Thursday, November 15, 2007

A Really Tough Call

Here is an article that has been getting a lot of attention as of late. The article is titled "Priest has pro-life parishioner arrested". Read the article by following the link above if you can, but here are a couple of paragraphs to highlight the problem:
A pro-life activist banned from stepping on the grounds of St. Matthew’s Church in San Mateo after a controversy over his display of signs showing graphic pictures of aborted babies was arrested on Tuesday, Nov. 13, for trespassing on church grounds.
. . .
Foti, a well-known pro-life activist, has long been controversial at St. Matthew’s. Parents of children at the parish school began complaining last year of Foti’s truck, displaying the graphic signs, which he parked on a public street adjacent to the school. Parents, who dropped their children off on the street for school, complained that their children had to view the graphic pictures.
. . .
Foti told the Nov. 14 Tribune he did not feel McGuire “had any valid grounds to ban me from the church. Right now, I am going to call my attorney and see what I can do and what I should do."
I can understand people being upset over a pro-life activist being arrested by a Catholic priest over wanting to show (graphic pics) the reality of abortion. There are few things today more horrid than abortion, and few things nobler than the fight against it, but I have to ask one question.

What would you do if a group fighting against legalized sodomy parks a van with graphic pictures next to your kindergartner's school?

Why couldn't the fella park a couple blocks away from the school and walk to Mass? Let's fight hard to save the children, but let's not forget to guard their innocence too.
What do you think?


Joshua 24:15 said...

Agreed. Adults should do the fighting on behalf of kids, but not in such a way that the kids are included...

Germanicus said...

I am reminded of a scene from a book, the title of which I have forgotten. Though I do remember it was censored during the Viet-Nam war the re-released under a different title which I can not recall either.
The setting is in SE Asia. The hero, a successful ex-patriot ala Hemmingway, is invited to a wealthy Asian man’s estate in the country. As he is escorted through the man’s house down a long corridor, he is transfixed by the lifelike images painted on the wall. They are representations of the pains of the Buddhist hell. Later his host greets him and asks what he thought of the hall and did he enjoy the delightful peaceful scenes of paradise. Our hero admits that he was so consumed by the visage of hell that he did not even notice paradise. “No one ever does” was his hosts matter of fact reply.

Ok so why does that me remind of the guy with the painted truck by the school? Well, I have seen the pics on the priests for life website and other places. Though I commend the work, I wonder if the pictures convey the correct message. Are we against death or for life? If babies could killed in such a way that looked cute and cuddly and even happier dead would that be OK? Of course not because the evil in abortion is not in the gruesomeness of the death but that it occurred at all. That the death is also gruesome and inhumane compounds the error but must never become fundamental.
More importantly in teaching our children about the culture of death my thoughts on this are similar to the logic used to distinguish a perfect act of contrition based on love as opposed to an imperfect based on fear of the pains of hell. I believe the shock method, while gratifying and effective in the short term, will do little to curb the unrelenting pressure of culture, fear and wealth. Only thoughtful well reasoned arguments can do that. I agree Serviam!, guard their innocence and teach them to think.

Laura The Crazy Mama said...

I just think of the time I watched a graphic video of the horrors of abortion and asked the older kids if they wanted to see it and that it was really quite awful. Matthew just saw the look on my face as I described, in tears, what happens to a baby in an abortion and he started crying and wouldn't let me finish. I realized my mistake in telling him about it before he was really ready. It breaks my heart how he knows the cruelty that human beings are capable of and it makes me remember the damage to MY soul every time I learned of some, new, sick way that we can be hurtful or evil to each other as I was growing up. YES! PROTECT their innocence, for GOD'S SAKE!