My daughter came tumbling out of her religious education class recently, shouting, "Mom, I want to go to Washington; they’re killing babies!"
Next to her my 5-year-old chimed in, jumping up and down: "I want to go, I want to go!"
Dread flooded my stomach and chest; the abortion debate had reached my doorstop.
I knew it was coming. Years before when it came time to enroll our oldest daughter in CCD – Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, religious education for Catholics — I thought of the conflicts that lay ahead.
In CCD she’d be taught things my husband and I didn’t believe and, quite frankly, things we didn’t want her to believe.
We don’t believe that homosexuality is a disorder, we don’t believe the use of contraception is wrong and we don’t believe that having an abortion is a sin, or evil.
But the Catholic Church is home for me, and it is more than the sum of the doctrine I ignore, more than the sum of its scandals and newspaper headlines.
It has something important to teach its members – and my children — about right and wrong, about love and commitment, about social justice and compassion.
And I pledged at my wedding and their baptism that any children would be raised Catholic.
" Have faith," I said to myself when I signed our oldest daughter up for CCD four years ago.
"You’ll hear a lot more about it in the coming years, and you’ll have to make your own decision about what you believe," I said, "but what’s important is that you know people have different opinions. The Church believes one thing; Mom and Dad believe another."
…A few days after that CCD lesson my husband and I sat down with our daughter and her science book and turned to the chapter on cells and cell division. We talked about when life begins according to science, and according to the church and talked some more about what this means in terms of an abortion.
She got bored after a while and squirmed away.
But she’ll be back and we’ll continue the discussion adding more of the missing pieces as she grows old enough to hear them.
And then, it’s her choice.
Those who take their faith seriously have a hard time understanding cultural Catholics and exactly why they want to belong to a Church they fundamentally disagree with. Besides the Church exactly what other "organization" that they have problems with and who they see teaching as sins things that are totally fine would they let teach their children. Whatever happened to Isaiah injunction "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;" which surely they see the Church as doing? That certainly there are other religious denominations that fall much more in line with what they believe. I guess this is just a fundamental disconnect or a sort of religious patriotism of the sort of "My Church right or wrong." She says that it is important that the Church teaches what is right and wrong and than says that the Church is wrong about what it says is right.
What I also find interesting is the defense of abortion by those who say they have faith and belief in God. It is pretty much always a case of moral relativism and situational ethics. Support of the need for abortion is defended by naming the circumstances; whether it is rape, incest, economic, timing, etc – the situation is used to defend the need for abortion. In this article the same arguments are used and in like in most cases there is never talk of a soul, being created in the image of God, why it is okay to kill the innocent because of circumstances, etc. That a believer strangely makes no arguments in a religious context at all and make statements that are totally secular. For a moral relativist as in this case it comes down to "And then, it’s her choice" which is at least consistent, but extends the idea that the truth is what you choose to be the truth.
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I worked in surgery for around 35 years. Twice, in those years, I was assigned to a case that was scheduled as one procedure and turned out to be an abortion. I always refused to scrub on abortions and was horrifed when I saw what the doctor was doing.
The first one, the young lady, a prisoner from the state womens prison, was put to sleep and put up in stirrups. The doctor didn’t even put on a gown, he just put on a pair of gloves, inserted his finger and broke her water. He dilivered a beautiful little girl which he placed head first in a gallon specimen container filled with formalin. The baby quivered like it was shivering and died. I raised all kinds of protest, but the hospital simply did nothing. It looked like cold blooded murder to me,
The second, was scheduled as a D&C, i.e. dilation and curretage. A common prodedure for many female problems. The doctor took an instrument called a morselizer, it looks like a kind of pliers about a foor and a half long with two cylinders where the working end of the pliers would be. He inserted it inside her uterus and crushed what was in there. He and the residents then scraped out the pieces and laid them out on the back table. Thats when I realized what they had done. There were two tiny arms complete with tiny fingers and fingernails, a crushed head and a crushed body and two tiny legs complete with tiny feet and tiny toes. They seemed very amused as they poked and proded their horrible booty.
