Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Question of Suffering








Thursday, September 29, 2011

You, Me, Us and Medical Ethics









Friday, September 16, 2011

Of Morals and Conscience, and Absolute Certainty, Pt. 2

My hero, Thomas Aquinas, tells a story early in Part 2 of his short book On Kingship: A Letter to the King of Cyprus. A man is unable to get work; he and his family are starving so he steals some food for them. The man, says my hero, is guilty of neither sin (stealing) nor crime (theft). Rather, the community has sinned in not seeing the family's need and providing for it, and finding employment for the man so that he might provide for them in the future, and be a full and productive member of the community.

Stealing is not sin; theft is not a crime; failing to see need and provide for that need is a communal sin. See? "Rules are rules" isn't quite a foolproof as we like to think. Put the "general norm" into context, and it gets messy. Philosophizing about absolute certainty and such isn't a waste of time - when, and only when, it leads us to the "messy," to the "down and dirty" of real life.

A somewhat more obvious example is killing in self defense. Both civil law and the commandments say "Do not kill." After all, life is the highest value in our world. But in the presence of imminent danger of being killed, we are allowed to kill our attacker. ("Allow" suggests that we have the means to do so.) Aquinas goes further, saying we are required to preserve our own lives whenever possible, even if that means killing another person. Our life is as high a value as that of our attacker, not greater - but not less valuable. Even our legal system takes context seriously. Murder is a killing "with malice" for the other person, self defense is without malice. Killing another person in sudden, overwhelming anger or fear - a crime of passion - is treated differently from a deliberate, coldly planned murder. Context counts.

And sin certainly can be personal, but it can be more than personal - a society, a community, can sin as well. Racism on the part of a neighborhood, for instance, isn't just a crime (illegal, against the law - the "rules"), it's both a personal and communal sin. Institutionalize sexism on the part of a church, rules which exclude a person on the basis of gender, is not only a crime, it's a communal sin.

So, in terms of conscience, "obeying the rules" isn't sufficient. We need to inform our conscience with all the context possible - the rules/law, teachings of our faith community (all of this in terms of the intellective component of reason), our imagination, intuition - even, when possible and appropriate, the input of professionals int he area of our dilemma. I wouldn't try to offer a prognosis on my relative's illness - I'd go to an expert if possible. In a medical issue, say, death and dying questions, I'm not capable of projecting elements like timeline, quality of life and pain for the dying person. As part of informing my conscience, of dealing honestly with my context (situation), I need the input of medical doctors, and perhaps psychologists.

As a Christian people, we probably need to revisit an address given by Pius XII to a group of Italian doctors back in 1948. These physicians in post-World War II Italy - a fundamentally and overwhelmingly Catholic country, faced life and death decisions almost daily. The indicator of death at the time was simply that the patient stops breathing. But how long, and by what means, they wanted to know, must we work to keep the patient breathing? Pius XII - no liberal relativist certainly! - told the doctors that all ordinary means of treatment must be used always; extraordinary means, however, were at the discretion of the patient and family. Extraordinary means are those which carry great physical, emotional (hmmm, did the ground shake?) or (this rocked the docs!) financial hardship for the patient or (this would rock the world) the patient's family! Now, at that time, extraordinary means were in short supply. One could try artificial respiration, some heart-stimulating drugs were available in 1948, today there are defibrillators in many high schools and colleges. Today the technology, medical knowledge, drugs and machinery are available to keep patients "alive" - hooked up to machines that breathe for them, feed them, medicate them - indefinitely in many cases. If this causes extreme hardship, however, for the patient - and/or for the family, it becomes extraordinary treatment; the family can release the patient with a clear conscience.

Now, our younger daughter and her infant son arrive tomorrow for a week's stay, so no blog until September 29th or 30th. So why not do some "musing" of your own - and leave comments on that musing here, please! - on issues involving the value of human life and conscience. One example might be this: A human fetus certainly is human life, and that life has a high value - not absolute, but high. However, the value of the fetal life is equal to the value of those persons already born, not greater or less. A woman is living in poverty, with 3 children she can't feed because her husband takes his pay check and gets drunk on it. Can she justify an abortion in order to care better for the children she already has? (And yes - this is an actual case. The man and woman were both Roman Catholic, so he forbade using birth control, but demanded - to the point of physical violence - that she be ready and available for him whenever he wanted sex.)

