Catherine A. O’Connell of Dublin, Ohio wrote an article for the April 27th, 2013 Columbus Dispatch, in response to the hubbub about the firing of Carla Hale by Bishop Watterson High School over her Lesbian lifestyle, titled God’s Laws don’t change at Public’s Whim. She makes a very good point in regards to our society of whims demanding that those ‘whims’ be respected by all around us, or else.
John Adams, as quoted in my last post, believed that a nation could take the Bible for their only law-book and produce a paradise, by applying its teachings. Since we have removed the Bible and God from our society and substituted every form of immorality and lawlessness imaginable, we are seeing more and more human beings function by their brain stems alone; base animal instincts of fight or flight, fear or trust, and if it itches, scratch it.
John Adams said, “The Bible is the best book in the world. It contains more than all the libraries I have seen. Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law-book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obligated in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow-man; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God….What a Utopia, what a paradise would this region be.”
Catherine’s article:
Joe Blundo’s column in Tuesday’s Dispatch and Molly Farrell’s letter of the same day, on the firing of Carla Hale by Bishop Watterson High School, demonstrate that both writers fail to understand the position of Watterson: to practice what it teaches.
Love and respect for a person do not supercede love and respect for God and divine law. Compassion does not demand that the church disregard its beliefs, nor should it ignore or condone or accept certain behavior so as not to offend someone who does not agree with or follow its teachings.
Requiring a teacher to behave in a manner pleasing to God is most certainly not bullying.
The Catholic Church is not a political institution, and its teachings are not determined by public opinion, whether such opinion is expressed by a Catholic or a non-Catholic, or by the laws of any country. God and God alone determines what actions are pleasing to him and which actions are sinful. God’s moral requirements are unchanging and eternal.
The church recognizes the dignity of all people and does not define them according to their sexual orientation. Homosexuality itself is not immoral; it’s the acting thereon that is (and will be for all eternity, in God’s eyes) immoral behavior. Hence, Hale was not fired for being gay. She was fired for not living the chaste life required of her.
What would be the purpose of teaching divine law if the school allowed anyone who disagreed with its teachings to flaunt that disbelief?
If Hale chooses a lifestyle adverse to the teachings of the Catholic Church, her de facto employer, why would anyone think it unreasonable that she be expected to find another job?
Personal opinion should bot cloud logic and reason. Catherine A. O’Connell Dublin
I am seeing that New Age and Occult teachings demand, as Lucifer does, that ‘self’ be exalted above all others, regardless of the cost to those around us. Selfishness, self-love, and self-seeking defines today’s society. Coveting, greed, entitlement, extreme immorality, and unnatural relationships, resulting in anger, violence, and broken relationships when one does not get one’s way, has become the new American Way.
Jesus said as the Days of Noah, and as the Days of Sodom and Gomorrah, so would the days be when the He would return to earth again. He also said that a man’s enemies would be those of his own household, as family members will betray one another. Today, if anyone stands up for God and His Word as Truth, they are a zealot, ignorant, old fashioned, and in need of instruction on how to love and be tolerant of all lifestyles.
Jesus was not only the personification of unconditional love, demonstrated with a woman caught in adultery and a tax collector; He also demanded obedience to what was pleasing to His Father, as He told the woman to go and sin no more. In fact, He said His Father hears and answers Him for that very reason; He does what is pleasing in His Father’s sight.
Every unit of two or more people have to agree what is acceptable behavior for the unit, or there is no harmony, no matter how much love is being splashed around. Unconditional love and tolerance doesn’t mean that everyone can just do as they please, and the rest of the unit be damned. It means that we learn to behave in a way that is acceptable to those of our unit’s code of conduct.
Why doesn’t unconditional love and tolerance of all lifestyles include Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson? What about unconditional love for the Russians who raped Margot Woelk for 14 days? (Margot was one of 15 food tasters for Hitler. Read her story by clicking here)
American’s behavior is unacceptable in other countries that are based on total respect and courtesy toward their leaders and elders. By the standards of the world, America is the rudest country of all 196 nations. When our Secretary of State travels to other countries, he has to know what is acceptable and unacceptable in his words, carriage, and behavior. Most countries have several minutes of common courtesy and hospitality required before any manner of business is discussed. If these protocols are not followed, the host is offended and there will be no discussion of business until the offense is made right.
Yet, in America, with all its education and technology, we demand that everyone accepts us no matter how we choose to live or behave. Do degrees after our names and the accumulation of material things make our wrongs, right? I think that Catherine A. O’Connell and John Adams spoke the truth. God doesn’t change, but man does. What pleases and displeases the heavenly Father has always been the same. The Bible and God are still the supreme touchstone, as it is written in our very conscience, if we only choose to listen to its voice.
Only man says that truth is relative to what he feels like doing today, and in ten years, man will say he was mistaken, that he has discovered an even better way to be immoral and lawless. This is why there needs to be a higher moral lawgiver than a mere mortal.
Great article and wonderfully written. richard