I stumbled upon the tiny and innocuous group Catholics for Amnesty via their website this morning. This ragtag outfit encourages any and all people to donate money to Amnesty International under the motto “Catholics for amnesty,” regardless if one is Catholic. Why? Because Pope Benedict XVI and Renato Cardinal Martino have urged Catholics to withdraw their support for the organization, which now promotes abortion as a “right.”
Under typical circumstances, I would have simply surfed on (if you’re in the mood for an end-of-the year treat, check out Christopher Blosser’s summary of and reflection on Spe Salvi), but a few things caught my eye. Consider their self-introduction:
We are three Catholics of the shades of “down to earth” to “radical atheist”. Most of the time we don’t care too much about the church or what the bishops, cardinals and even the Pope now and then announce…now, the gentlemen in Rome went too far and we blew our top. Since we never terminated our membership, for which none of us applied for in the first place, and haven’t been thrown out – until now –, we use the right to go on the offensive.
Although we are not representative of the Catholic faith, we are part of this church and have the right to speak for ourselves. We do not speak in the name of the church but as part of it. We feel Cardinal Martino’s boycott call to be a disgrace and oppose it categorically.
First off, the utter absurdity of coloring oneself with “shades of radical atheist” yet considering oneself as having “never terminated our membership” is lost on these fellows. If the “radical” renunciation of belief in God doesn’t terminate one’s “membership” in the Catholic Church, what on earth would?
Second, the battle cry of Catholics for Amnesty is a bit shaky: “We prefer human rights over dogmas!” Hmmm…the Church teaching on the intrinsic evil of abortion is not an unmitigated and unequivocal support for human rights? The false dichotomy uncritically forged by Catholics for Amnesty is indicative of a growing trend, I think , among some individuals–religious or otherwise–to not really think through the message of the maculate banners under which they rally. Protection of an unborn human is dogma, but not a protection of human rights? Wow. Ironically, some of the most forceful dogmatism I have encountered is the unyielding denial of human rights to a human in utero and the relocation of these rights to a woman’s body. A body with more rights under law than a human life–a dogmatism with which Catholics for Amnesty seems to be sodden.
Third, the crew at Catholics for Amnesty indicated that normally they “don’t care too much about the church or the bishops, cardinals and Pope,” but the recent gesture by the Vatican has changed all that. Well where were these guys before the Vatican’s statements on Amnesty International? As “part of this church” with allegedly current and valid “membership,” were they really unaware of the Church’s unwavering position on abortion? Of course they weren’t. They didn’t care, remember? But they will be damned if they allow the “unworldly” Catholic Church to infringe upon “worldy” Amnesty International. Forget the Catholic Church…but, um…they are “Catholics” for Amnesty. I’m confused. So really, the title “Catholics for Amnesty” must, in the end, really be just a sensational joke.
To keep the humor alive, here is the “Catholics for Amnesty” YouTube pitch:
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