Catholics may need to "Atlas Shrug"

Ayn Rand is known for her rather goofy opus called "Atlas Shrugged," where industrialists, feeling "unappreciated," eventually "go on strike" and "disappear," until ungrateful society begs them to "return." This was, needless to say, a quite godless and unspiritual book, but generations have found it fascinating, and that's cool.

It occurs to me that the Roman Catholic Church needs to borrow a leaf from "Atlas Shrugged" and simply walk away from many of the social services programs that they have in place. Why do I feel this way? For three reasons:

1. In progressive and anti-Catholic or anti-Christian governments there is pressure on Catholic charities to loosen their doctrine in return for continuing to receive government money. My advice: walk away from those programs totally. Let them give the money to someone else to do their "social programs" their way. It is a blessing in disguise as the Church can concentrate its mission on what is central: the saving of souls and the transmission of solid faith formation.

2. I obviously do not feel this way in the truly needy populations of the world where the Catholic Church provides vital and often willfully invisible (as in pointedly ignored by the media) services to the most dire of the sick and the poor. So shift the resources that Catholics give from the ungrateful areas (that obviously have "other sources") to those who are truly thankful and in need. It only makes sense. If you give the same gift every Christmas to two sons, and one thanks you and the other punches you in the face, I would suggest giving both gifts to the son who thanks you.

3. The world is not starved for social services programs; it is starved for sanctity and prayer. I think the Catholic Church needs to downsize its social involvement, even where it is sad and painful to do so, in order to return to prayerful and dedicated attention to the sacraments, education and overall sanctity. Downsize and refocus the mission. That way all those critics of the Catholic Church will have to change from criticizing the way we conducted our social programs to criticizing us for not having enough social programs. That would be cool, like bonus points, to the main purpose which is to refocus on the sacred work.

Jesus Christ brought God, not a soup kitchen community organizer. Plenty of charity can indeed and must be done through individual, congregation and community involvement, but I believe the time for us to lead large social programs is over when so many don't give a flying you know what if we do AND seek to erode them and use them as ways to whip up hatred against the Catholic Church.

I say, take the money we use in social programs in the higher developed countries and regions and instead reallocate and devote them to the formation of priests and other religious. Hey, isn't that what everyone is saying we ought to do? "Clean up" all those "bad priests?" Save an altar boy?

Not to minimize at all, as my regular readers know, my zero tolerance for sexual and other abuse or emotionally predatory behavior. So don't waste my time thinking I'm not condemning all abuse in the strongest terms, as I have all along.

But it has come to the point where not a single article about anything good, bad, or neutral can appear in the press without hate mongers commenting about sodomy and rape and buggering and whatever. So I say make them happy and withdraw from all social programs ALL of them in the better developed areas of the world and let them find "alternative providers." Use the social services program funding to "clean up all those pedophiles," you know, all the ones who flock to the Catholic Church. Yep, let's do that. Take the money from the social programs and use them for priest and religious formation. Seriously, as we all know the aging population of faithful religious live in great poverty and often in worse conditions than the people they dedicated their lives to serving.

I'd like to see the Catholic Church just walk away from MANY of the social services programs and instead invest those alms that are donated and income that is generated by the church toward inward, prayerful places and people of sanctity.

Ta ta I say. What say you? I think that would be music to the ears of those who demean all the Catholic Church has done. Win-win, then, no?

And another charity on my Christmas idea list

I have just donated $100 online to the USA arm of Caritas Internationale, Catholic Charities USA.

Catholic Charities/Caritas remains probably the most low key in terms of publicity and knowledge by the general public of all the charitable social services organizations in the world. As a result, few people realize that Catholic Charities is rated the TOP provider by Charity Navigator:

11/17 - Catholic Charities USA Named Top Provider of Social Services by Charity Navigator, Ranked #2 Overall in NonProfit Times Top 100

In 2007 Catholic Charities helped over 7,700,000 people! They report on their web site that they are already in the midst of helping people who are suffering in the mortgage crisis.

Do visit their site, find out more about what the quiet Catholics are really up to in following the steps of Jesus and ministering to the poor and those in need, and consider following my example and giving them or the international branches of Caritas a donation (I wrote about Caritas about a week ago regarding the crisis in Zimbabwe).

https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1174

There is an easy to use online donation page.

Also, if you are interested, you can learn what the Catholic Social doctrine and tradition is, as defined by the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops). Also, there are great prayer resources and personal seasonal reflections (such as each day of Advent) by Catholic Charities members.

Clarity about gay parenting

God is first and foremost about life. God IS life and the bias in all actions toward life and fruitfulness. A bias away from life and being anti-life is a trend line away from God and away from, ultimately, humanity as a whole. Therefore I have absolutely no problem with gays who have a genuine desire to have a child and provide that child with a loving, appropriate upbringing and family life.

Here is the theology. Catholics are entirely within their right to not want to endorse homosexuality, which is forbidden in the Bible, by refusing to allow children within their adoption agencies to be adopted by homosexuals. Gay prospective parents should have a generosity of heart and not try to force the Church to go against its legitimate doctrine through "equal rights" arguments. A gay who persecutes the Church regarding adoption rights is demonstrating a black mark against their parental heart and motivations.

Having said that, please note there is nothing in the Bible about homosexuals not being parents. Notice that the relevant passages forbid the homosexual acts, but certainly do not forbid a homosexual having a child. God always biases toward life. Honor thy father and thy mother is pertinent to both heterosexual AND homosexual parents, assuming they are good pious people who deserve to be honored. So Bible thumpers who state that God is against homosexuals being parents are flat wrong. In ancient times a man or woman who tended toward homosexuality would in all likelihood be ordered by the priest to go home and have relations with their straight spouse and have children anyway. This is because priests corrected perceive that the uniting bond among humanity must be a bias toward having children and toward life in all its fruitfulness.

I have a friend who is gay, and I've not had a chance to see him for a long time, too long in my opinion. While we've never discussed it I think he would be a wonderful father and would like to see him be a father one day. My preference would be for him to do it the natural way with a woman friend. But anyway, I think of him often and how happy he would be as a father.

I caution gays to not approach having children as though it's a technically complex project because as I pointed out about forcing adoption against a Church's legitimate beliefs, a complicated and cold test tube approach is a distancing from the naturalness of parenthood that is unfortunate. I'm most pleased when I read about a gay man, for example, having a baby with a woman friend of his because this is the closest to the natural way that I wish on all people, straight or gay, who pursue parenthood. You see, it's a testimony to the gay parent if he has a friend who would participate in parenthood with him, rather than be a monetary, political or scientific colleague in the generating of an offspring. See how cold those words are compared to "deciding to have a baby with a friend?" While infertility treatments are a blessing for many heterosexual couples who have problems conceiving, the laboratory should be avoided wherever possible when that is an option rather than the only solution. Again, I am counseling you all in my role as an "uber parent" and spiritual director that if you want to be a parent, walking as close to the path of natural parenthood is the way that is the most fulfilling and satisfying.

I hope this helps. I love gays who love life and children, with pure hearts and minds, and who wish to be parents. Please do not, however, ruin the parental experience by persecuting Catholic agencies who have enough problems without having to be martyred by gay politics. People and governments who persecute Catholic adoption agencies are showing a cold heart that is dubious both for parental goodness and in the eyes of God.

Do search out the most natural way of actually bearing a child wherever you can. A gay prospective parent who has a friend who would actually take the risk and make the commitment of bearing a natural child is a credit to pro life and good parenting.