Dinner, last night at a
April 04, 2002

Dinner, last night at a Hollywood hamburger dive with my friend Graham. Graham is a cool guy, young, eager and gets away with being cocky because he is so often right. We debate constantly over religion, philosophy and the nature of the world as he�s a fairly devout Catholic, in love with his church, and with a brain in his head and an ability to form a cogent argument. Of course the whole subject of the recent scandals in the Catholic Church comes up. He doesn�t get why people keep saying the abuse seems to be so prevalent, when as far as he can tell, statistically it�s no higher than in the general population. I tell him about all the blogs I�ve been reading, the smug comments from �Catholic� commentators and the Vatican�s Navarro�s claims that the problems stem from allowing gay men to be priests in the first place. He shakes his head, let down by how idiotic those thoughts are. And then he says what deeply concerns him about the whole scandal is how the rest of the world is going to think that the CC is a bunch of �creeps.�

That really made me angry. But not at him. Here�s a group that would just assume people like him, people like me too actually, would just not bother It with their desire for legitimacy, honesty and grace. An institution whose highest voice says the problem isn�t with unprofessionalism and hypocrisy, but rather with a group that it deems �objectionably morally disordered.� And Graham isn�t really worried about that but how the rest of the (non-Catholic) world can use it as a reason to beat up on the Church.

Damndest thing about love is that it�s so often given to people and institutions that, through their actions, attitudes and performance, by all outside eyes, deserve it least. Sometimes that can lead to hanging out in an abusive situation far longer than is wise. More often than not though, that love stems from a profound vision of the goodness that lays beyond mistaken assumptions and fears. It�s a love that sees the best in someone or something, and is committed to doing what they can to bring that goodness and nobility back into the fore.

I don�t really think that the church deserves Graham. They constantly point out his flaws, shortcomings, and sinful ways from both the pulpit and pews. Not the best of environments, in my opinion. The Church though, capital T and capital C, and it�s ideals of compassion, mercy and justice, it is lucky to have Graham and the countless more in and out of collars that I�ve met over the years. They are It�s hope, It�s future and It�s salvation, the ones who can bring It back to relevancy and authority in the struggle for the best in what it means to be Human.

The Catholic Church will rise or fall on how it treats those who should love it the least but actually love it the most.

But then, what do I know?

I�m a godless, queer, secular humanist, after all.

Posted by Jody at April 4, 2002 09:59 AM

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