by Justin McClain
This article was first published at the NCRegister on September 7, 2017.
Ultimately, who determines what is hateful, and who determines what is loving?
The word “hate,” one of the strongest in the English language, risks losing its actual potency when it is misapplied. To be clear from the outset, there
are legitimately hateful acts. As a Black Catholic whose father was born in 1936 and raised in segregated Durham, North Carolina, I have heard
his multiple firsthand accounts of truly hate-imbued actions by other human beings. Catholics, along with other Christians, within the broader framework
of morality, readily categorize these as evil. Physical intimidation, outright violence, emotional-psychological abuse, and any other action that does
not recognize every single human being’s de facto dignity can be tantamount to hatred. Hence my surprise when, while speaking with some friends
recently about the hatred-ridden events in Charlottesville, coupled with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of “Active Hate Groups 2016”,
I learned that some of the most upstanding Catholic people whom I am privileged to know (or at least their affiliated organizations) had unexpectedly
found themselves on this ever-expanding “Hate List” at various points over the years.
This piece is not a direct diatribe against the SPLC, but it does constitute (no pun intended) a mention of the reality that, to make recourse to the classic
Sesame Street song, “one of these things is not like the other.” Now, there are plenty of groups that most people of goodwill would agree deserve to
be deemed “hate groups,” e.g., any of the number of groups founded on racist ideologies, those bent on demeaning and belittling others, and those whose
intentions are to disrupt and destroy the framework of others’ basic human rights and worth as individuals. When I think of my friend Fran Griffin
of the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation (which made the list), or Arina Grossu of the
Family Research Council (which made the list), I am baffled as to how their striving to live according
to accurate Christian standards could be designated as anything other than beneficent. Even in light of varying approaches to societal matters, those
do not comprise abhorrence for the other.
Then there is Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse of the Ruth Institute (which made the list). Never mind
that Dr. Morse is an internationally recognized leader in Catholic media initiatives, so much so that Our Sunday Visitor named her one of only eight
“Catholic Stars of 2013.”
I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Morse speak a number of years ago at the Archdiocese of Washington’s Pastoral Center, and her message promoting chastity,
marriage, and the family is easily one of the most loving that I have heard. These figures, whose words I have received and considered, are
the antithesis of someone who could justifiably be regarded as “hateful.” And likewise, there is the fascinating situation of Alan Sears of Alliance Defending Freedom (which, you guessed it, made the list). As you will see, Mr. Sears’ circumstances are the most puzzling of all.
Yes, this is the same Alan Sears who, along with his wife Paula, received the Catholic Church’s highest honor for a layperson when Pope Francis inducted
them into the Order of Saint Gregory the Great this June. As reported by the Catholic News Agency, according to Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix, Arizona, this award “is a well-deserved
recognition of their many years of defending religious freedom, standing up for the true meaning of marriage and family life, defending the dignity
and right to life of every human person, and faithfully living their lay vocation in their home, their parish and the public square.” According to
The Catholic Sun (the official publication
of the Diocese of Phoenix), “A Scottsdale couple’s heroic efforts on behalf of religious liberty, the Church, the sanctity of life, and rights of conscience
have captured the attention of Pope Francis.” Pope Francis, easily recognized by not only Catholics but by other Christians and those of various faiths
around the globe, is one of the few veritably unitive purveyors of love in modern times. As such, the discerning mind is correctly led to surmise that
the Holy Father is a worthy assessor of what constitutes authentic love. So, where is the disconnect? It comes down to language.
One of the simplest – really, most facile – methods of discrediting a person or a group is to label them derogatively. Admittedly, it is human nature.
Sports fans rarely employ warm, inviting terminology when referring to an opposing athletic team. Politicians readily call each other names. Yet, when
an organization is unjustly deemed a practitioner of bigotry without the benefit of the doubt, we need to recall a time when the word had more accuracy,
not to mention even more of a sting, than it has in modern times: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world,
the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).
So, who owns the word “hate”? Seemingly, in modern times, disagreement is too often confused with hate, and the word becomes cheapened in
the process.
