Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Anchoress

Home
Catholic
You Want Dignity? You Should Have It. So Should Everyone.

You Want Dignity? You Should Have It. So Should Everyone.

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 12:24 am by Elizabeth Scalia

You Want Dignity? You Should Have It. So Should Everyone. 2015-03-13T00:24:15+00:00 Elizabeth Scalia

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

All day I had hoped to find time to respond to this piece by Frank Bruni in the New York Times wherein he argues that religious liberty must be regulated and sidelined, for the sake of human dignity, particularly his:

Christian fundamentalists in this country are practiced at claiming marginalization and oppression. “They’re always saying they’re kept out of the public square, and that’s baloney,” said Marci Hamilton, a constitutional law expert and the author of “God vs. the Gavel.” “They’re all over the public square.”

They and their churches inject themselves into political debates while enjoying tax-exempt status. . .And churches have been allowed to adopt broad, questionable interpretations of a “ministerial exception” to anti-discrimination laws that allow them to hire and fire clergy as they wish.

As someone who has argued that Jesus might very well bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, I understand Bruni’s sentiments, but he loses me — just as Obama lost the Supreme Court — when he suggests that churches ought not be afforded the freedom to define ministry for themselves and then hire and fire accordingly, on the basis of that definition. Well, certainly; a church should be forced to hire as pastor someone who does not agree with its tenets; why not?

There is an irony to it all: for the sake of the dignity that comes from being allowed to be who and what one is, a man argues for regulation and restriction of religion and religious people, who must not be permitted to be who and what they are.

Bruni argues that our society would not tolerate a Muslim refusing service to an unveiled woman, or a Mormon refusing to serve a coffee drinker, but does he mean it? How far is he willing to take that supposition? If an African-American launderer refused to wash the sheets of a klansman, what would society say? I’m pretty sure society would say, “The conscience of the African-American launderer matters, and he is entitled to it, especially when the klansman has other launderers to choose from.”

That has nothing to do with a church. It is a matter of a person’s conscience.

I could be wrong. Society might surprise me and say, “the launderer has no right to his conscience and must serve the klansman.” And then we will have the same cause to be concerned about rights and freedoms in 21st century America, had the question involved a church. Once we start hammering away at conscience and religious freedom, where does it stop? Does Bruni have no worries that down the road a Muslim hal-al butcher, his religious freedom become fragile under repeated assault, could theoretically find himself compelled to serve bacon, because the neighbors really, really want it, and his shop is the closest?

I’m only half serious about that last bit. But it’s a serious half.

Bruni offers a conciliatory note, here:

I respect people of faith. I salute the extraordinary works of compassion and social justice that many of them and many of their churches do…

Does Bruni realize that these extraordinary works he so admires are born of a long-standing Christian conscience that demands a preferential option for the poor? Catholic men and women were the ones inventing social services and free hospitals and educational programs for women and for the masses before the government even thought about it. Those social services he supports, advocates and admires are a legacy of Catholicism, fully engaged with the world.

And I support the right of people to believe what they do and say what they wish — in their pews, homes and hearts.

And there they are, the brass knuckles hidden within the velvet glove of praise: Bruni supports not the free exercise of religion but a freedom of worship; keep it in the pews, in the home, in your heart, and he’s fine with you, but don’t bring your religious conscience into the public square, where he has to encounter it, because his tolerance does not extend too far.

That’s kind of like, “sure, we’ve got food, but if you’re going to say grace before you eat, you’re not welcome at our counter.”

This is a muddled, rather convenient sort of thinking; it says, “the churches were alright when they were marching and petitioning and innovating on behalf of things I agreed with; back then I’d have never disputed their freedom, or their right to be who and what they were, in the public square, but now I disagree, so…”

So, they must now be denied the very freedom (the very right) that Bruni correctly identifies as an important basis for human dignity.

He ends thusly:

But outside of those places? You must put up with me, just as I put up with you.

I’m game. I’m very much a “live and let live” sort of girl, and I believe if people really want to get along, they will do the work to make it so:

. . . if we lose the ability to respect that people can only go as far as their consciences will allow, we risk becoming mired in a muck of illusion, imagining hate where none exists, equating compelled behavior with authentic love, and losing sight of the fact that traveling together sometimes means that we walk the extra mile on one challenging road, and they walk it on the next. Everyone spares a bit of shoe-leather for the sake of the other. This is how love travels.

In the long, unavoidable, and necessary back-and-forths between gay advocates and the churches, I have taken a line through Atticus Finch, and tried to walk around in Bruni’s shoes — or a reasonable facsimile in crocs — and I know many Christians who have, also. I’m wondering if he is at all willing to do the same, and gain some perspective from the other side. Because as Atticus understood, that is what builds real tolerance, and real peace. A broadened perspective is what truly helps to confer dignity upon our fellows, and maintain our own in the process.

