Why
should anyone think that to be committed, one must be a priest or
sister? Why should it seem unusual for lay people to try to live the
Gospel? Read more
