THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410070113
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Issues of Faith
SOURCE: Betsy Wright
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
FOUR WEEKS AGO, I wrote an impassioned column about the recent United Nations population conference in Cairo. I angrily blasted ``the Vatican and a number of conservative Islamic groups'' for what I believe to be their antiquated vision of women's rights.
``These `old boys' are scared to death,'' I wrote, ``to let a woman decide for herself when and if she should become a mother. Deep down they know that if a woman is given that choice - plus health care and education - then she will have some measure of control over her life. In the male-dominated world of the Vatican and conservative Islam, a woman in control is a dangerous thing.''
While I certainly anticipated some healthy debate, I wasn't prepared for the number of folks who called me a ``Catholic basher'' and a ``Pope hater.'' Some were angry. Others wrote long letters of concern. Still others, like the father of a close friend, called to say how ``disappointed'' they were.
``It seemed like you were picking on the Vatican,'' said the gentleman, ``and when you talk about the Vatican, you talk about the Pope and, to me, well, I feel like he is part of my family. It just didn't seem like you.''
Most of these readers wanted to know why I had suddenly become so intolerant of the Roman Catholic faith.
Since religious tolerance - or better yet, religious understanding - has always been a recurring theme of mine, I knew I could not take these comments lightly.
I've thought about it, prayed about it and even read two books on Catholicism and portions of three others, trying to figure out how I so deeply offended these readers. I know I crossed some invisible line. I know this line is not just about a simple disagreement over birth control and abortion. I know this line has very much to do with how Roman Catholics feel about the Pope.
But I still don't get it. I just don't understand how disagreeing with the Vatican on something like birth control translates into me being a ``Pope hater.''
Why am I so stupid on this matter? I'm a Protestant through-and-through. In all of Protestantism there is nobody - not John Wesley nor Billy Graham - who means to Protestants what the Pope means to Roman Catholics. Unfortunately, I may know this on an intellectual level, but can't relate on a spiritual level.
Let me explain. If I met the Pope tomorrow, although I might kneel and kiss his ring if he offered me his hand, I would be doing it out of simple courtesy. Those physical acts could carry a deeper, more spiritual meaning to a devout Roman Catholic.
All of this has reminded me of something that happened a few years ago. A noted Episcopal bishop in the area had visited the Holy Land. As part of the tour, he met many displaced Palestinians and saw how they were treated by the Israelis. He came away appalled, and upon his return to the U.S. he gave an interview and likened the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis to the treatment of Jews by the Germans during the Holocaust.
Immediately the bishop was branded an ``anti-Semite.'' He was bewildered. He called several colleagues who were rabbis and asked, ``How did I offend these people?''
What he got was a quick lesson on the meaning of the Holocaust to the modern Jew. His friends made him see that, while Protestants view the Holocaust as a horrible historical event, Jews see it on a deeper, spiritual level. To Jews, the Holocaust has become a tragic part of their religious heritage. It is a wound so deep that it cannot be compared to any other human tragedy - not abortion, not Bosnia, and certainly not the Palestinian problem.
The bishop apologized for the analogy, but not for his opinion.
I later asked the bishop what he had learned from that experience, and he said something like, ``I guess we can all benefit by our own mistakes and by the mistakes of others, but only if we're willing to listen and teach and, ultimately, learn from those mistakes.''
Well, I feel the same way. While I don't apologize for my opinion, I certainly need to figure out how I could have stated it better and avoided offending some of my Roman Catholic readers.
Educate me. Help me understand how you feel about the Pope. Can he and his opinions ever be criticized? How can we agree to disagree, without deeply hurting each other?
It's that last question that bothers me the most. Can it be done?
Tell me next week. MEMO: Every other week, Betsy Mathews Wright publishes responses to her
opinion column. Send responses to Issues of Faith, The Virginian-Pilot,
150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510; call (804) 446-2273; FAX
(804) 436-2798; or send computer message via bmw(AT)infi.net. Deadline
is Tuesday prior to publication. Must include name, city and phone
number.
by CNB