People who advocate abortions, or wash their hands of the responsibiliy of opposing them have no moral ground, as far as I am concerned. They are murder at any stage. If I live forever, I will never get the images of those small human beings and their horrible deaths out of my mind.
I have a Catholic friend who who refused to participate in abortions; despite harrassment, he stood up for his rights to refuse on religious grounds and finally won.
He is my hero.
God help that family. What a travesty to call oneself Catholic and express such advice to one’s children.
“The Church believes one thing; Mom and Dad believe another”
Then doesn’t it seem a trifle hypocritical to call oneself “Catholic?” Why not become an honest Episcopalian?
I’d like to know where she sends her kids to CCD. Only thing my kids learn is how to color and that “God is luv”
“He dilivered a beautiful little girl which he placed head first in a gallon specimen container filled with formalin.”
Wow. If he delivered the baby first, that’s not even abortion by the legal definition. That’s infanticide.
Unless, of course, Obama is elected. Then we simply ignore it and say it never happens.
“We talked about when life begins according to science…”
Gee and I thought science was value-neutral.
“We talked about when life begins according to science…”
Apparently they didn’t go by science. “In this text, we begin our description of the developing human with the formation and differentiation of the male and female sex cells or gametes, which will unite at fertilization to initiate the embryonic development of a new individual. … Fertilization takes place in the oviduct … resulting in the formation of a zygote containing a single diploid nucleus. Embryonic development is considered to begin at this point… This moment of zygote formation may be taken as the beginning or zero time point of embryonic development.” (Essentials of Human Embryology)
Sad to say, this little girl has learned that her mother approves of killing babies, and their relationship has been irrevocably harmed.
We don’t believe that homosexuality is a disorder, we don’t believe the use of contraception is wrong and we don’t believe that having an abortion is a sin, or evil.
It has something important to teach its members – and my children — about right and wrong, about love and commitment, about social justice and compassion.
First, she disagrees with the Church on its teachings about right and wrong, then she says: It has something important to teach its members – and my children — about right and wrong . She ADMITTED it has its teaching about right and wrong are important!
I hope her parents will be just at supportive of their daughter’s “choice” to terminate their lives when they have grown old sickly and too expensive to care for.
the comments on the article are pretty encouraging to read, though. majority of commenters recognize that these aren’t Catholic parents.
Enough yammering about the unfaithful mom, where can my kids and I sign up for those CCD classes?
Very good point, Fr. John. That’s the natural conclusion to the parents’ philosophy.
This is like an NAACP member agreeing with KKK race policies.
What?
The arrogance of it all! Does this moppet actually believe her and her hubby will stand before God and simply say, “Hey, I didn’t believe in the church’s teachings on abortion, birth control, sexual ethics, and….so we’re cool? Right? I get in anyway?” Human hubris really knows no limits. Then again, I would wager Ms. Thang doesn’t believe in a God who is just…just one who condones.
I am grinning my head off over this. You see, Mr. and Mrs. Sorta Catholic are setting themselves up as hypocrites and their daughter may end up getting an education they really aren’t prepared for. I think we should all pray for her CCD teachers to charitably yet firmly explain the truth to her when she starts saying, “You say this, but my Mom says THAT.”
Not to go into too much detail, but there are young people in my family who were raised by sorta Christians and later horrified their parents by (gasp!) embracing the fullness of faith. When it came time for their rebellion against their parents, they did it by rejecting their parents’ values (or lack thereof) and embracing a deeper faith. There’s nothing quite as horrifying to secularized “Catholics” than to see their loved ones understanding and agreeing with the Catechism.
Jeff,
You are tagged for the Book Memories Meme, which you will find here http://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2008/02/book-memories-meme-booked-by-3-february.html
and it is more than the sum of the doctrine I ignore
Like what? She can’t get “love the one you’re with,” “be excellent to each other,” and “pity the minorities who don’t have what you’ve got” anywhere else?
What?
A Catholic thinking abortion is acceptable is like a NAACP member thinking that blacks are animals. It’s a fundamental diconnect. I remember teaching confirmation class to a girl who didn’t accept the Church’s teaching on abortion. I told my priest who replied point-blank, “She’s in the wrong church.”
