Nones on the Bus

A lot has been written about people who do not profess any religious allegiance at all.  A few "nones" have actually written very thoughtful pieces as to why they identify as such.  Sadly, most in the religion business do not read these pieces, or if they do they dismiss them by alleging ulterior motives in order to reorient the conversation on a ground of their own choosing.  Gosh, can't imagine why the "nones" have no interest in religion....

I used to be in the religion business.  I worked for the church for a number of years, but now I no longer do so.  I still attend church, but largely as an outcast and a pariah in my own tradition.  The experiences of my work in religion has led me to understand why the "nones" are growing and what their state of mind is on matters religious.  Some may regard me as a "none" even though I occupy a seat in the pew, and they may be right.  

Over the years I have taught a great many students and have come to meet a lot of "nones". They often explain their religious journey in essays they have written in my classes, in the discussions we have in class sessions, and in the conversations we have about such matters in the halls or my office.  The depth of thought they express on these topics is deep and insightful.  The "nones" believe profoundly in God by and large; very few are atheist, agnostic, or freethinkers.  Many even have a prayer life and spiritual practice.  However, they can no longer find God in the institutions of religion and the church, mosque, or synagogues in which they were raised.

For them, a great deal of pain has taken place in these institutions, ranging from physical, sexual, and psychological abuse to ostracism and rejection of their questions, experiences, and identities.  This pain has been inflicted either on them or on someone they love - family, friends, classmates, etc.  

Institutional religion has become a blood sport in every denomination, every tradition.  The "nones" are in many ways like those fleeing into the desert seeking for God, not finding God in imperial religion dedicated to blood sport and perpetual war.  The "nones" are pilgrims in a very authentic sense, and this blog is for them - for us.  For it is one thing the "nones" have taught me is that there is no us and them.  There is just us.  

Coherence and Consistency

Let us never assume that if we live good lives we will be without sin; our lives should be praised only when we continue to beg for pardon.  But men are hopeless creatures, and the less they concentrate on their own sins, the more interested they become in the sins of others.  They seek to criticize, not to correct.  Unable to excuse themselves, they are ready to accuse others.  (St. Augustine, Sermon 19, 2-3: CCL 41, 252-254)

Everyone knows that nothing solves a problem more effectively than a document.  Whatever the problem is, just gather together a group of academics or churchmen together to compose a document and without fail that problem magically disappears.  This technique is so effective that various levels of government employ this tactic and endow them with powerful nomenclature like "Market Study", "Blue Ribbon Commission," and the like.  What is most remarkable is the cost savings: for a mere $500,000-$750,000 you can solve a problem like infrastructure through a study document rather than spending billions on road construction and the like.  

So it is in church life as well.  The recent call for a document on "Eucharistic Coherence" by a number of U.S. Bishops ran into the embarrassing fact that such a document from the USCCB already exists and was published in 2006.  Read it here. The embarrassment stems from the fact that many of the bishops calling for such a document were a part of the USCCB when the last document was published, coupled with the fact that the document actually failed to solve the problem in question, going against all conventional wisdom on the efficacy of documents.  

The document from 2006 is actually a very good treatise on Eucharistic theology, liturgical practice, and spiritual reflection on every Christian's relationship to the Eucharist and the Body of Christ, the Church.  What the document fails to do, in the minds of bishops who want a new document, is to provide a political cudgel against only certain Catholic politicians on only certain particular issues.  So, for example, it would call out politicians who do not protect human life in the womb, which is an important topic worthy of merit.  However, it would not apply to politicians who defend the death penalty, demean and denigrate immigrants and refugees, or fail to protect the poor and vulnerable who lack access to health care or a living wage.  Such a foray into the political would be theologically untenable, inconsistent, and place the bishops clearly in the position of endorsing one political party and its candidates over another - something that has never, ever worked well for the Church in her history.

What is more, such a foray into the public and political opens the bishops up to equal criticism in its commitment to human life.  The bishops are tired of hearing about sexual abuse, and they want to insist that things are different, they're sorry, and they have made amends - none of which is true.  People will not forget how bishops thought that sexually abusing a child - a child - was not criminal and did not at all warrant removal from the clerical state.  Instead, it warranted a stay at a treatment facility and a new job at a new parish.  Now, how is that respect for human life and dignity?

Moreover, the restitution the bishops claim to have paid did not come voluntarily out of the bishops' remorse.  Instead, every penny provided as restitution to victims came through lawsuits and court judgments.  The procedures we now have in place came only because the bishops were shamed into them on the one hand and forced by insurance carriers on the other. The words of sorrow and the healing services ring hollow of all meaning when such an incontrovertible fact exists in the annals of history.  And the Church has not yet faced up to the plight of children fathered by priests and the mothers of these children and how they are treated.  

We are, however, now learning the particulars of what had been known for a long time in a general sense about the Church's concern for human life among indigenous peoples.  The stories of abuse, the discovery of mass graves on church property, and the vast numbers of both are now being reported across the globe.  Consider that as of July 2nd the mass graves of 1505 children had been found at just seven church school properties in the U.S. and Canada alone, an average of 215 per site.  Another 497 schools in the United States and Canada still need to be searched.  

If the past is prologue, there will be words of apology, healing services, and resistance to provide any means of restitution for these past crimes to the indigenous community - which will eventually come through legal coercion.  

The bishops are not wrong in raising up the importance of the abortion issue, nor are they wrong in asking all of us to reflect on our relationship to the Eucharist and coherence thereof in our own lives.  But the bishops should take heed of Augustine's words above that opened this essay.  They might well reflect on their own coherence and consistency before casting stones in a glass menagerie of their own making.