MSW's Top 7 Stories of 2014 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I spent a few hours last night looking at my own columns, which go back to 2009. This is always an interesting exercise and for about a year I mostly focused on comments on my own diocesan newspaper, since local stories brought the most money from the Examiner. Of late, however, I have focused my attention reacting to MSW's column. I agree with many of the points he makes, although I wish he would respond to my responses by name. Calling me and others the Christian Left without such a mention is insulting and it allows him to criticize his own strawman without responding to actual arguments.
For example, I am both a liberal and libertarian, with my liberalism favoring social action and my libertarianism featuring neither the license to do what I want or the kind of economic Randianism that I dislike as much as he does. Economically, my libertarianism has employers (not individuals) able to offset their taxes by paying directly to Catholic Charities and education - and I have been a severe critic of both them and Catholic health for not offering an educational track that leads to practical skills rather than college - which is a track that would serve everyone, since only one in four ever graduate from university - leaving three in four without advanced level teaching in the Church and ethics.
The other part of my libertarianism is personal morality (also my liberalism). I am not arguing against personal morality per se, rather in the Curia's desire to monopolize it (which means one of my top seven stories would be the Synod of the Family and the reactionary push to stop chance - although I believe the change is not far enough). Ultimately, natural law is an individual matter - not a matter for authority. I do agree that looking at the official ethics of the Church is fruitful in finding God - or at least the God of the Curia. For many of them, God is ogre. As you might guess, I don't want that God. I want the humble God of Nazareth whose teachings are designed for my life on earth, for my present happiness, not for moral hardship (like the teachings on gays) that fall within some stilted Stoicism that has nothing to do with reality. That goes double for teachings on women and the prohibition on female priests, which has no basis in ancient Church history, as Gary Wills shows brilliantly. It is entirely misogynistic and it must end. Let us be clear in concluding, however, that my beef is not with God, it is with the hierarchy - extending out from but not limited to the Curia. Indeed, whenever someone under their jurisdiction even hints at female priests, they take measures against them. Luckily, I am out of reach. Too bad the Sisters were not (and that is also on health care and their not backing the idiot play of the USCCB). The good news is that they did win - although analysis of that win should include the attempt to get back at Sister Carol, as well as any who entertained the idea of ordaining women.
As far as immigration, the whole debate was pathetic. There was never any hope that the Senate bill would pass the House and the political stunt by the White House to embarrass them for not doing so backfired, because the compromise bill that left the Senate was awful and unduly punitive. They should have ripped the punitive measures out of the bill and let McConnell filibuster it until he turned blue. THAT would have turned out the Latino vote and may have changed the outcome of the election - although that was a non-story as well, for the Church and the nation. It can be written off to bad demographics, weak GOTV and, more importantly, voter suppression (of youth, Blacks and Latinos). Let us hope that the Justice Department is more energetic than they have been to date.
I also omitted, as does he, the continuing tragedy of sexual abuse and the attempts by the Church and its lawyers to get out of paying for it.
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