Nearly 30 years ago, Saint John Paul II (who embraced essentially the same views on chastity, on marriage as between one man and one woman, on
the importance of the family, on the right to life for the unborn, and other comparable positions that the modern culture finds repugnant to popular
sensibilities) wrote his apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici: On the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World.
This man, who is now in heaven, included an especially astute passage within Christifideles Laici that could be applied to the situation in
which many Catholics and other Christians of goodwill find themselves today, increasingly marginalized and relegated to the category of “hateful” because
they strive to live according to the Gospel: “A charity that loves and serves the person is never able to be separated from justice. Each
in its own way demands the full, effective acknowledgment of the rights of the individual, to which society is ordered in all its structures and institutions”
(paragraph 42). The Catholic trying to live his or her faith while serving the broader public will be at odds with society’s standards. Manipulative
societal standards of morality are mercilessly ratcheted back and forth, and we need but go back only a few years to recall that two prominent leaders
of their political party publicly supported the view of marriage as between one man and one woman,
to then-popular acclaim. They were speaking no more “hatefully” then than the Christians around the world who continue to abide by the unchanging words
of Christ regarding marriage as we read them in Matthew 19:1-12, teachings which are unyielding
to secular definitions.
A little over a year ago, I wrote an article for Catholic Exchange with the frank title of “How to Respond when ‘Christian’ Has Become a Bad Word – A Few Reminders from the Early Church to Today.”
As an aside, it is curious how frequently Christians are deemed – whether individually or institutionally – as “hateful” for holding fast to the Gospel
when other faiths are spared such a designation, even when their own faith structures [fortunately] have the same social regard for the significance
of marriage, the family and children. During these challenging times, replete with pluralism, the faithful need to be more prudent than ever: “Behold,
I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). There will be more “lists” and millions
of dollars more poured into endeavors to discredit those who try to live their faith openly.
So, where do we go from here? With the nation in turmoil, it is more important than ever for American Catholics to heed the bishops. As one example of
various of how the Church and secular society are speaking two different languages, note the plausible title of this Catholic World Report piece from
back in January: “NYTimes: Trump Creating Christian Theocracy; Bishops: Trump Against Christian Faith.”
Some inopportunely see the United States as tantamount to a theocracy akin to the setting of The Handmaid’s Tale, while the world is increasingly
looking like that which is presented in Lord of the World (which both Pope [Emeritus] Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have recommended). Two different languages. According to Pew findings from 2015,
American Catholics notoriously dissent from the Church’s teachings on marriage, human sexuality and ideal family structures. This dilemma has been
a downward spiral ever since the mid-1960s in the United States. When Catholic politicians feel that they can histrionically legislate in direct opposition
to what their faith professes (read: on an unfortunate variety of issues), and when events like the “Catholic Spring”
revelations of October 2016 indicate political forces attempting to surreptitiously undermine the Church’s influence in society, one wonders little
why entities external to the Catholic Church end up confused when Catholics actually try to live pursuant to their faith, lumping them in with actually
hateful organizations in the process.
What are some ways that American Catholics can come to deepen their faith by heeding the bishops before other prominent, and frequently errant, voices
within society? Foremost, actually read the USCCB’s news releases. The social doctrine of the Church does not, and should not, follow neat political lines. In my recent book Our Bishops, Heroes for the New Evangelization: Faithful Shepherds and the Promotion of Lay Doctrinal Literacy,
I encourage the laity to better fathom the Church’s teachings, via the writings of the bishops, who are there to help us know our faith better. Of
course, as is the emphasis in this article, this will frequently put people of faith at odds with what society says is acceptable, occasionally earning
the opprobrium of the well-funded powers-that-be along the way.
Ultimately, who determines what is hateful, and who determines what is loving? Independent of theology, we are speaking two different languages. Who knows
how Catholics who bring their faith into the public square will be regarded in future years and centuries. Despite the name-calling that may come,
we find solace in the Lord’s reminder: “In the world, you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world” (John 16:33).
