November, 1998
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Co-editors: |
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Gael Stahl (Ernest-1960 "Zeke") |
Jack Brennan (Ternan-1960) |
For those of you on line, this edition was squeezed in because of space problems in DD25 and my gross tardiness in getting my part of the DD25 to Gael. JB
We lost two fringe friars when the letters of Douglas Makowski of Cleveland and Gery Woltering of Winter Parks, Fla., were returned. Here's the mail that came before I got DD26 sent out. GS
6 Oct 98 Gregory Sadlek: I was with the Franciscans from 1968 through 1974. I took novitiate with Fr. Sylvano Pera at Oakbrook in 1970. It doesn't seem that long ago, but it was. And it was a wonderful year, indeed. I'm now in the English Dept. at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. My specialty? Medieval English literature, what else? I have a wife, Francoise, two children - Jonathan and Benjamin, ages 8 and 12 - and a Brittany Spaniel, Morgane, 5 months. They keep me pretty busy, but not too busy to enjoy reading DD. Greetings to all the clan.
6 Oct 98 Jack Hardesty, OFM: Sent eddress
changes on Benet Fonck, OFM:
9 Oct 98: Bob Hickman: Thanks for the latest DD25.
9 Oct 1998 Paul Langan: I do enjoy DD25, however, it says "Paul is a jet engine mechanic for United Airlines and advised us not to fly United if we knew what he knew." I am misquoted. While I did admit "I are a aircraft mechanic," I would never say anything about it not being safe to fly United. The workmanship and decision-making to keep an aircraft going is demanding. Anytime I, or any aircraft mechanic, determine airworthiness, I/we, sign on the dotted line before that aircraft flies. Any difficulties come straight back to me/us. Our job and reputation is on the line not to mention the wrath of the FAA. They, the FAA (the Feds), can cause more trouble than the Pope and the moral majority combined. Besides, I might also have to deal with Tony Lutz who has recently changed jobs with United Airlines. Between Tony, the Feds, the pope and the moral majority, I'd need more than the verbal skills of a Clinton. [Paul's email subject was titled:"Slightly incorrect." Mea culpa, sed non maxima? JB]
8 Oct 98 John Miller: Lutz's prattle on "Holy Mother Church," the Pope and papacy, equating dogma/belief with faith, is starting to "wear" on me. He reminds me of Southern Baptist fundamentalists who believe in the literal word, discount any scientific knowledge, and concretize the symbols so that "faith" becomes a dry, safe path.
That the Church should hold to the "teachings of 2000 years ago," as it was interpreted by their knowledge at the time, is pure manure. It is also presumptuous that those teachings are somehow the same, and that the institution hasn't warped and politicized them. That it is acting like "the good shepherd" and "Christian" to condemn homosexuality, but we can "bless them, you know," is the height of hypocrisy. Did Christ establish a condemning Church and was He paternalistic? The only people he really went after were hypocrites. What does blessing mean? Is it in the same league as when the friars had St. Christopher's in Midlothian, and blessed cars and animals? Why don't we light a couple of vigil lights for them too, and pray for their souls - but call judging and demeaning what it is?
Please note that the DSM IV [the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual that psychiatry and allied fields use to diagnose mental illnesses] no longer classifies homosexuality as a sexual aberration. Also note, that it has been pretty much proven that it is passed genetically, like many other things. Do we condemn people for being born with other genetic conditions or predispositions?
Further, to defend a Pope who has basically turned his back on Vatican II and has a "Cold War mentality," is defending the indefensible. He may be a good and "holy" man, but his ideas of being a "good Catholic" are as follows: a person must not think, have any ideas independent from his, but follow orders without question and bow to the "authority" of Rome. This is true Roman faith and spirituality as the soulless Romans of old would have it. No wonder he only appeals to so called "third world countries," where education levels are nil and ignorance thrives, while he condemns the decadence of the U.S. and Europe.
Let's talk about the decadence, the lack of soul and spirituality, the mediocrity of the Vatican and "Holy Mother Church" where the "old boys club" rules, except the rules apply to them only as they choose. Belief in dogma and faith have never been the same. If it is taken literally, faith is not conditional, has no preconceived ideas and does not prescribe a reality that fit 2000 years ago. Faith is living day by day, learning - sometimes the hard way - about the Christ in ourselves and others. Faith is not exclusive, judgmental and paternalistic. At the entrance of the Trappist enclosure at Gethsemani is engraved: "GOD ALONE." As Fenton Johnson says in his article in the September Harpers, called "Beyond Belief": "... we each face our gods and demons by ourselves." This is liberating and terrifying, but it is also living life. The "safe" path may make it less terrifying for some, but I'd rather be "liberated," choose a life of faith, and become what I was meant to be. [John sent me (Gael) a photocopy of the September Harper's article by Fenton Johnson. I found it refreshing. And while I usually don't have much of an iron in the dialog between the combatants (I found Tony's booklet about prayer before the real presence in the Blessed Sacrament uplifting too), I did find the article in the Joseph Campbell strain (of being open while on the search) more refreshing than the sometimes stultifying accusations of those who've ended the search and find their bliss accusing others. I recommend it.]
