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4)
As for abortion, surely you know the distinction in Catholic
philosophy between what makes good law and what makes good
morality. They are not always the same. Since women are
going to have abortions (and not all American women are Catholic,
by the way), isn't it preferable to make abortion as safe as
possible than to make abortion go underground?
And,
as a woman, do you believe it is preferable to turn decision-making
about your sacred body over to zealous male law-makers? Why
would you think that?
Are
you aware that saint and doctor of the church, Thomas Aquinas did
not believe the fetus was human until very late in its
development? That only then did the fetus receive a “human
soul” (it was first a vegetative soul and then an animal soul
according to Aquinas.) And NOTHING in contemporary science
has bothered to disprove this teaching (since contemporary science
rarely even uses the word “soul”).
5) Where do you stand on birth control? Doesn't it seem that
the swelling of the human population has much to do with rendering
other species extinct, who lose their habitats because of human
expansion? Is it wrong to render God’s creation
extinct?
Are
you aware that the Dalai Lama, on being asked about birth control,
said this. Traditionally, we have always been conservative
about birth control, but look around and see how rising human
populations are killing other species so we must change our position
on birth control given today’s situation.
Do
you consider human population explosion a serious problem?
6) How can you, calling yourself a serious Christian (or just a
fellow human being), seriously want to end health care for many
millions of Americans? How will you look yourself in the
mirror or dare to go to church?
7) Does your version of Christianity support separating children
from parents and locking them up in cages? (See Matthew
25.) And hiring a white supremacist as an adviser to the
president with an office inside the White House?
8) Former US attorney Barb McQuade has informed Americans that in
2016 you argued against filling a Supreme Court vacancy in an
election time, specifically when it meant shifting the ideology of
the justice bring replaced. (In this case, Justice Ruth
Ginsburg). “When the court is seen as a political tool, it
loses its legitimacy to announce the laws of the land.” Do
you still believe this?
Do
you consider hypocrisy of numerous Republican senators who said
something similar in 2016 and have reversed themselves in 2020 to
be a solid ground for “announcing the laws of the land?” What
about your nomination on a rushed schedule? Wouldn’t it be
better for the court and its legitimacy to await the judgement of
the next president? If you believe your position as stated
four years ago above, does accepting this nomination not mark you
as a hypocrite also? How do you balance that with Jesus’
teachings against hypocrisy?
9) Saint Thomas Aquinas, doctor of the church, says that “a mistake
about creation results in a mistake about God.” This is why
he spent his whole life bringing the best scientist of his day
(Aristotle) into the understanding of the Christian faith.
The church made huge mistakes condemning science in the time of
Copernicus and Galileo and we were promised, 500 years later by
Pope John Paul II, that it wouldn’t happen again. And yet it
has happened clearly in the discussion of gays and lesbians and
their rights.
Over
50 years ago, scientists spoke up to inform us that any given human
population will have and 8-11% gay population. Being gay is
perfectly natural for gay people, though it is a sexual
minority. Why, then, would any thoughtful Catholic deny gay
and lesbians and transgender people their rights as human
beings? (Including the right to marry, at least
civilly?) Surely you do not want to succumb to old religious
tropes that mistake God for a bad understanding of creation, do
you?
10) Our constitution promises a separation of church and
state. Since 80% of the American population is not Catholic
but something else—Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu,
indigenous, atheist and more—you would not foist your particular
religious beliefs on to all these others, would you?
11) Your religion is a bit odd. It is not Catholicism
as such or Catholicism as the Pope practices it, for example, it is
a mélange of Protestant and Catholics in a small charismatic
community. Speaking anecdotally, in my interactions with
charismatics over the years, I have hardly ever met one who
considered the struggle for justice for the poor and oppressed as
part of their religious consciousness. In fact, it was
precisely the charismatic groups in South America who were financed
to oppose and replace base communities and liberation theologies,
while buttressing right wing political fanatics.
My
question is this: What does the canonization of Saint Oscar Romero
mean to you and your community? How does his struggle on
behalf of the poor resonate with your version of
Christianity?
12) Does the ecumenism which you practice in your small
charismatic sect extend to other religions and will you respect
them and their values in all your court decisions? Rights of
Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Native Americans, Atheists, and others?
Does
your ecumenism also extend to members of the Roman Catholic Church
who do not share your ideology including presidential candidate Joe
Biden? House minority leader Nancy Pelosi? Supreme
court judge Sonia Sotomayor? And many other public
figures? Will you come to their defense when certain noisy
media pundits accuse Democrats of being “anti-Catholic”?
13) Do the recent revelations of how we ordinary and modest
citizens pay far more taxes than millionaire presidents and also
how vast international corporations pay no taxes and how the 2017
tax “reform” let many billionaires reduce their taxes affect your
religious sensibilities about justice for the poor?
And
does a promise that ours is a government “of the people, by the
people and for the people?” correspond to the kind of economic
system that is currently running our country? How do you put
into practice Pope Francis’ warnings about Wall Street and the
idolatry of money?
Thank you for your attention to these questions.
Sincerely,
Rev.
Dr. Matthew Fox
*washingtonpost.com {You can read this article online at: https://www.tikkun.org/a-public-letter-to-supreme-court-nominee-amy-barrett}
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