On Aug. 28 the Aquinas Newman Center was allowed to hold a public mass at the Duck Pond. The University granted permission and held the event in spite of protesters condemning the ceremony.
Unknown to those who missed this gloating occasion was the presence of several attendees who gracefully worshiped in the middle of campus, many of whom did know the annoyance and controversies that they were producing.
This ultimately raises the question: Can the Catholic Church, or any church, hold spiritual ceremonies in public areas? If so, does the church have the right to put itself beyond the realm of public scrutiny?
Some have argued “if you don’t like it, then you don’t have to go,” along with disparaging remarks of the spirit that criticism of the church constitutes intolerance.
Both of these statements are unacceptable because anyone can have an opinion about campus events. Furthermore, criticizing intolerance is not in itself intolerant.
In properly answering these questions one must concede that the Catholic Church can hold religious ceremonies at a semi-governmental institution because the University is not directly endorsing a religion nor is it forcing anyone to attend.
The University does not discriminate against religion, because many other religious organizations have been able to meet and hold public events on campus.
However, due to the church’s arrogant posture on this issue, those of us against the idea of religious indoctrination now have the right to publicly denounce this hideous religion along with its heinous practices.
Amid these events the church may want to request forgiveness from those it harmed. Perhaps we should forgive the church so long as it agrees to give us back our public space.
We will accept the church’s apologies for the Crusades, the Inquisition, the persecution of Jews, the forced conversions of indigenous people in our hemisphere, the involvement in the African slave trade, the support for reactionary fascist movements like Francisco Franco of Spain, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar of Portugal and Benito Mussolini of Italy.
In more recent years, apologies seem to be in order for the rape and torture of young children around the globe, denial of birth control and reproductive rights for women, denouncing homosexuals as unworthy of heaven and finally taking the most reactionary positions in the Balkans War, Rwanda and Ireland.
Those who boldly protested Sunday did so under the banner of human dignity and, perhaps, against one or more of the issues listed above, if not some other atrocity I left out.
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Of course, all of these actions are far more offensive than some pathetic ceremony at the Duck Pond. However, the ceremony in itself can also be construed as offensive, as expressed by student Peter Lundman.
Lundman was justified in saying that the mass was offensive, but wrong to compare the mass to a Hindu group planning a ritual blood sacrifice of a goat to Shiva or Kali.
I must say the Eucharist ceremony is far worse than a goat sacrifice. The ceremony of wine and bread is the celebration of the sacrifice of a human being for the purpose of relinquishing people of their responsibility, namely sins they have committed or will commit.
The primitive word for such a doctrine is “scapegoat.” I submit that his is an immoral and unethical doctrine and one of the most disgusting ideas ever promulgated.
No one can be washed clean of his or her responsibilities, especially by murdering someone else. Personal responsibility is what all ethics and morals depend upon.
The false position that one can be washed clean of sins directly allows people to evade personal responsibilities that might otherwise have been confronted.
Furthermore, according to Catholic beliefs no one can opt out of recognizing this sacrifice because if you reject the murder you will be barred from heaven, regardless of who you are.
Heaven is also a ridiculous idea, but it is a real place to millions of people. The church has, for the majority of monotheistic history, held a monopoly on the idea of heaven and has used it as a propaganda tool to convert and coerce the credulous.
In a life that revolves around the University, exchange of ideas is vital to advancing education. To take for granted preexisting ideas is to be intellectually lazy, as self-criticism is necessary for critical thought. Those who wish to put forth their religious practices in public must do so knowing that they put themselves in a position to be scrutinized by others and should also do some self-criticism along the way.
