Here's an excellent article from CatholiCity regarding the dire state of Catholics' knowledge of their faith. One particular area of weakness is their knowledge of the Word of God. According to this article, 93% of adult Catholics in the U.S. own a Bible, but about 3% read the Bible each day only 7% read it at all each week. This paragraph would be funny if is wasn't tragic:
Recent studies have shown that sixty percent of American Christians believe that Jesus was born in Jerusalem, not Bethlehem. Only forty percent of Christian Americans can name any five of the ten commandments. Half of high school seniors think that that Sodom and Gomorrah were married. Less than half can identify Genesis as the first book of the Bible. Only a third of Americans know who gave the Sermon on the Mount, and more people believe that the Reverend Billy Graham delivered it than Jesus. Twelve percent think that Noah's wife is Joan of Arc. The examples abound.
There's so much work to be done in helping Catholics learn about the Faith. But there's a key problem: you can't teach someone if they're not listening. How can we get Catholics to make the effort of educating themselves when we can't even get their attention for five minutes?
In April 2009, the Ontario government launched an Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy that might force all school boards in the province, including the Catholic ones, to fight "homophobia" and ensure the absence of discrimination based on "sexual orientation". The policy is to be fully implemented for the start of the next school year in September 2010. Read about it here and here.
I can't say that I'm surprised given the McGuinty government has pushed many policies that contradict the Church's teaching on family values. It's still too early to tell exactly where this is going, but we've certainly seen this game before. The incremental approach is all too familiar. If this strategy is implemented in its current form, it will likely force Catholic schools to teach that homosexuality is a legitimate lifestyle choice, allow students to hold a "Pride Week" and create homosexual student clubs, not to mention the open acceptance of teachers living an active homosexual lifestyle.
Nobody in the Catholic Church endorses authentic discrimination against homosexuals. Like every other human being, homosexuals deserve complete respect and love. Bigotry, insults and violence against homosexuals are completely out of the question. But as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith so eloquently pointed out, "Sexual orientation' does not constitute a quality comparable to race, ethnic background, etc. in respect to non-discrimination. Unlike these, homosexual orientation is an objective disorder and evokes moral concern.”
I believe that there is still time for Ontarians to fight this proposal between now and September. Let us pray that clergy and laity will join forces to oppose any intrusion that would force Ontario Catholic schools to act in contradiction to our values. Contact your MPP to voice your views. Otherwise, the little bit of Catholicism that is still left in our diluted schools will be lost.
One of Canada's Human Rights Commissions has decided to play God again. This time it's the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC). It seems that nothing is beyond the reach of these kangaroo kourts. Nothing is too sacred or too logical to be questioned by these arbitrary commissions.
The latest incident involves a Catholic school teacher in Alberta that claims that she's suffering from "gender identity disorder" and that she must undergo a sex-change operation. Of course, such a rejection of the gender granted by God is a violation of Church teaching. From a purely secular standpoint, it's also a violation of plain common sense. When you have a problem of any kind, the only lasting solution comes from addressing the root of that problem. In this case, the teacher has a mental illness of some kind. Therefore, the logical and loving solution is to address the mental problem, not mutilate her body by making it look like a man.
As a result of her planned sex change, the teacher has been dismissed from the Catholic school board where she taught. She considers this to be a violation of her rights, and has filed a complaint against the school board. Unfortunately, the AHRC has accepted this complaint and will therefore hear arguments about it. The fact that they didn't reject this ridiculous complaint from the outset is very disturbing. It shows just how willing these commissions are to interfere in Church affairs.
I feel sorry for the teacher. I really do. Mental illness is not something that we should treat lightly or that we should scoff at. I have witnessed many people struggle with mental illness. It is extremely difficult to bear. Fortunately, it appears that the school board treated her kindly and respectfully when they let her go. The school board is well within its rights to decide who to employ.
The fact that the State is even considering the possibility of imposing its beliefs on the Church is extremely disturbing and intolerant. Canada is a diverse nation. It is not merely inhabited by the left wing extremists that run these commissions. These kangoroo kourts need to get in touch with reality and start being more tolerant of other peoples beliefs.
As for us Catholics, we better start moving our butts and make sure that our politicians understand that these commissions are unacceptable and violating the human rights they are supposedly intended to protect. If you don't act now, you're going to wake up someday and find out you're slave to the government's whims and fancies.
This incident also highlights the crucial fact that the true challenge for the Church in this day is to convert her own members. More damage is being inflicted on the Church in Canada today by Catholics than by any outsiders.
So before you go to bed tonight, look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself: "What concrete action will I take to propagate the true Faith within the Church?" Don't go to bed until you've made a firm commitment.
Some people would call me a "Magisterial Catholic," which means that I accept all the teachings of the Catholic Church and I look to the Pope for my marching orders. I am actively involved in pro-life activities.
