Email I sent to a Roman Catholic school with an offensive display on their lawn

[ehrnst]

Last edited Tue Aug 21, 2018, 09:35 AM - Edit history (1)

They had a display of hundreds of small pink and blue flags on a lawn with large signs facing two streets that said "In memoriam of 1800 unborn babies murdered at ------ Women's Clinic (street address and phone number) in 2014.


Hello,

I drive by your school on ----- street on my way home from work. I saw the flags on the lawn, and thought at first it might be calling attention to the children of immigrants who are being torn from their parents.

I was dismayed then, to see a sign that indicates that you are directing accusations of child murder, and literally targeting that accusation at a specific women's clinic by giving their address on your sign.

I have refrained from contacting you to let you know that it appears to be a rather inappropriate thing for a school to teach children - targeting a specific address with an accusation of "child killing" when there are mentally ill people with access to guns, and a history of violence towards clinics and doctors. I assume that you don't believe you would be found complicit in any violence towards that clinic, nor would you believe that others thought you were teaching children to be.

This week changed things for me.

In light of the revelations concerning the widespread rape, sexual abuse, and child pornography, coverup, and Roman Catholic leadership knowingly keeping predator priests in positions of authority over children, and away from the law, over a period of 70 years, it's more than just tone deaf. The display of flags now simply looks like finger pointing to distract from the lives of children sacrificed to those clergy now in the news.

It would now be more appropriate to dedicate those thousands of flags to those children, many of whom died young from substance abuse and suicide due to their time in the care of Roman Catholic Clergy.

I truly don't expect that, however.

I suggest that you at the very least, remove the sign targeting the women's clinic for "killing children" and think about putting up a sign that indicates you share the deep sorrow for the lives of the thousands of children sacrificed to predators, simply for their faith and trust in Roman Catholic Clergy.

I understand that no priests currently at your school have been implicated, however, if one is going to demonize all reproductive health centers, even ones that provide preventative, uterine preserving cancer screenings, as "child killers" one needs to understand that demonizing of all Roman Catholic Clergy as "complicit" in the atrocities committed on children for decades is as just as valid. Often the most effective penance is that of public display of humility.

It would also be good penance to talk with your students (in an age appropriate manner, of course) concerning the harm that painting any profession/institution with the broad brush of "child molester" or "child killer" without any context can do.

You could also just avoid the whole topic, and simply change the sign to "Honoring the children torn from their parents at our borders."

Respectfully,

ehrnst


As of this morning, the signs with "in memoriam" and the name and address of the women's clinic were gone, with signs that just say "Pray for the end of abortion." I hope I had something to do with that.

[NightWatcher]

1. Far more eloquent and tactful than I would've been.

Kudos

[olegramps]

31. People have been far more tolerant of the Catholic Church's gross sins that the church has commited.

The should be thankful that howling mobs haven't shown up on their door step demanding justice. Or even more drastic that they haven't followed Jesus command that anyone who scandalizes a child should have a mill stone tie about their and cast into the depths of the sea. Just how nasty and vulgar can one be than to pose as a disciple of Jesus in order to molest innocent children.

[tblue37]

2. K&R and thanks! nt

[FlightRN]

3. K&R and thank you

[rpannier]

4. Good letter

Remind people of Bill O' Reilly's "Tiller the baby killer." comment if you get in a discussion with or send another letter to someone

[marble falls]

6. I know you well enough to figure you'd never go over the top. You didn't, whch made this letter ...

one good enough to borrow if I ever see such thing. I'm glad I'm on DU where folks like you can teach the unwashed like me how be an effective citizen. Thank you for your example!

This is the sort of thing I come here for.

[ehrnst]

36. ...

[FM123]

7. Fantastic!

I think it was Ben Franklin that said something like "well done is better than well said" but in this case you did both. Very very well!!

[MyOwnPeace]

8. Nicely done!

There is SO much wrong going on - it is NOT a time to stand by silently!

[aikoaiko]

9. Well done!

[FailureToCommunicate]

10. Veritas vos liberabit.

Thanks for contacting them with such a reasonable letter!

[Lars39]

11. Culpability...a scene from The Three Billboards.

[The Polack MSgt]

12. Well done Ehrnst. Nt

[peace frog]

13. Thank you, good work

And yes, their banner "praying for the end of abortion" is less offensive but the Catholic church must first clean its own house before passing judgement on others exercising their Constitutional right to an abortion. Now if only some person or business living/operating close by to this church would display a banner stating "Pray for the end of child predation" as a reminder of what is really going on here.

[lunasun]

14. True patriot . Thank you

What an absolute disgusting church
I would also have called the clinic let them know they put the phone number and address with the word murder out there . I am sure they have lawyers

Anti gay anti choice seems they would have better things to do in the name of Christ
&
Molesting kids was not what I was thinking of either!

[Scarsdale]

21. It seems as though

the Catholic church leaders think that since priests do not get little boys pregnant, then no harm is done? They have not taken this problem too seriously - EVER. So many victims, so little action taken to prevent this. Decades of abuse has been swept under the rug. What kind of religious organization does this?

