聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 When the Saskatoon Mayor recently decided not to be present at the Gay Pride Parade he faced a 鈥渄amned if you do and damned if you don鈥檛鈥� decision. Choice in the matter was really an illusion, a gray area.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檓 reminded of Larson鈥檚 Far Side cartoon where a man who has just arrived in hell faces two doors. One says "Damned if you do", the other states "Damned if you don't". So which one should he choose? Would it make more sense if there was only one door with both expressions on it? Either way, he鈥檚 still in hell.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Perhaps, as one on-line reader suggests, 鈥淭he joke is that he's being given the illusion of choice, while not having any choice at all.鈥� ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /Saskatoon鈥檚 Mayor Atchison was going to run afoul of public opinion whatever choice he made regarding the Gay Pride Parade.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檓 reminded of situations we face frequently where moral choices are involved. Can I support Justin Trudeau鈥檚 Liberal Party along with his pro-abortion stand? Can we support the whole while excluding parts?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 One week after Bruce Jenner declared that he is a woman Pope Francis denounced gender ideology (one can choose to be male or female despite physical and biological attributes) as an aberration. The gender differences in God鈥檚 creation are for communion and procreation, he stated. In God鈥檚 creation male and female complement each other.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Pope Francis explained that while contemporary culture has opened new opportunities for understanding the sexual difference, it has also introduced 鈥渕any doubts and much scepticism鈥� (Diane Montagna, Aleteia).
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Another recent example of a gray area choice comes from Oklahoma where the Catholic Diocese of Tulsa resigned its membership in the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice after the OCCJ took part in the Tulsa Pride parade, one of the 鈥渓ongest-running gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender festivals in Oklahoma.鈥濃�ㄢ�℉ow do you and I stand for values in the face of public opinion? How do we balance respect and justice for all while maintaining moral absolutes?
I recall the late Father Ogle was a Member of Parliament in Canada at a time when the Vatican forbade political involvement by clergy. At the same time Ogle was a member of the pro-abortion NDP Party. Yet there was never a doubt about what Father Bob Ogle stood for.
Being a Christian gives us some guidelines. Jesus always accepted the sinner and not the sin. He challenged sinners to follow the way and to 鈥渟in no more鈥�. To the rich young man he said, 鈥淵ou are not far from the kingdom. If you would be perfect, sell all you have, give it to the poor, and come, follow me鈥� (Mark 10:17-30).
If you and I would be perfect we need to make informed choices on moral questions. Public opinion may be heated on life and death issues such as abortion, capital punishment and mercy-killing. Whatever the issue, we need to make moral choices that will lead to the respect and understanding of all people.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 We need to be in the world, but not of the world. And let us not be surprised by what the world throws at us. The devil is near. I am reminded of the new-comer in hell who is served a cup of coffee. It is cold. He remarks, 鈥淭hey think of everything here.鈥�
