Dear Archbishop Nienstedt and Pope Benedict XVI,1
“Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
I read your views on gay marriage in the Star Tribune, Archbishop Nienstedt, and it fills me with great sadness and regret that a steward of the Catholic Church on this Earth feels the need to take a stance of oppression, intolerance, and fear. Surely, is this not what Jesus spoke of when he said, “Either make the tree good and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by his fruit”?
How can we reconcile our vision of the Catholic Church as salvation to the sick, the needy, and the poor with this demonstration of the Catholic Church as oppressor, tormentor, and executioner? Where in all of Jesus’s teachings did he ever say to deny the humanity of other human beings? Where did the Son of God proclaim that mortal man knew God’s will? Where, pray tell, did Jesus ever say one should harden his heart against those who may not be exactly the same as him?
I say to you—nowhere. Nowhere does Jesus preach hate, or intolerance, or loathing. Nowhere does Jesus say, “You shall deny the humanity of gay people because they make you feel uncomfortable.” Nowhere does Jesus say, “And the mortal men of the Church shall be the sole conduits of the Word of God, for they are perfect and infallible.” Nowhere in all of the recorded teachings of Jesus does it say anything about discrimination or prejudice.
“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Millions of children are being raised in the Catholic faith. Some of these children will be gay, not through any choice of their own, but because that is how God created them. What does it say to those children when the head of their religion in this diocese, a man who claims to “explain and defend the teaching of the Church because I have been ordained to do so and I believe those teachings with all my heart,” a man acting under the auspices of the pope himself, tells them that they are less worthy than some others, even though they believe in the teachings of Jesus? What will these children think as they suffer the barbed insults of their classmates and teachers? I ask you, sir, what will these children think as they are belittled and tormented due to teachings you espouse? What judgment will be passed on your soul when yet another poor child reaches for the knife or the noose to end the earthly torment he or she has been subjected to because of your example?
Do you presume to speak for God, Archbishop Nienstedt? Will you tell these children, faithful children who attend Sunday school and earnestly pray every day, that they are somehow less than others in God’s eyes? Will you grasp that millstone, Archbishop Nienstedt, clasp it all the way to the bottom, clutching at the heavy weight of earthly power and influence, even as it drags you down?
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
“Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”
Tell me, Archbishop, Pope, what purpose does it serve for the Church to attempt to influence the affairs of a secular state? The federal benefits under law that are currently denied gay couples certainly fall under the realm of things that are Caesar’s, don’t they? No one is forcing the Catholic Church to marry gay couples if that is not the Church’s wish. You can keep the sanctity of Catholic marriage solely between heterosexual couples if you feel that is what’s required (again, though, I caution you on the dangers of presumed infallibility). All I am asking is for you to extend the open hand of tolerance, not the closed fist of fear and hate. As American citizens, we respect everyone’s right to practice whatever religion (if any) he or she chooses to. Haven’t we learned enough from the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Talibans of the world? What does it benefit the Church to attempt to influence secular policy in this country, especially when that policy is a denial of some people’s basic human rights? Will you now assume Caesar’s throne, grasping the ephemera of worldly power and control while forsaking the eternal kingdom of Heaven?
All I ask of you, Archbishop Nienstedt, and of you, Pope Benedict XVI, is that you practice that most basic teaching found in the Bible—empathy. If you strike me, I shall turn the other cheek. If you ask me to walk with you for a mile, I will go with you two. If you ask me to respect your faith, your beliefs, then all I ask is that you do the same for everyone else. For is that not the most pertinent of Jesus’s teachings, and one that everyone, no matter his religion, can strive to achieve?
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”