Although the party I'll be referring to in this post isn't likely to read this, I will not, for obvious reasons, put in enough information about her identity for anyone to know for certain who she is.
She attends church where my wife and I go. She is an occasional lector and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion.There are times when we are invited to the same social function.
She isn't a cradle Catholic; she converted at the request of her Catholic husband. After a few conversations with her, I discovered that she doesn't accept the Church's teachings on abortion and birth control. She identifies with the cowardly and hypocritical position known as "pro-choice".
Although we haven't spoken on other social issues involving the Church, I would not be at all surprised to learn that she supports the idea of women in the priesthood as well.
She voted for Barack Obama....even going so far as to wear an Obama button while assisting in Holy Communion until I had the deacon in charge of EMHCs put a stop to that.
I find her entire attitude towards abortion and Catholic teaching absolutely appalling. She knows my thoughts on this. I am offended that she would insist on going against the Church yet still participate in distributing Holy Communion.
Personally, I feel that her beliefs concerning abortion and her vote for Obama should excommunicate her.......that isn't my decision to make, however.
When I see her at Mass, I will not speak to her; I will not confront her. Never the less,the look of disdain of my face is obvious.
My question to my readers is this:
Am I being intolerant towards this individual?
4 comments:
of course you're being intolerant. We all have feelings of intolerance of others' behavior and beliefs in some way or fashion. I am learning to take my own advice here, so please dont think i'm preaching, just trying to muddle my way thru becoming less intolerant myself. That being said, do you think maybe you dont like this person, therefore you are seizing upon her beliefs and behavior that conflict with your own as a reason to undermine and snub her? Sometimes we see behavior that seeems ridiculous to us and for some reason we feel the need to run interference. Who are we to tell someone else what political button they are allowed to wear. That was her personal expression, no one says you have to agree. What if you wanted to wear the opponets' button, or a crazy purple hat for that matter. Would it be ok with you if someone who was offended by your purple hat, had the authority to tell you that you cannot wear it? I'm sure you werent intending to offend anyone with it, you just wanted to express yourself quietly. I guess tolerance means acceptance of the mantra "agree to disagree" without disliking someone for it. Just my .02$
Anonymous is obviously not a Catholic and knows nothing about the Blessed Sacrament.
Comparing the wearing of a purple hat to an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion wearing a button that supports a pro-abortion candidate shows you haven't a clue.
Thank you for showing me that I am not being intolerant after all.
Hi, Bob: I'd been meaning to respond to this, but somehow it slipped my mind with all the other things I've been doing. Good thing you brought it up in your new post.
My main thought on this: I think you should treat her with charity above all. This doesn't mean you change your stance, or even tolerate it -- you should voice out your views if the topic ever comes up -- but you should continue to treat the person herself with charity. That means praying for her that she comes to see the light.
Hi Dom,
Actually, praying for her is the easy part.....being charitable isn't as easy.
Fortunately, there aren't any circumstances (now) where any discussion of this between us is likely to happen.
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