If you don't feel brave enough for that one, you can certainly come up with others. :)

Have fun, and see you in 2 weeks.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Of Morals and Conscience, and Absolute Certainty, Pt. 1

Nearly 200 Roman Catholic priests throughout the U.S. recently signed a letter to Maryknoll's superior, asking that he and the community support Fr. Roy Bourgeois, despite Vatican orders, on the basis that he was simply following his conscience - as is required of everyone. Now, despite the fudging on why Maryknoll should support him (nothing was of his support for women's ordination being good, just, etc.), this was a heroic act on their part. The Vatican is losing patience more and more quickly with "recalcitrant" priests. It does, however, provide some solid "musing" for this Renegade Theologian.

We aren't required to follow "any old conscience," but a properly informed one. The Vatican would say (and has said) that "properly informed" means learning what the Church [i.e., the Pope] teaches, and following it without question. That, however, presents a number of problems for the student (however casual)of moral theology/ethics: absolute certainty in moral questions; restricting information to one source, suggesting (if not outright requiring!) acceptance of that source without question; no distinction between the "right" and the "good" - which equates the legal with the moral, perhaps making them interchangeable; and making the "moral" universal - impersonal, as it is without reference to the person making a decision.

We are required, as Christians -not just as Catholics, Roman or otherwise - to follow our conscience, insofar as it is properly informed. This isn't an option, it's a requirement! To come to an informed decision, then chicken out because it's tough or scary or might endanger our income is sinful. But what does the phrase "properly informed conscience" mean?

Following that can be scary! It's a whole lot easier, and safer, to "follow the rules," without question - probably the biggest reason people run for the safety of reactionary parishes where "Father knows, and I can't do anything wrong by doing what he [sic] says." It takes awareness, time and effort, and sometimes a giant leap of faith to inform our conscience well, and then follow its direction without the comfort of absolute certainty.

Absolute certainty, however, is impossible for human beings. As Thomas Aquinas points out, we are finite beings, with finite knowledge. (He uses the term "knowledge" broadly, it isn't strictly "intellective" - knowledge we get from a book, but I'll get into that later.) God alone is Absolute, to God alone can "absolute" knowledge - or any other attribute - be assigned. For us mortals, the properly informed question brings us, at best, to "moral certainty," the point at which we have done all we can to inform our decision, and must make it in good faith, and act on it.

That decision, all moral decisions, is made by a specific person. "I" have a specific history, skills, gifts, possibilities and real impossibilities in a given situation, access to ability to understand helpful information. "I" am making "my" decision in a very specific personal context. "General norms"and universal statements/teachings can and often should be a part of my information gathering - but these are not sufficient; they ignore the moral context in which "I" find "myself." This is when it gets scary at times, and where the reactionaries start screaming "Relativism!"

It's only Relativism, however, if we ignore all sources outside ourselves - at least, those which don't agree with what we want to do!

While "I" am a specific person, a specific moral agent in a specific moral dilemma (no dilemma = easy decision) and in a specific moral situation/context, "I" am, as a Christian, equally part of a faith community. "I" have the ability to gather information from outside "myself," as well as from within "myself." (Even those with intellective limitations are responsible to the extent those limitations permit.) In order to make a moral decision and act on it from an informed conscience, "I" must gather information from both outside and inside of "myself." "I" must seek out what my church teaches on the subject of "my" dilemma and consider that seriously, and prayerfully. "I" can search out other sources from "my" particular church - theological writings past and present, homilies, even articles in "my" church's newspapers and/or magazines. "I" must apply the intellect which is God's tremendous gift entrusted to us. That's not enough, thought. Reason isn't restricted to intellective knowledge, says Aquinas (and me). Our human design helps us, informs us, also through imagination - imaging ourselves doing or not doing something, imagining the consequences - good as well as bad - of a particular decision. Then there is that nebulous but inescapable quality call "intuition." There is within us, in every decision - moral or not, that something deep within us, that urges us to go ahead, stop, think it through, etc. It's even been called "the voice of God" - and this particular theologian calls it just that. Intellective knowledge, imagination and intuition are the powerful, trinitarian form for "the gift of reason." All three should be utilized as sources of moral knowledge if we struggle to make a moral decision...and act on that decision.

Okay, getting way too long for one post. Can you tell this particular theological area is a passion? More next week.

Friday, September 2, 2011

musing on morals...

while on vacation. Next week I'll be back with the results. Morals...conscience...certainty...

Thursday, August 25, 2011

No Altar Girls = No Justice = NO LAW!

Okay, I'll admit it. One of my favorite things is to "tweak" reactionaries with provocative words or statements. Hence, the last part of the title of today's "musing." They aren't "conservatives," for they don't seek to maintain what is - the meaning of conservative. Rather, they seek a return to the 1950s (which, in fact, is a return to the 16th century for the Roman church). They'd like to pretend the Second Vatican Council never happened.