[luvtheGWN]

37. Biggest mistake the Catholic Church ever made

(besides the Spanish Inquisition and a whole bunch of other horrors) was to forbid their priests to marry. Frankly, I find it amazing that the Church continues to exist. But then of course its core message is to make its parishioners obey, obey, obey -- and if they don't, come to church, confess and be forgiven by the Lord. Oh, and to be very, very afraid of death.

The Province of Quebec was at one time 99% Catholic (settled largely by the Catholic French). If you travel through the province, you will note that every small village has a Catholic church built on the highest point in that little town, and you can see the steeple for miles. It was said that the reason for that was so that the priest could climb the stairs to the top of the steeple, so the he could look out and keep an eagle on the parishioners down below. And the parishioners knew he could, and he did. Didn't stop sinning, of course. But that's what confession was for.....

And I'm happy to report that Quebec is becoming much more secular.

[dchill]

50. "Frankly, I find it amazing that the Church continues to exist."

ME TOO!

[dlk]

15. Thank You for Speaking Out & Confronting This Obsclene Hypocrisy

To paraphrase, all evil needs to triumph is for good people to do nothing. The Catholic Church has received a pass for far too long.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. Thanks. Great letter.

[LittleGirl]

17. I often wonder how many of those abortions

were needed after a child was raped by a priest?

You didn't mention that in your letter but it was brilliant and as a former catholic, I stand and applaud you for your eloquent letter.
Well done!
My words are much harsher and nastier and meaner.

[NurseJackie]

18. You rock!

That was awesome! You're my hero!

[volstork]

19. Well done.

Thank you for sharing.

[bucolic_frolic]

20. Ehrnst Power!!

But of course understand their reluctance to accept the honest and less divisive methods of transparency and scientific proof in an institution that relies on belief that cannot be physically proven.

[Pacifist Patriot]

22. All I have is...

[Kurt V.]

23. Thank you

[Major Nikon]

24. Time for decent people to start putting up their own signs

...detailing the number of children raped by catholic priests. Whatever number anyone can quantify is bound to be ridiculously low given that such abuse has been going on all over the world for 2,000 years.

[Glorfindel]

25. Thank you. Just that, thank you, and a big salute for your eloquence.

[panader0]

26. Great job ehrnst!

A well-written and thoughtful letter--and I'll bet you had much to do with the removal
of the signs.

[MineralMan]

27. Excellent! And you apparently got the job done.

[Nitram]

28. Bravo!

[Delphinus]

29. Well done!

Thank you for sharing!

[thucythucy]

30. Nicely done!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

32. Good action! . . . nt

[mgardener]

33. Thank you

You did a wonderful thing. It was a well thought out email.
It highlighted the truely hypocritical stance the Catholic church is taking. I am sure you at least temporarily shamed them, wonder how long it will last.

[snacker]

34. Thank you.

This is perfect!

[geardaddy]

35. K&R

Excellent, powerful letter. Thank you.

[oasis]

38. K and R

[karin_sj]

39. Good work

A very eloquent letter that I'm sure made a difference in them modifying their awful sign.

[Iggo]

40. Oh, you did. (n/t)

[malaise]

41. Brilliant

Rec

[mcar]

42. The Jesuit university I attended is changing the names of 3 halls

that had been named for Bishops involved in the PA atrocity. They are renaming the halls for a nun, the priest slaughtered in El Salvador and 2 alums who died on 9/11.

[FakeNoose]

44. This is commendable and long past due

I hope people realize that the Pennsylvania report is remarkable only because it's the most recent in the news. When other states get around to their own grand jury investigations, it's going to suddenly dawn on people that it happened everywhere. Not just in the cities, not just in PA and MA, everywhere.

[ehrnst]

46. That's progress! (nt)

[Paka]

43. K&R

Beautifully stated.

[ellie]

45. That was fantastic!

[packman]

47. I HAVE TO KNOW - In general area- Is this church in the Florida Panhandle

Reason asked is a very large Roman Cat. church in my area does the exact same thing each year. It covers its front lawn with a sea of little white crosses and has a banner decrying abortions.
I sent them a letter stating my feeling about such a display while ignoring the plight of the homeless, the immigrants, and the deaths from opioid addiction - basically calling them hypocrites in their choice of issues.

[Maraya1969]

48. I am really impressed with you. Good work!

[NastyRiffraff]

49. Well done, ehrnst

If I hadn't already been done with the Catholic church, the horrifying reports on child abuse, rape, and coverup would complete the process. EVERY Catholic church should put up a sign apologizing for the Church's ongoing criminal and moral abuses. This is nothing new. Abuse was first reported in 1985 and very likely went on long before then.

As for Pope Francis, he's a disappointment on this issue. It takes more than a press release saying oh isn't this terrible to heal the many who have suffered at the hands on priests, bishops, and cardinals. He needs to start mass firings.

[47of74]

59. Yeah every bishop in the US needs to resign.

[calimary]

63. AND he needs to change a few policies.

Like - end priestly celibacy.

AND

Ordain women. This all-male cloistered secret society has GOT TO end. All it wibds up being is a set-up for sin.