13 Oct 98 Joe Smith: Excellent DD edition. Meantime, Clinton has opened up a whole new and creative area of moral theology: that of progressive repentance. I've devised several stages of it: 1) contrition 2) confession 3) legal rebuttal 4) political attack 5) reconceptualization of the 6th commandment (adultery - which adults seem to enjoy as much as infants like infancy). Because of this new existential theology, the bones of Moses are being transported back to Mt. Sinai with a petition that God give us more specific and reconceptualized nuance on what sexual activity is (depends on "is " shades of Martin Heidegger?). I like Paul Newman's dictum: "Why should I go out for hamburgers when I can get steak at home?" Clinton never grew out of adolescence, it would appear. On the other hand, some of the people calling for his resignation make me quite uncomfortable. Let the (constitutional) process proceed; and he either is or ain't.
Meanwhile, N.B., the last thing T.L. [Tony Lutz] is, is cruel. [Can't help myself. Are those consecutive uses of "is" Heideggerian or Clintonian? JB] He's a sweetheart, if you know him. He just keeps rather odd company at times. (Buchanan et al.); but he has a right to express conservative views. (We can handle it, Nick.) That's what this country is about. Meantime (again) my views on ecumenism neither denigrated the great souls of RC's past and present nor depreciates the treasures - artistic, musical, and spiritual - we got from our friars and other mentors, friends, and soul mates. It's just that we need, in fact, to use our traditional values to expand outward and join other like-minded spirits in truly building up the "kingdom" of peace and justice. (But I sign off on further "controversy.") Love and peace to all.
14 Oct 98 Sylvester Micek OFM: Thank you for sharing the experiences of the Diaspora members. The good actions and helpful deeds to the needs of others as well as to themselves inspires me; especially reading about my former classmates - Ted Wieser, Joe Smith, and others I know, e.g., Tony Lutz, Gale White, et al. Am including a check to help defray expenses. May the Lord continue to bless you. [Thank you for the help.]
14 Oct 98 Joe Smith: I know I said I'd be a good boy but I can't help one final comment or two. I read today that the bishops are promoting better use of women in the church. Does this mean they will now be in charge of both coffee and doughnuts? Meantime, I got this mind-numbing feeling recently when JPII "beatified" a known fascist collaborator in the Croatian Ustash regime, a Nazi puppet gov't during WWII. Thousands of Jews, gays, gypsies, and partisans were murdered in Ustash camps; Stepinac bleated out a mild "protest" toward the end of the massacres and remained - as did the friars (acc. to John Loftus' book) - a staunch friend and supporter of Pavelic, a war criminal, so indicted later. And now we also have a "Saint" of Auschwitz. This convert Jew is supposed to be a symbol of interfaith "reconciliation." Actually, it is an outrage, acc. to Jewish leaders, internationally, implying that only a convert is OK, going again on JP's own statement about our being "partners in Covenant" (Jews were there first). Why reach back into Dark Shadow for such gothic figures? I know Edith Stein, a confused assistant of Husserl at Freiburg University (my alma mater), through her apt writings on time and space. Nobody can second-guess her switch to the RC, but it's another thing to elevate a "converso" (a "Marrano") to the altars as an exemplar victim at Auschwitz, where the millions of her people, whom she left behind except in death, perished. The Vatican doesn't get it - and never will or can. So much for interfaith "dialogue," if Christians cannot grasp the enormity of such things. And, finally, biblical consultants tell me Christ didn't "ordain" anyone - ever - and certainly not at the Seder (Last Supper). The elders (presbyters) only gradually morphed into priests. So the argument for males only seems infallibly specious and ideological in the extreme. In addition, it is acc . to the order of Melchizedek, a Canaanite (pagan) priest of Baal. This curious mixture of Judaism and paganism is a headache for scholars, who claim it as politicking and alliances to gain land (Abraham) and Jerusalem (David) as capital city. Now, I know these facts go against naive piety, but then they remain thorns in the side of uncritical argument. And with this, I end my philosophical contributions to DD. It's been fun - with some games. But I certainly don't want to rain further on anyone's cheery parades. Bless you, one and all. Shalom. [Joe included a copy of a publisher's page in which his pioneering efforts in phenomenology and musicology are praised by a reviewer. He also got a tribute in "Pipings."]
14 Oct 98 Tony (and Frances) Filicicchia: Sunny greetings from up North: Cicero, Illinois. Thank you for DD #25 Oct 98. I hope all is well with you and family. It is a sunny 40 degrees today for now anyway. I'm writing to ask to be removed from your mailing list and if it is in your power from the Fringe Friars Internet also. Thank you for this favor. May God's blessings continue in abundance in Jesus name.
16 Oct 98 Joe Smith: A penultimate footnote. I'm not yet clear on why you labeled Lutz and me as "diatribists." If this public categorizing was the result of complaints by readers, let them say so out in the open. Tony and I are addressing open and current RC concerns, openly and honestly. What's the big fuss? In America, unlike in the RCC, there's open dialogue (your "dialectic") on all kinds of stuff, unless DD is only about harmless cordiality and male bonding. Anyway, let the complainers come out of the classic behind-closed-doors scene and dialogue acc. to their lights, openly with us. Lutz and I agree to disagree. I think that's good (and sometimes painful) and healthy for theology. We have not "denounced" each other or anyone else, which is the dictionary's definition "diatribe." (But we do feel somewhat denounced ourselves.) Out in the open, friends, whoever ye be. This is USA, to Rome. Pax et bonum. [Joe sent a copy of his letter calling on Cardinal George to speak out on hate crimes. He calls the letter "a needed zinger."]
With that, gang, we end DD26. Never had four DDs in one year before - and it's only Oct. 24. May have another at Christmas at this rate. If you've moved or are moving, tell me. And, Bob Monaghan, Mike and Judy Mooney, thanks for calling. " Our Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas greetings to each other." GS