Ah, Vatican II. Ecumenical councils, teaching authority, the hierarchy of authority...okay, I gotta focus. That's for another blog.

The bishop of Phoenix has declared that girls may no longer serve on the altar in his diocese. This, he states, is for boys who can thus be groomed for the priesthood. Well, as bishop he can say whatever he likes. The truth is, every parish in his diocese has the right to continue having girls serve (bet they have more girls than boys volunteering for that, as females do for everything else!). The bishop's ruling has no force of law because - like the prohibition on ordaining women - it's unjust. As Aquinas says, an unjust law is no law and therefore has no binding force! He doesn't say we can disobey an unjust law - he denies it existence as law.

Papal teaching - at least in places - is that females have precisely the same value, the same human nature, the same Savior as males. Things like equality in housing, employment and such are due to women no less than to men. (When we get to the religious arena things change radically - once you work through the doublespeak - but again, that's another "musing.") Justice demands - according to papal teaching - that women be accorded such equality. While teachings are consistent in denying that such equality extends to ordination, they do extend that to ministries performed by the non-ordained. They might be more than a little reluctant to do so, but they do. Serving at the altar - by any non-ordained person - is therefore open to females as well as males.

That service is open to females based on their equality with males, as persons. In justice to females, a ministry open to a non-ordained male must be open to females.

To deny females access to a ministry based on their gender, and the desire to encourage young boys to pursue a priestly call, is to treat females as not equal. It is therefore inherently unjust. And an unjust teaching lacks any authority - as with an unjust law - which frees pastors to ignore it. In fact, they would be required to "do the good" - to continue treating their people, male and female, with equal justice. (CAN one "pursue" what only God can offer? hmmmm...must muse on that one.)

I know media statements have been made by various organizations protesting the bishop's action. Phone calls flooded his office, at the urgining of groups like Womens Ordination Conference. These things are good. Perhaps, though, we should be writing to all the pastors in the diocese, providing them with the means to bypass this dictate - the teachings on women's equality, the injustice to females of any age in denying them access to a ministry open to males, and what Aquinas has to say about an unjust law (in this case, episcopal ruling - but it comes to the same thing!). We might remind them that justice is required of all Christians, it's not optional. And maybe we could even get their opinion on whether one can/ought to "pursue" a call?

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Media take note: Catholic does NOT equal Roman Catholic!















Blessings on this lovely morning,

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Fr. Roy Bourgeois - A Renegade's Conscience

Back towards the end of my "earlier life," when I was just coming out of my reactionary-right stage, and studying, "conscience" had to do with "obeying the law." Rules were rules, you know what they are, follow them and that's all. Grace was a "shot" - something that enabled you for heroic virtue to "do the right," at any cost. Now, I'd been wondering about these for a while, and my studies led me to Aquinas. For him, the moral life was about pursuing the "good" - a quality, not a legal referent. Much more complicated and uncertain, pursuing the good means a wider role for conscience. I have to consider - seriously and thoughtfully - the "law," but I must also reflect on what my imagination, my intellect and my intuition tell me. These too are valid and necessary sources of information, and so the "informed conscience" seeks their input. What are the real possibilities for me? What is the base issue?

Fr. Roy Bourgeois obviously followed this road too. It led him to begin protests at the School of the Americas - where some of the most terrible dictator-terrorists in the western hemisphere were taught their trade. Maryknoll wasn't thrilled, I'm sure, especially when he was arrested, but they supported him. The tide turned only - and that's important - when his conscience led him to support the cause of ordaining women.

Fr. Roy sought "the good." He examined the basis for church teachings (intellect) but as he delved into this further - understanding the sources of objections to these teachings - he saw the base issue wasn't "the Gospels" but gender, and justice.

The "good," as I said earlier, is a quality. It has to do with pursuing what brings about the Reign of God on earth. That, according to Aquinas, requires justice. The "right" is a legal referent, obedience to laws. Aquinas also tells us that "an unjust law is no law at all," and has no binding power for that reason. What is "right" does not - necessarily - bring about the Reign, the good, especially when the "right" is an unjust law.