[dchill]

51. K&R. Good for you!

[Me.]

52. Unbelievable

And seriously, just because 'no priests currently at your school have been implicated" doesn't mean that children there haven't been harmed, it just means, as history demonstrates, that no report has been made/or that an incident has been unreported.

[Marcuse]

53. Stop it.

[3Hotdogs]

57. According to the Pennsylvania report, shouldn't the alter boy be wearing one of those gold crosses?

[pamela]

54. Great letter!

Reminds me of the scene in Three Billboards in Ebbing Missouri.

(Spoiler Alert)

Mildred Hayes: Y'know what I was thinking about today? I was thinking 'bout those street gangs they had down in Los Angeles, those Crips and those Bloods? I was thinking about that buncha new laws they came up with, in the 1980's I think it was, to combat those street-gangs, those Crips and those Bloods. And, if I remember rightly, the gist of what those new laws were saying was if you join one of these gangs, and you're running with 'em, and down the block one night, unbeknownst to you, one of your fellow Crips, or your fellow Bloods, shoot up a place, or stab a guy, well then, even though you didn't know nothing about it, and even though you may've just been standing on a streetcorner minding your own business, what these new laws said was you're still culpable. You're still culpable, by the very act of joining those Crips, or those Bloods, in the first place. Which got me thinking, Father, that whole type of situation is kinda like your Church boys, ain't it? You've got your colors, you've got your clubhouse, you're, for want of a better word, a gang. And if you're upstairs smoking a pipe and reading a bible while one of your fellow gang members is downstairs fucking an altar boy then, Father, just like those Crips, and just like those Bloods, you're culpable. Cos you joined the gang, man. And I don't care if you never did shit or you never saw shit or you never heard shit. You joined the gang. You're culpable. And when a person is culpable to altar-boy-fucking, or any kinda boy-fucking, I know you guys didn't really narrow that down, then they kinda forfeit the right to come into my house and say anything about me, or my life, or my daughter, or my billboards. So, why don't you just finish your tea there, Father, and get the fuck outta my kitchen.

[Hekate]

55. Beautifully written, ehrnst. Well thought out, intelligently stated. No higher praise can I give.

My only suggestion would be to send it to the newspaper as an LTTE -- unless in your region that would invite repercussions on you.

My feeling is that yes, your email had an effect. Many thanks.

[BarbD]

56. Thank you!

For being so eloquent and putting into words my feelings against the Roman Catholic Church. After being raised Catholic, going from first grade through college taught by nuns, it took over 30 years to reason my way out of its clutches.

[Cha]

58. Wow, ehrnst.. What

an eloquent plea for reality to the Roman Catholic School! That was a Horrible message they had on their lawn.

[hunter]

60. I'm more the garden flame thrower sort...

... if not always literally, then in words. Forty years ago I might have been inclined to remove the entire display on one of my midnight runs.

Years ago, one of my kids collected my pickup truck full of Proposition H8 signs simply by knocking on people's doors and telling them their lawn signs were offensive. People don't like face-to-face confrontations so many agreed to taking them down.



I'd collected a larger number of the signs by less scrupulous means, taking them directly from the groups who were handing them out free, the unspoken implication that I would be redistributing them to H8ers.

Nope.

I'd also written a flaming letter to our Bishop, who responded to me with a letter I should probably frame. According to him the diocese was contributing money to the Proposition H8 cause to control the conversation and keep it civil.

Really? Really? Is that all you got?

My kid and I shared some high quality dad time separating plastic H8 signs from their stiff wire frames for recycling.

It was the right thing to do.

No apologies.

My kid is a heretic, just like me, just like his grandma, just like his great grandfather, all the way back to our ancestor mail order bride to Salt Lake City who decided she didn't like sharing a husband so she ran off with a monogamous guy who was passing through town, a surveyor whose head was full of numbers...

Damned numbers and lost signs.

[MountCleaners]

61. It's child abuse and brainwashing

I attended Catholic grammar school in the 1970's, when no one in the Catholic church was talking about abortion. Come the 1980's, it's suddenly an urgent matter for Catholics. I thought it was sick to tell children that women who had abortions were murderers. It's sick to preach to kids about abortion. Sick and creepy. These right-wing Catholics who were trying to talk to me, a teenage girl, about abortion were creepy. Especially the older white men, which a lot of them were. I ended up leaving the church not much later.

[47of74]

65. Even at Sunday school once we got to high school it suddenly became all about abortion

Up until about 8th grade they didn't talk about it hardly at all at church. Then suddenly we got to high school and that's all the teachers wanted to talk about.

I think this fixation on abortion was pretty high up on the list of reasons I finally left the Roman church. They had to pretty much be shamed in to giving a fuck about human life after birth.

[UTUSN]

62. K&R

[lordsummerisle]

64. Awesome letter

Your restraint is amazing, congrats...

[Hulk]

66. Bravo!!

It just takes one radical KKKristian idiot to put out a stupid ass sign like that. Granted, it takes others to sit silently with their complicit cowardice.

Nice going! Proud of you!

[brer cat]

67. Outstanding letter, Ehrnst.

Thank you.