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Posted on 11/05/2013 2:05:47 PM PST by NYer
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At the National Schismatic Reporter (aka Fishwrap) there is a mean-spirited and wrong-headed opinion piece by someone who is described as “an arborist and a member of the Ithaca, N.Y., Catholic Worker community”. In this piece he says that the collection to be taken up in support of the Archdiocese for Military Services is really a “sign that the spirit of militarism and nationalism has spread apace in our church, at least among our bishops”.
?!?
Let’s see more of this:
The archdiocese, on the other hand, does everything it can to assure young soldiers that carrying out the works of war is what Jesus would want them to do. Catholic military chaplains do not burden tender consciences with questions about the grisly things they encounter in war. They fulfill the role of “force multiplier” that the Pentagon has for them. Many soldiers would not be able to continue being efficient warriors without the spiritual support of chaplains who counsel obedience to commanding officers. More than 1,000 Catholic soldiers have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, but the archdiocese does not know their names. It is not responsible for funerals that take place at the home parish.
Despite its growing influence in the bishops’ conference, the very existence of the military archdiocese hangs by the thread of the possibility of the existence of a just war. Amazingly, even when the bishops admitted the war with Iraq was unjust before the 2003 invasion, they did not cut that thread of just war. Most bishops quickly supported Catholic participation in the war to avoid even the appearance of being unpatriotic or not supportive of the troops.
What came to mind as I read the piece in Fishwrap is the image of a 1960′s hippy spitting on a soldier in an airport.
Fishwrap, reverting to 60′s type, at its most virulent tree-hugging reason-free flower-power mode.
Fishwrap is attacking Catholic chaplains and the Military Archdiocese, along with all the bishops who support the Archdiocese, warmongers. Support of the Archdiocese is, in this twisted view, tantamount to support of war. If there’s a war, you see, then we need the Archdiocese. Hopefully there will be a war, so that we can keep the Archdiocese going. People who support the Archdiocese really want war.
See how easy that was? You didn’t know you were an evil warmonger, like the bishops and the chaplains and everyone who has ever enlisted.
“But Father! But Father!”, some of you with matted-hair will now be screaming, the writer is against having any military at all! No military, no war, right? No war, no death, right? We’ll finally have love and peace everywhere! When we get rid of the military, we’ll get rid of the need for the military! See? Even the radical Muslims will recognize that we are nice. They will stop wanting to fight us all the time. But if you have chaplains, then you are supporting troops, and soldiers make up the military, which is for, like, war, right? That means if you support chaplains, you want war! And you hate Vatican II!”
No military at all. Uh huh. What could possibly go wrong with that? We could all just, like, smoke some hash and, you know, like, make love and play the guitar and stuff. And then we’ll all be killed. But, hey! At least we’ll die high and with multiple STDs. Pass the bong, please.
The collection to support the Archdiocese for Military Services is important. I suggest that you send a donation when the collection is taken up in your parish. I suggest that you also send a donation right now.
I support the Archdiocese for Military Services and I support Catholic chaplains and I support the bishops who support both because I hate war and the suffering it causes. We should pour out our support for chaplains, and therefore all the troops and their dependents, with true generosity.
Ping!
Isn’t Ithica, NY known as the City of Evil for a reason?
Ithaca: Was known once for a decent shotgun.
Blessings to all of the Catholic Chaplains who are serving and have served in the US Armed Forces.
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As for the bishops, their so-called War and Peace Pastoral, written in 1983, mentioned the Just War Doctrine in passing, then ignored it for the rest of the document. This Doctrine has been the core of Catholic teaching on war since the time of Augustine. Somehow our bishops have lost sight of it.
In my 1988 book A FIGHTING CHANCE: THE MORAL USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, I deconstructed the bishops' 1983 document, showing that it started from a the wrong place and reached a wrong conclusion. I haven't seen any improvement in their statements on war since then.
The book is somewhat out of date since it was written in a Cold War environment and the Soviet Union is no longer a threat. However, it's still available from Amazon.
I'm debating whether I should make the effort to write another book applying Just War Doctrine to the use of drones. I think it's an important issue, but I'm not sure I still have the energy. "Once more, into the breach?"
Jesus was on his way from Jericho to Jerusalem and came across a battlefield full of dead and dying soldiers. Raising his nose in the air he sniffed in an oh so aristocratic way as he moved to the other side of the road. As he watched a Samaritan came along and acted ready to help. Jesus spoke up, “what...you think those are your neighbors, too? “
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