Johns Smeaton has a post today about Tony Blair's "exciting event" in Los Angeles under the auspices of his "Faith Foundation" (see Tony Blair is undermining the faith of the church into which he has been received.John repeats the call on pro-lifers to challenge Tony Blair on his political record on life issues. He wrote to the former PM in January about this and his letter summarises the key matters of concern.
Usually, when anyone says anything about this, people say that we mustn't judge Mr Blair's conscience, that we are all sinners, that he must have gone to confession and repented of all his anti-life actions as a politician etc. John deals with these points in two ways. First he makes the sensible point:
As a Catholic myself, I do not believe that politicians should be protected from public scrutiny simply by being received into the Catholic church.He continues:
I have no wish for Tony Blair to don sackcloth and ashes. I’ll do that for my own sins before I judge anyone else.However, Tony Blair’s position on abortion, abortifacient birth control, IVF and euthanasia by neglect is a matter of public record. As prime minister he was in the forefront of championing the culture of death not only in Britain but also, on abortion, around the world through the UK’s foreign policy. As long as he fails to repudiate his appalling legacy, Tony Blair is undermining the faith of the church into which he has been received.Photo: Getty images
4 comments:
Because the church says so!
From my experience not intended to offend anyone!!!
When I started to ask my friends about the catholic faith I quickly found many of them answering my questions with “because the church says so!” They themselves had never asked many of the questions that I was now asking them, they had simply accepted things for what they were.
I quickly stopped asking them questions. There answer to me seemed very shallow, I did not want my growing faith to be based on “because the church says so” that was not good enough I wanted it to run deeper than that.
Many people who are received into the church come from very different walks of life where their conscience is based on a very different set of values to that of the church. Your conscience does not change over night. Being received into the church is only the very beginning. You spend months absorbing all the theory and then a life time trying to put it into practice. It’s like having your training wheels ripped off you bicycle and being given one almighty push down a large hill.
I come from a background where abortion is a plausible option, where if you can’t be good be save (use contraception), where if you can’t parent naturally seek help and where if a loved one is suffering think twice before you prolong death.
The scales of my conscience are slowly tipping but only one grain of sand at a time. It can be a very scary and uncertain time as a young convert. Many of your questions are poorly answered (because the church says so!) or you never ask them in fear of offending someone or being thought less of (and sometimes one answer only leads to more questions and people can quickly get tired of you and so you give up).
Would I stand for what I have stood for in the past? No I would not. Would I stand for what the church says? In some cases if I had reached the same conclusion with my own reasoning yes I would. In other cases at this moment in time if I am brutally honest with myself I think you would find me sinking in my chair avoiding eye contact not wanting to be seen.
Being in the public Mr Blair can’t hide from site but he does have to struggle with the same balancing of conscience (as many converts, including myself) in a very unfriendly world. I fight the battle with my conscience alone and in silence. Mr Blair fights his battle in full view and very loudly. Battling with your conscience is not easy. Outwardly you look the same but on the inside a great war is underway. Your principles, morals and values all begin to change. In essence the person you were slowly dies and is new person is born piece by piece. It’s uncertain and frightening and some times you just want to stop and catch your breath but you can’t the battle must go on! I do not envy Mr Blair having to fight this very difficult and personal battle in the public eye. I would argue that he needs our patience and support rather than our condemnation.
John Smeaton's right, sackcloth and ashes aren't required,but why hasn't T.B. repudiated (out loud) his pro abortion record?
I fear that it may be that T.B. does not repudiate and will not repudiate his pro abortion record.
Does't RCIA sort out this kind of problem? I always believed so, but T.B.'s continued silence is causing some scandal to the faithful, sinners as we are.
Catherine - I don't think anyone here or on John's blog has answered a serious question with the reply "because the Church says so". You will find on Catholic blogs and websites a wealth of information, argument and counter-argument supporting the Church's teaching intellectually.
Were Tony Blair to show the slightest interest in the pro-life argument, he would immediately receive a vast amount of support to assist him in presenting the case in the best possible way.
Sorry I did not mean to imply that any of the Catholic blogs I frequent (including your own) to be so shallow. The unsatisfactory answers I received when initially inquiring about the Catholic faith actually encouraged me to search further.
The eventual course of instruction I received along with continued access to such informative Catholic sites continues to satisfy my inquiring mind and help me win my battles of conscience. Without such resources I think many people who be left confused and frustrated.
The analogy of “having your training wheels ripped off you bicycle and being given one almighty push down a large hill” was very harsh of me when there is such a wealth of information available you can use to steady your ride if your just willing to search. No one ever said doing the right thing would be easy.
As for Mr. Blair perhaps it’s best not to hold our breath.
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