Video Meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor

Drawing Lines

It seems as though what is so obviously "over the top" in regard to letters like the one sent by the leader of Human Life International is in the eye of the beholder, sort of like pornography. To call that letter heavy-handed is like saying Idi Amin was just grumpy. (Not to be sarcastic.) But is not the spirit with which something is composed important too, and not just the message itself? Is satire often wrong because it is by its nature ridiculing? A NYT review of a recent book had it: "One of the unexpected depths of this book is the real moral grappling with satire itself, the way it demeans and wounds, as well as enlightens and amuses." Personally, I didn't find the sarcasm in this letter all that funny. (To be honest, if the brilliant but deadly Rev. George Rutler had written Nancy Pelosi I'd probably have more trouble knocking it...) About the best you can say is that it refutes Yeats' line about the "best lacking all conviction", at least in the sense that this Reverend is defending "the best" - children who are being murdered. It does seem as though he undermines his own argument by saying that her letter manifested an "utterly infantile understanding of the Catholic Faith" which means that her culpability is lessened, unless that infantile understanding is willed.

Here is the original:

My rewrite:

Dear Congresswoman Pelosi,

Thank you for clarifying for all U.S. Catholics the meaning of the word "apostasy." Your May 10 letter to Cardinal McCarrick qualifies for what the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines as the "total repudiation of the Christian faith" (§2089). That, by the way, is a document you may wish to consult before writing another letter to a prince of Christ's Church.

Not only did your letter manifest an utterly infantile [incomplete] understanding of the Catholic Faith-the Blessed Sacrament is properly called the Eucharist, not the "sacrament of holy communion," please-it was intellectually dishonest in the extreme. Your lip service paid to the teaching office of the bishops while knifing [undermining] their authority in the back is a treachery that deserves the scathing contempt of every honest person, Catholic or otherwise.

You have lost your faith. Just admit it. One either accepts the hierarchy of truths and the hierarchy of authority, or she doesn't. You obviously don't. In such case by continuing to call yourself Catholic you are gambling with the most precious of all birthrights, your own soul; and it's yours to lose. I can understand that it is not politically correct to care about your immortal soul-prescription drug benefits are more popular in Washington-but at least have the decency not to make the souls of others "twice as fit for hell" as you. Have you forgotten about the millstone? The Lord delivered that image to another group of sophisticated public officials who scandalized the weak in faith.

All those who dare call themselves Catholic while shamelessly advocating the death of Christ's "least brethren" will not have the Supreme Court to appeal to on the Day of Judgment. There is a Supreme Judge that you should be more concerned about. However, He obliges no one to remain in the Catholic Church. Membership is, above all, a free "choice." The door of the Church that opens wide to welcome every repentant sinner swings both ways. In the Name of Jesus, use it and spare the rest of us your perversity.

I hold out hope that some day you will see the light and want to reconcile with the Church you have so brazenly betrayed. If so, call me. I will hear your confession. But get ready to do some serious penance.