Image Gustavo Frazao courtesy of Shutterstock.com

Related:
The Tolerance Disconnect

Previous Post

January 6, 2015

The Spirit Moves Through the 'Net in Mysterious Ways

Next Post

January 13, 2015 4 Vital Conversations the Church Must Have Without Passion or Prejudice

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Remaking" Ourselves 'Remaking' America 9/10 Mindset 9/11 trials Abortion ACORN Adoration Advent Advent 2008 Advent 2009 Advent 2010 Alternative Energy Alternative Media America American Catholic Church American Church American Genius Ameridolatry ANCHORESS BOOKSHELF Anglican-Roman Reconciliation Answers & Questions Anti_Semitism Archbishop Hilarion Ayn Rand Bad Mass Barack Obama Baseball Benedict Benedict & Islam Benedict in UK Benedict XVI Benedictine Bill Whittle Birth Control Blogs and Blogging Blogs and Blogging Bloodless Coup Bobby Jindal Bookchat Breitbart Bride at every wedding... Bride at every wedding... Buckley Bullies Bush Bad? Bush Good Buster Capitalism Catholic Fiction Catholic Vocations Catholicism Celibacy Chaput Charitable Stuff Chesterton Chile Chris Christie Christians in Exile Christine O' Donnell Christmas Christmas Gift Ideas Church Hates Science? Church hates women Communion of Saints Compline Conclave 2013 Confession Constitutional Stuff Conversion Crisis & Opportunity Critical Thinking Crooks and Liars Crucible of Faith Cuba Culture of Life Culture of Life/Death Culture of Treason? Dancing Death Dialogue re Islam Dick Meyer Divorce and Remarriage DOJ Domestic Terrorism Dominican Order Don't try me too high Dowd Dumb Democrat moves Dumb GOP moves Economic woe Education Egregious Harry Reid Elder Son Elder Son's Sweet Girlfriend Elderly Election '10 Election '12 Election '16 Election 2004 Election 2006 Election 2008 Election 2010 Election 2016 Elena Kagan Elitism Embryonic Stem Cell Research End Times? English language Enhanced Interrogation Erosion of Rights Eucharist Euthanasia Exorcism Extraordinary Synod Facebook Faith Faith and Reason Faith Friday Faith Perspective Faithful Friday Fascism Again Fascism in America Fatima FCC Feminism Film First Things Forgiveness Fr. James Martin Francis and Islam Francis in America Frassati Fred Thompson Free Speech? Freedom of Worship FutureChurch Global Pandemic GOP Congress Haiti Head Covering Health Care Here and Queer Hermits Heroes Hitchens Holy Spirit Holy Week '09 Holy Week '10 Hoo-Hah & BS Hoo-Hah & BS Icons Illegal Immigration In The Arena Interviews Interwebz Iran Uprising Iraqi Christians ISIL ISIS Islamic State Islamification/Islamofascism Islamification/Islamofascism Isra-El It's all about me! Me! ME! James Burke Jerry Lewis Jesus Christ Joblessness John Boehner John McCain John Paul II John XXIII Juan Williams Just Words Katrina/Rita King is a Fink Latin Mass Leadership Lectio Divina Lent Lent '08 Lent '09 Lent 2010 Lent 2011 Limbaugh Listen to Lizzie Litigious Society Liturgy Liturgy of the Hours Mainstream Media Manliness Marriage Mary Media Excess Medical Merton Michelle Obama Mighty John O' Connor Misc. Miss Ella Missionaries Mitt Romney Monasticism My brother S My Irish Aunties Mystic Monks Nanny Statism Nature NEA Neri New Media Newman Noonan Notre Dame NPR Stuff Nun News Obama Bad? Obama Good? Obama White House Oil Spill Online Retreat '08 Online Retreat Days Oratory Orthodoxy Our Hillary! Parenting Passionists Patheos Patheos Book Club Patrons Paul Ryan Penance Penn Jillette Philosophy PJTV Podcasts Poetry Politics-free zone Pop Culture Pope Emeritus Pope Francis Prayer Predictions Priesthood Pro-Life Public Sector Unions Purgatory Questions about Catholicism Quotes of the Day Quoting the News Race in America rants Recipes Remarried Catholics Reposts by request Retreat thoughts Rome Rudy Giuliani Russia Saints Sarah Palin Scandal Scott Brown SCOTUS Scriptural stuff Secularism Send in the clowns Serving up hot links Sexuality Sherrod Shroud of Turin Sisters and Nuns Social Entrepreneurship Social Media Social Security Socialism doesn't work Sports and Faith Stem Cells Strange Gods Suffering Synod Tea Parties Tea Party Terri Schiavo The 9/11 Commission The Catholic Answer The Constitution The Desert The Fourth Estate The Pelosi The Perpetual Adolescents The Rosary Third Party? Timothy Dolan Touch of evil TSA Tsunami TV/Pop Culture/Music TV/Pop Culture/Music Twitter Uncategorized Unemployment Unintended Consequences US Military Vaginal Musings Vatican Vespers video faves Vile Joe Biden Voter Fraud War by Litigation War on Terror War, What it good for? Why can't weeee be ... World Youth Days Year of Faith Year of the Priest

Select a Month August 2016 July 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the sign God gave to Noah as a promise to never flood the earth again?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Rainbow Fire Dove Lightning