MissJean,
You’ve nailed it. I’m a constant embarassment to much of my family (thankfully this doesn’t include my parents) who are horrified that I actually believe the Church’s teaching on the typical “hot-button” issues.
I always laugh to myself when one aunt tells me to “Liberalize.” Here this family has been Catholic forever, attend Mass weekly, and then turn in horror when they see one of the new generation has actually accepted the faith they handed on.
I hope this little girl becomes a ferocious Catholic.
‘Cultural Catholicism’ is the product of the desire to take the broad path of easy compromise with the culture of death, and the wilful and cowardly refusal to face truth and self knowledge in doing so. Cultural Catholics really think that they are in good standing with the faith and with God, no matter how much they dissent from church teaching: they deliberately deceive themselves. Ideologies such as liberalism and deconstruction come as music to their ears, as these make it easier to persist in their ways. But they will never leave the church, because that would make truth real to them.
Well, thats one way of instilling in your child a spirit of disobedience.
I think the mother was misinterpreting her daughter’s “boredom” at her attempts to sanitize abortion. I suspect her daughter was very uncomfortable to learn her mother supported killing unborn human beings. I thank God every day that my entire family is pro-life.
Got it, Scott; I couldn’t agree more.
Cultural Catholics waste a whole lifetime trying to find the widest narrow path.
Here is a good example of why we should seriously consider family catechesis. Two generations have been indoctrinated with moral relativism, particularly in regard to gender and sexuality. It is one thing to watch in wonder (and praise God!) when children catechize their parents, but when those parents insist that their offspring pay for the “crime” of “unsuccessful” contraception by having an abortion, that begs serious preventive education and support in faith and virtue.
Those of you that inquired about real CCD classes are welcome to send your kids to me. I teach the 7th – 12th graders at our church with one helper. I run a “no games, coloring, and felt banner zone.”
I actually tell them there is such a thing as sin. They learn the Precepts of the Church (sad when some of the parents don’t attend Mass), the Commandments, and even that the Catholic Church is the one true Church. How wild is that????
Wonderfully wild! God bless you!
This article really brings out my inner commissar. I mean, of all the things to be disloyal about: infanticide!? Really!? Ideology rears its upside down head again, I guess.
I wonder if these parents’ priest knows about their opinions? As serious as it is to hold such a gravely erroneous position (which has only been condemned since the Didache and the Talmud, just in case the Bible wasn’t clear to you), isn’t it a terrible sin to attempt to teach this error to their daughter?
which has only been condemned since the Didache
I occassionally get the abortion-isn’t-explicitly-condemned-in-the-Bible, which might explain many non-Catholic Christian groups have folded on this. The fact that it is explicitly condemned in one of the earliest examples of Christian instruction ought to give one pause.
I teach 7th grade catechism, and we leave the felt and markers at home, too. We use Ignatius Press, watch Steve Ray’s “Footprints of God” DVD’s from time to time, and have quizzes. Each class we start with the rosary. No syncretism, indifferentism, relativism.
And the kids enjoy it – and they ask great questions, too. I believe if kids are treated with respect, that they possess intelligence, and are taught slightly above their level, they’ll respond and be attentive. And they’re not stupid – they know when the ‘truth’ is being watered down and when it’s presented as the Truth.
I think kids are insulted when we try to “dumb it down” for them. They want the truth, not some wishy-washy feeling, politically correct nonsense.
She and her husband probably are some of those “Catholics” who’ll vote for Obama…who also leaves the science at the door to the clinic.
Fortunately, kids are now more pro-life than their parents.
I teach eight grade CCD. I also fall into the no-nonsense instruction of the faith. We don’t watch videos and we only play one game, Stump the Catechist. If they can ask me a question about the faith that I can’t answer that class period, they get bragging rights and a typed answer to the question as soon as I can answer it. In truth, since they are preparing for confirmation, I am often disturbed at some of the things they have been allowed to believe. May God bless us with faithful teachers at all levels and in all places.