The Catholic Church is not supposed to be an object of derision. Our Church should be a great and even awe inspiring institution. How do we restore this grandeur with scandals constantly resurfacing?
The fact that these scandals are not what our Church is about must be manifested by tackling today's tough issues. Complacency and self-satisfaction are what led to our current problem. Our church can continue to stand aside and lack relevance, or man up and be the world changer it was meant to be. Not just the clergy, but all Catholics.
In 1889, Friedrich Nietzsche told a parable in which he proclaimed God dead. It wasn't that European society had collectively embraced atheism or that some group like the ACLU was trying to eliminate religion from the public forum. What happened was that Christianity had become so watered down and compromised, that it's impact on people's behavior was not recognizable. This new landscape proved fertile ground for the rise of communism and fascism. "Collaboration with power, whether communist or not, is always ruinous for the church. If the church exists, if it is to have legitimacy in the eyes of the people, it must always stand erect as a counter-power to political power," said Jacques Ellul.
Once again, the elections revealed that the people seek a savior. Evangelicals now realize that it wasn't Bush. Many now put their faith in Obama, but he will not be the source of salvation either. America has become corrupt, and will continue to feel the consequences. Nobody can save us from our own corruption, except Jesus Christ.
Yet, many Catholics have promoted the false teaching that salvation comes from passing harsher laws. Our church does not oppose our state's inhumane policies toward criminals. No wonder only 20 inmates attend Catholic Mass in a prison of more than 1200. Our church used to believe that it was the institution to save sinners. It will never have the credibility to do so until it stands beside them.
Christians must not only embrace the sinner, but understand that they have also broken the law. Therefore, Christians embrace their own weakness, failure and dependance on Christ when they extend the forgiveness they request for themselves, to others. As much as we might be impressed by ourselves, God isn't impressed by any of us. This is why the prerequisite to being a true Christian, or having a truly Christian society, is humility. If we recognize what we are in God's eyes, individually or collectively, versus whatever superficial status we or our nation might have in this world, we must conclude that we are indeed miserable creatures dependent on Christ for salvation. The complication is in applying that in a world where we create institutions to curb our sinful nature. We must have a government that punishes criminals, but there are different ways to do so.
When a nation chooses to punish without any priority given to rehabilitation, which is the consequence of policies like truth in sentencing, you have a system void of the greatest appeal Christianity has to offer, redemption. In our nation's current legal system, Christianity lacks relevance and has lost the appeal it has traditionally held for the disenfranchised.
Not only has the Church stood silent on truth in sentencing, but also regarding the waiver of juveniles. This despite the fact that America's adult prisons are predatory environments where the weak are subject to sexual assault. While our government lacks the moral compass to consider the consequences of putting children in that type of environment, I expect the
church to question this policy. Especially when states started passing laws waiving all 16 and 17 year olds who commit felonies into adult court, to the joy of pedophiles in prisons everywhere.
A government with policies this misguided needs the Church to be a thorn in its side, constantly attacking its shortcomings. Sadly, the church is only willing to criticize the largest police state in the world history when it comes to such politically safe issues as opposing the death penalty. Wake up Christians, our purpose is to change the world.
To see a different approach on how to punish criminals, and other matters, please read my blogs and my books at www.crimeandculture.com
