When the Supreme Court somewhat surprisingly gave the okay for same-sex marriage in the United States, the Catholic clergy in this country reacted like a boxer getting the second belt of a one-two punch combo. They are still in court protesting the Affordable Care Act's mandate to provide birth control, and now same-sex couples are getting the legitimization of their unions from the federal government. It's times like these when I'm glad I'm a woman and not allowed to be a Catholic priest.
I already have enough to worry about, given my health problems, my husband's and my threatened economic future, and our isolated existence. I somehow don't feel compelled to leap into the stormy seas of social change and start protesting that other people aren't following the dictates of my religious tribe. Besides, back when I lived in Texas, I didn't hear a whole lot of angst from the numerous bishops there about the death penalty, which is used there at about the rate seen in China.
I once visited the Texas town where the death penalty is carried out. That municipality is rife with prisons and offers tours of the prisoners' graveyard (there were half a dozen very new graves the day we were there). There was a souvenir shop with an electric chair on display and various death row souvenirs you could buy.
I have always wondered why the American bishops didn't make as big a protest against the death penalty as they do abortion and birth control. I realize that many of the death row convicts deserve punishment for horrific crimes. I realize abortion victims are innocent. But won't the unrepentant ultimately get God's punishment without us revenging ourselves by killing them? Won't the innocent achieve eternal bliss instantaneously and thus have only a brief moment's suffering instead of an earthly lifetime of it?
Why don't the bishops take a more vocal stand against capital punishment for the simple reason that some of its victims are innocent? Jesus Christ Himself was sentenced to capital punishment, and He was most definitely innocent. Even the government official who pronounced His sentence remarked upon His innocence.
While the American clergy thrashes in the stormy seas of social change (i.e., things relating to sex), I remain placidly on shore, confident in the belief that God, in the End, will show his mercy and settle things the way He will.
I already have enough to worry about, given my health problems, my husband's and my threatened economic future, and our isolated existence. I somehow don't feel compelled to leap into the stormy seas of social change and start protesting that other people aren't following the dictates of my religious tribe. Besides, back when I lived in Texas, I didn't hear a whole lot of angst from the numerous bishops there about the death penalty, which is used there at about the rate seen in China.
I once visited the Texas town where the death penalty is carried out. That municipality is rife with prisons and offers tours of the prisoners' graveyard (there were half a dozen very new graves the day we were there). There was a souvenir shop with an electric chair on display and various death row souvenirs you could buy.
I have always wondered why the American bishops didn't make as big a protest against the death penalty as they do abortion and birth control. I realize that many of the death row convicts deserve punishment for horrific crimes. I realize abortion victims are innocent. But won't the unrepentant ultimately get God's punishment without us revenging ourselves by killing them? Won't the innocent achieve eternal bliss instantaneously and thus have only a brief moment's suffering instead of an earthly lifetime of it?
Why don't the bishops take a more vocal stand against capital punishment for the simple reason that some of its victims are innocent? Jesus Christ Himself was sentenced to capital punishment, and He was most definitely innocent. Even the government official who pronounced His sentence remarked upon His innocence.
While the American clergy thrashes in the stormy seas of social change (i.e., things relating to sex), I remain placidly on shore, confident in the belief that God, in the End, will show his mercy and settle things the way He will.