The teaching on exclusion of women from ordination relies heavily on so-called exclusion by Jesus in the Gospels. Now, Jesus ordained no one - male or female! He was a good Jew, and the Jewish priesthood was hereditary and temple-bound (hence, there have been no Jewish priests since the destruction of the Second Temple in approximately 70 C.E.). It is highly unlikely (almost impossible) that no women were part of the Last Supper; this would have taken place during Passover, and women played a role in all Shabbat and festival meals. Two biblical commissions were appointed in the late 20th century by popes seeking solid biblical support for their stand against women. In both cases the commission had to return to their masters with a report that no biblical evidence whatsoever, in fact, supports it. There is, however, a good deal of evidence outside the Bible for the practice of women priests in the early Church - as late, perhaps, as the 9th century. The Vatican dismisses it as "anecdotal," but scholars in archaeology, anthropology, history and even ancient languages don't agree (the Vatican has no such scholars). They've seen epitaphs, letters, even records of liturgical services of ordination for women priests, deacons - even bishops! Abbesses in monasteries (co-ed until the middle ages, by the way) were consecrated with precisely the same ritual as bishops, and received the same signs of their consecration - headgear, shepherd crook, ring. The Vatican likes to say that ordained women existed in "schismatic sects," but this is not only erroneous, it's anachronistic. No such sects (no such word!) existed until the second millenium.

Well, there's a lot more to the support of women's priestly ministry, but back to Roy. Undoubtedly he was exposed to a great deal of this. Perhaps he even read (or re-read) the little book by Aquinas entitled On Kingship. In this one-hour-read Aquinas tells the story of man who is unable to find work, and therefore unable to feed his family or himself. He steals food, therefore, for himself and his family. In doing so, says Aquinas, he commits neither a sin nor a crime. Rather, the community sins against him and his family by not seeing the needs of this family and providing food, and work. They are responsible to provide for basic needs of all who live in the community and failed to do so. They should both feed the hungry (hmmm, where have I read that before?), and empower the man to provide for his family through honest work.

Here, the "right" would require the man to allow himself and his family to starve rather than steal. The "good," on the other hand, involves the immediate need (food) and the source of his moral dilemma - the lack of work by which he fell into such a state.

The Reign of God involves pursuing the fullness of who and what we, as human beings, can and should be. What holds us back is unjust. A teaching that women are excluded from ordination because Jesus did not include them is not only false, but blatant sexism and injustice. Both restrict the ability of women who are called to priestly ministry to pursue the good, to become "all they can be," to paraphrase a popular military slogan. It is therefore no "law" at all, and has no binding power.

Now, if the Maryknoll community's leaders could only find in this the courage and strength to face down the Vatican and support Fr. Roy, rather than threatening to "exclude" him! Women's communities have done so - and the Vatican backed off. Earlier Maryknolls priests and sisters defied governments, religious powers and anyone else who threatened to restrict or stop their work of pursuing the good with and for their people. What happened?

By the way, FOSIL (Faithful of Southern Illinois) is sponsoring a presentation by Fr. Roy Bourgeois and Sr. Jeannine Grammick (another "renegade" who pursues the good, supported by her community) in O'Fallon, IL on Sunday, September 25. You can find all the info on this at

Forming our conscience - and the sacred requirement to follow it - might form a pretty good subject for another blog would the topic of "pursuing the good" and "being all we can be"...I'll "muse" on this. :)

Friday, July 29, 2011

out of town

Visiting family, after a death, then on probably I won't write again until Aug. 10. Then we'll muse on the difference between "Catholic" and "Roman Catholic." Should be fun!
Blessings, Ginny

Monday, July 18, 2011

Developing that "Renegade" persona

I discovered early on that theologians, and officials of Christian churches, frequently quoted passages from Aquinas in setting forth their teachings. This is especially true with moral issues, and has been since well before the Council of Trent (mid 15th century). It seemed to me however that I found different passages appeared to say slightly different things. When I began reading his Summa from page 1, skipping nothing, certain concepts like God, human nature and grace were clearly fundamental to his work as a whole. When I read later parts, in view of what he'd said earlier -- as this style was meant to be read, a very distinct picture emerged. My doctoral dissertation was forming now; I would provide a view of Moral Theology in Aquinas based very much on grace as a dimension of human nature itself -- human nature as re-created in and through Jesus the Christ. Grace, for Aquinas, was not a hypodermic needle to enable heroic moral acts and/or virtues, but the guidance, wisdom and strength of the Indwelling Spirit promised and sent by Jesus the Christ -- 3rd Person of the Trinity -- always available and accessible to human beings who seek that guidance, wisdom and strength.

This is in direct opposition to any number of brilliant theologians' views on grace, to say nothing of popes and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It also makes moral decisions a matter of seeking the good, not simply blind obedience to the rules. I was most certainly a renegade by this time!

