At Latin mass this morning, we had political priest. When I saw him walking around on-stage, I expected him to perform the role of Squealer from Animal Farm. You know how Squealer liked to put a good spin on the bad things that the pig leaders were doing? Well, I was expecting political priest to give us a white-wash of the current controversy surrounding Pope Benedict’s response to child molestation by priests.
Actually, he didn’t address this issue, at least not explicitly. But he was talking a lot about forgiveness and mercy, and how the Pharisees used the law to judge others. Maybe he would have preached this homily had the controversy not been going on. It’s just interesting that “forgiveness and compassion” sermons magically pop up whenever the church leadership is in trouble. This happened in Armstrongite churches as well. When Garner Ted Armstrong was caught on tape groping his masseuse, and there were reports that he was having an adulterous relationship with a woman in the church, all of a sudden we started hearing sermons about forgiveness. Ted likened himself to David, who committed adultery, yet was forgiven. Meanwhile, his opponents were playing the “justice” card, saying that he should be punished and ousted from the church for what he did. In my humble opinion, how churches interact with “justice” and “mercy” is, in many cases, political.
To many people, “forgiving others” means that we should allow people to stomp on us and avoid the consequences of their hurtful actions. I can understand, therefore, why Malcom X in his fiery days didn’t buy into it. But is there a way for forgiveness to mean something other than being a doormat? Eventually, Malcom X abandoned his hostility towards the white race. And, while Martin Luther King preached mercy and love for the white oppressor, he certainly wasn’t a doormat! His actions were peaceful, yet (in their own way) confrontational.