Anti-Christianity: The Accepted Form of Bigotry

In the first class of the semester, a Georgetown professor called the crucifixes that hang upon the walls in every classroom “weaknesses that look down upon us.” He said this during class, before all his students. No one said a word to him, not even after class. All were silent as Christ was mocked and Christianity denigrated.

Crucifixes are not “weaknesses.” The crucifixion is a sign of strength. For a man to stand up for what he believes, even to the point of a brutal death, is remarkable and deserving of the highest praise.

Professors can very easily get up in front of students beholden to them for a grade and mock Christianity. But, can they do the same if it means that they will be crucified? No, the cannot, for then they would be like Christ, and they would become “weaknesses.”

Christianity is the easiest religion to bash in academia because there are no repercussions. It is little wonder university professors do not bash Islam or Judaism. Radical Muslims would kill in the name of Allah for a comment against their faith. Perhaps they would no do so in the United States, for there are laws against such actions. But, if they could, they would. Look at any nation that has an Islamic majority. Even being non-Islamic there is dangerous, never mind the insult to their faith. The Jewish people, in a more peaceful way, would also rise up in anger and rightfully so. If an anti-Semitic comment were made by a professor, he could say goodbye to his future in academia. The Jews would unite and see to it that he would not be allowed to teach such bigotry.

What is occurring in academia is occurring in America at large. Anti-Christian bigotry is permitted because nothing is being done. Christians either have no faith or have become weak in an effort to be meek. Christians are not taking up the cross. They are turning a blind eye and lending a deaf ear to the insults and mockery. No one is standing up for Christ, just as when He was crucified.

Wishy-washy Christianity is pervasive. Jesus has been reduced to a warm and fuzzy teddy-bear god. Christians have forgotten that He was a man in every sense of the word. He was tough, a construction worker by trade. He was beaten, scourged at a pillar, crowned with thorns, spat on and crucified. He did not give up. They could not break His spirit. The blows upon His face, the whip upon His back, the nails slammed through His hands were not enough to break Him. He finished the race, and, three days later, He rose again to continue His reign as the King of kings.

What Christ wen through for His friends did not feel good. Feel-good Christianity is not Christianity. Being a Christian always means taking hits for the Truth. That is why St. Stephen was stoned, St. Paul beheaded, St. Peter crucified upside down, St. John boiled in oil, St. Maximillian Kolbe starved in solitary confinement at Auschwitz, and countless more put to a brutal death for the faith.

Christians need to look to the “weaknesses,” the crucifixes, and see what theyare called to by faith. Theyare called to be strong, supernaturally strong. They are called not to be signs of weakness but signs of contradiction. They may mean being ridiculed, losing a job, getting a lower grade, suffering torture, or, if they are called, martyrdom.

Two years ago, Francis Cardinal Arinze (Nigerian prelate, head of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, an acknowledged expert on Christian-Muslim relations, and a popular speaker among Catholics in the United States.) was invited to deliver the commencement address at Georgetown University.

Cardinal Arinze told the graduates that happiness is found not in the pursuit of material wealth or pleasures of the flesh, but by fervently adhering to religious beliefs, and spoke of the importance of family to the Catholic Church.

"In many parts of the world, the family is under siege", the cardinal said, according to a transcript of his remarks provided by the university. "It is opposed by an anti-life mentality as is seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. It is scorned and banalized by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions and cut in two by divorce."

Theresa Sanders, a "post-modernist" professor of theology at the university, protested by leaving the stage while Arinze was speaking. E-mails on a subscription list used by many of the university's gay and lesbian students indicated that some students also walked out.

"These things are exactly what he's paid to say", Ed Ingebretsen, a professor of American Studies, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but "it's a graduation; why he decided to do the pro-family thing no one seems to know". Ingebretsen, and former Jesuit priest who left the order and the Catholic Church to join the "American Catholic Church" in 2000, said he posted an apology on the e-mail subscription list "on behalf of Catholics" for Cardinal Arinze's "insensitive remarks". The prelate's comments were "un-Christian", Ingebretsen said.

A professor at Georgetown since 1986, Ingebretsen in 1995 offered a course called "Unspeakable Lives: Gay and Lesbian Narratives", endorsed by the English department. In an article on a "gay" web site (www.whosoever.org), Ingebretsen writes, "In the American Catholic Church I bless single-sex unions with church sanction".

Tommaso Astarita, a professor of history, called the cardinal's message "wildly inappropriate" for a commencement ceremony. "I personally was rather offended by it", said Astarita, who is one of the professors circulating the protest letter. "I thought it was divisive and inappropriate".

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington, Susan Gibbs, defended the cardinal: "His message was certainly consistent with Catholic teaching, which seems appropriate since this is a Catholic university. Hopefully new graduates will be inspired by [Cardinal Arinze's] reminder that happiness does come through God", the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Another "gay" advocacy web site (365Gay.com) prominently featured the protest on Thursday, May 22; and reported that Dean McAuliffe issued an e-mail saying she was "surprised" at the speech, and is setting aside time in her office Friday to allow people to express their reactions. McAuliffe reportedly said, "I'm sure that Cardinal Arinze did not intend to hurt any of his audience, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen".

TEXT OF CARDINAL ARINZE'S ADDRESS

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Actually I thought Georgetown removed all the crucifixes from its classrooms. I remember reading about the controversy over it a few years ago.

The article is dead-on. Attack Islam and you risk your life. Attack Judaism and you risk your academic career (though the tide seems to be changing at some universities, with how pro-Israel students are treated). But attack Christianity and nothing happens. I see this first hand as a student in a PhD program. Grad students and profs make comments about Christians, especially fundamentalists, that would get them fired/kicked out if the targets were Jewish or Muslim. But since the target is Christian, nothing happens.

One of my good friends, who is not particularly religious, often says that the only groups it is still acceptable to make fun of in the US are Catholics and fat people. I would add to that evangelical/fundamentalist Christians as well. Basically any Christian who sees Jesus as more than a social worker and who believes the 10 commandments should be followed is fair game to liberals.

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