Of course, by this time I was also extremely active with groups seeking significant reforms in the Roman Church, and with Women's Ordination Conference. I became -- and remain -- deeply involved with a church community truly pursued and persecuted by the Vatican. These dearly loved sisters and brothers eventually formed another independent Catholic church and, nearly 10 years later, members still increase daily. One co-pastor was the pastor (yes, a properly-ordained Catholic priest) of the earlier church, the other is a married woman ordained through the Old Catholic Church about 8 years ago. Several other women in the parish have since been ordained -- through the Old Catholic Church or the Roman Catholic Womenpriests organization -- and gone on to new, vital ministries and communities. Social justice has been a basic constituent to the community since its formation (and as the original community), and their city benefits from this daily. This is pursuing the good -- the ultimate moral goal for Aquinas.

The problem with becoming a Renegade is that one only becomes more deeply open to being a Renegade. I realize, for instance, that not every "Pauline" letter was authored by the apostle. Some (including the most damning towards women) were written pseudonymously by his disciples, and their disciples -- 2 generations removed from Paul himself. I relish the list of women towards the end of his letter to the Romans, which includes reference to Junia (female) as "prominent among the apostles." I'm at ease with Mary Magdalene as a prominent, and wealthy, woman rather than a prostitute; in fact, it's satisfying to realize that she was in fact an apostle -- defined among the Jews of Jesus' time as "one sent by the master for a specific task." (John 21: "Go, tell my disciples..." Jesus, the Master, sends Mary -- apostle -- to complete a specific task. Of course, I love knowing that the Eastern Church has always elevated her and celebrated her as "apostle to the apostles."

And so, Renegade that I am, I muse on life, God, faith, etc. with a viewpoint, and occasional conclusion, that can upset the religious apple carts of those around me. Some damn me, some thank me, some laugh and say "What took you so long?" But the musing continues...usually on very real and human complexities. And my husband and I enjoy my renegade-ness, the quality that sought -- with mischief and laughter -- to make a statement even with my car...which sports 2 women's ordination bumperstickers and a license plate that reads "WMNPST 1" (here in IL, in Wisc. it was "WMNPRST"). My husband loves being at the wheel when people wave, honk...even stop to talk to us about church reforms...I guess he's become a renegade too! :D

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Genesis of a Renegade Theologian

I didn't start out to become a theologian -- let alone a renegade one! My intention was much more humble, and mainstream: Finish my bachelor degree in Religious Studies and teach religion in an elementary school. It was my professors, and overgrown "curiosity bump" that lured me on to "bigger and better" things...

In my very first Systematic Theology class, Br. Michael asked us what it would do to our faith if scientists found, and proved, that they had the body of Jesus. Well, gee, they couldn't -- Catholic teaching is a bodily resurrection! What kind of body, he asked. Read over the accounts. My first response was that I believed Jesus the Christ - 2nd person of the Trinity - was raised, and so it wouldn't affect my faith. With some thought, and the responses of others in the class, that developed a bit more. Later that fall he had additional challenges for us. For instance, what if Jesus never performed any miracles? The gospel accounts mirror those in the Hebrew Scriptures where prophets offered miracle feedings, control over nature and even raising from the dead as proofs that they were indeed sent by God, and speaking God's message. This one led me to my first step towards becoming a theologian. I found and pondered the passage: Jesus "could do no miracles there, only curing a few people, because of their little faith." Could it be, I asked Br. Michael, that a "miracle" and a "cure" -- two different words in both Hebrew and Greek -- are quite distinct? If someone watches as Jesus gives sight to a blind person, and that observation produces a life-changing encounter with God for that observer, isn't that the miracle, rather than the cure (which might, or might not, have any God encounter involved with it)? We processed this idea together for months.

Later, I took my first Moral Theology class, and had my first exploration into the work of Thomas Aquinas -- who became my hero by the end of my first semester of graduate school. Right away, with Br. Bob's help, I grasped the importance of the difference between a human act and the act of a human. I saw tremendous implications for concepts like sin, grace, guilt, intention and more. Oh yes -- I was now thoroughly hooked! With my professors, advisor and even the department head urging me to go on, get my doctorate in theology and teach at the college level, and some very shattering life changes around me, it seemed like a ridiculous idea....yet a year later I was choosing among three excellent universities offering scholarships for master's work. One year later, Marquette offered me advanced placement in their doctoral program in theology, along with a full scholarship and 3-year teaching assistant post. Here, I thrived in an environment where I was expected to contribute to the theological conversation, and found professors who probed and challenged and encouraged my questions, no matter how "out of line" those questions might be.

That's when I began the move towards being a "renegade" theologian. But...more on that in posting #2... :)