Posted by Cathy Taggart I am also impressed by the way you so clearly live out the Marist tradition of caring about people rather than letting rules and regulations, or ideology, get too much in the way. Thank you for your website and especially the Forum, which I'm sure many other people will agree is a particularly welcome gift to us all! CATHY
on January 24, 2005, 10:21 pm, in reply to "Re: Tony Abbott, Abortion and Other Life Matters"
Thank you Kevin for your prompt and sympathetic response. Often when I've expressed to other people my concerns about certain of the Church's teachings (or other matters), I've found either that people just sort of brush me off, or else they simply put their opposing arguments. It's so refreshing to find some-one who is willing to enter into a real conversation, to actually think about the ideas I've put forward, and make a well-thought-out response.
--Previous Message--
: Hello Cathy and thanks so much for your
: thoughtful reflection. I share your
: concerns that our moral principles be drawn
: from our experience rather than being
: imposed from outside our experience. This
: will always present a dilemma for any
: institution, as it tries to make sense of
: itself, as sometimes the principles become
: more important than the people, and the
: survival of insitutions becomes the goal
: rather than the well-being of the members.
: This is still an issue in the Church where
: some folk prefer the safety of clear-cut
: answers to issues, rather than the risks
: involved in engagement with the issues.
:
: On re-reading my little piece about Tony
: Abbott, I was mostly casting doubt on his
: whole approach, and wondering at his
: motives.
:
: I take your point that the Church has not
: always been consistent in its approach to
: the taking of life and I'd not thought
: before of putting the "just war"
: theory alongside the teachings on abortion.
: Good call.
:
: From some acquaintances who have been
: through the trauma of deciding about an
: abortion, I have learnt a little of the pain
: and the complexity involved in such a
: decision.
:
: The Church's basic principle that life is to
: be protected will always be a good
: touchstone, but will always be subject to
: scrutiny, reflection, and be in need of
: creative response, as our society evolves.
:
: Again thanks for your note and your kind
: comments on my website.
: Kevin
:
: --Previous Message--
: I've only just discovered your wonderful
: website, so there's a bit of a time gap
: between this response and the comments I'm
: replying to.
:
: I agree with you, Kevin, about the
: "right to life" of refugees, but I
: think we (all of us in the Church) also need
: to have a serious re-think about the
: Church's traditional teaching on matters to
: do with sexuality and family. Obviously,
: abortion is a more complex matter than
: other aspects of this teaching, but please,
: let's start looking at even this issue
: honestly and realistically.
:
: Traditionally, the Church seems to have been
: more accepting of war than of abortion, (the
: "just war" idea), yet war is much
: more destructive of human life than
: abortion! Can we really believe that this
: has nothing to do with the fact that women
: have had little, if any, real input into the
: formation of the Church's teachings over the
: centuries?
:
: Women and girls don't usually have abortions
: lightly, and even if they have one because,
: for instance, having a baby might interfere
: with their career opportunities, they are
: not being as selfish and trivial as may seem
: the case. In our society, having a job or,
: better still, a "career", is what
: makes you a "normal" person, a
: fully-fledged member of society. When you
: have young children, especially if you find
: it too difficult to combine motherhood with
: a career, you can become very socially
: isolated and feel very marginalised. Trust
: me, I'm a full-time mother of several years'
: standing, I know what I'm talking about!
:
: Of course, what we really should be doing is
: to build a society which gives real support
: and recognition to parents. But this is not
: something we can just "do";
: despite all the lip service (and despite the
: many joys which family life can bring at the
: personal level), the family is in reality in
: a very disadvantaged position in our
: society, and this will take a very long time
: to change. In any other social justice
: issue, we don't deny short-term solutions to
: people just because there is a better
: long-term solution, so why should this be
: any different?
:
: In the section of this web-site about the
: Marists, I was delighted to read that the
: founder of the Marist Fathers took the view
: that, while we should show loyalty to the
: Church, people, not rules, should be the
: main consideration (or something like that).
: I'm not saying here that we should ignore
: the Church's teaching on abortion, or that
: the Church should suddenly change its
: teaching. In fact, this is a plea from the
: heart: let's look at real-life experience,
: and let's reassess the Church's teaching in
: that light. Why should we be afraid of the
: truth?
:
: CATHY.
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott has been
: winning brownie points from Church leaders
: and others recently, for his forthright
: comments on the evils of abortion and the
: need to turn around this great wound in our
: society.
:
: He is rightly applauded for these comments,
: but his consistency is to be questioned.
: The stories of horror that continue to come
: out of oru Detention Centres here in
: Australia, beggar the imagination and are
: every bit as heinous as the abortion figures
: that Mr Abbott has been so strident about.
:
: Applying the same values for life to our
: refugees, should lead to a balanced and just
: policy. On the contrary, there is a huge
: contradiction between his statements on
: abortion and the policies he supports on
: refugees.
:
: Our moral principles need at least to be
: consistent to be credible. One can only
: wonder at the motivation then behind his
: anti-abortion sentiments.
:
:
:
:
:
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