BISHOP CUMMINS LECTURE:
Fr. Mark Massa, S.J.

I WANT TO DO FIVE THINGS IN THIS TALK (ACTUALLY, MANY MORE, BUT FIVE I'M WILLING TO TELL YOU ABOUT):

1) FIRST: TO ARTICULATE A WIDESPREAD SENSE OF A 'NEW ANTI-CATHOLICISM' AMONG A GROUP OF UNUSUAL 'FELLOW TRAVELERS'

2) SECONDLY: TO OFFER SOME EXAMPLES OF THIS 'NEW' ANTI-CATHOLICISM

3) THIRDLY: TO OFFER SOME CATHOLIC EXPLANATIONS OF THIS PHENOMENON

4) FOURTHLY: TO OFFER MY OWN EXPLANATION FOR THIS NEW ANTI-CATHOLICISM

5) AND FIFTHLY: TO OFFER SOME REASONS WHY THIS 'NEW ANTI-CATHOLICISM' MIGHT NOT - FROM A CATHOLIC POINT OF VIEW - BE A BAD THING.

FIRST: SOME 'VOICES' ARTICULATING A WIDE-SPREAD PERCEPTION OF A 'NEW' ANTI-CATHOLICISM:

IN THE PAST 2 DECADES, CATHOLIC PUNDITS AS IDEOLOGICALLY DIVERSE AS SOCIOLOGIST ANDREW GREELEY, THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE'S BILL DONOHUE, NEO-CONSERVATIVE RICHARD NEUHAUS OF THE JOURNAL FIRST THINGS, AND PROGRESSIVE JOURNALIST JIM MARTIN OF AMERICA MAGAZINE, HAVE ALL NOTICED AND WRITTEN ABOUT A NEW KIND OF PUBLIC HOSTILITY DIRECTED AGAINST CATHOLIC BELIEF AND PRACTICE IN THE UNITED STATES. INDEED, FOR A WHILE IN THE MID-1990S. WHAT WAS PERCEIVED BY MANY BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CHURCH AS 'CATHOLIC BASHING' BECAME SO WIDESPREAD THAT GEORGE WEIGEL CHRISTENED IT THE 'NEW ANTI-CATHOLICISM.'

WEIGEL CHRISTENED IT THE 'NEW ANTI-CATHOLICISM' BOTH BECAUSE THE STYLE AND THE SOCIAL LOCATION OF THIS HOSTILITY SEEMED DIFFERENT FROM OLDER FORMS OF ANTI-CATHOLICISM. THE OLDER PREJUDICE AGAINST CATHOLICISM IN THE UNITED STATES WAS CENTERED IN WHAT WE MIGHT TERM THE 'USUAL SUSPECTS' THAT ALL OF US HERE COULD PROBABLY NAME.

INDEED, IF YOU AND I WERE PARTICIPANTS IN THE OLD GAME SHOW, 'FAMILY FEUD,' WE COULD PROBABLY CHECK UP A LOT OF POINTS FOR OUR SIDE IF WE CHOSE THE CATEGORY, 'PEOPLE WHO HATE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, FOR $500.' WE WOULD PROBABLY NAME SOUTHERN EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTS, THE KU KLUX KLAN, THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, BOB JONES UNIVERSITY, AND A HOST OF OTHER MEMBERS OF THAT SOCIAL CATEGORY WE MIGHT CALL 'YAHOOS.'

BUT IN THE PAST TWO DECADES, JOURNALISTS AND PUNDITS AS DIVERSE AS GREELEY, DONOHUE, MARTIN AND WEIGEL HAVE NOTICED THAT HOSTILITY DIRECTED AGAINST CATHOLIC BELIEF AND PRACTICE SEEMS TO BE COMING FROM NEW QUARTERS, AND NOT FROM THE 'USUAL SUSPECTS' AT ALL.

AMONG THE NEW SUSPECTS MANIFESTING THIS ANTI-CATHOLIC FEELING ARE ACADEMICS AT PRESTIGIOUS UNIVERSITIES; UPSCALE MAGAZINES LIKE VANITY FAIR AND NEWSPAPERS OF RECORD LIKE THE NEW YORK TIMES (PETER STEINFELS' JOKE: A CATHOLIC RELIGION EDITOR = RESTAURANT CRITIC FOR 'OVER-EATERS ANONYMOUS NEWSLETTER').

HOLLYWOOD MOVIES LIKE THE RECENTLY-RELEASED BREACH, AN EXCELLENT MOVIE ABOUT WHAT HAS BEEN TERMED THE GREATEST INCIDENT OF TRAITOROUS CONDUCT EVER COMMITTED BY AN F.B.I. AGENT. THAT MAN, ROBERT HANSSEN, IS CREDITED WITH CAUSING THE DEATH OF SEVERAL OTHER AGENTS. BUT CHIEF AMONG THE INFLUENCES OF HANSSEN'S LIFE IS HIS CATHOLICISM. MY OWN SENSE IS THAT THE MOVIE MOCKS HANSSEN'S CATHOLIC PRACTICE IN A WAY THAT WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN PERMITTED IF HANSSEN WERE, SAY, AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN EVANGELICAL, AN OBSERVANT JEW, OR A MUSLIM. BUT DON'T JUST TAKE MY WORD FOR IT: SEE IT AND JUDGE FOR YOURSELVES.

I. SECOND: SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT HAS BEEN TERMED THE 'NEW ANTI-CATHOLICISM'

TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK WITH YOU, WHEN I BEGAN THE RESEARCH PROJECT WHICH DEVELOPED INTO MY BOOK, ANTI-CATHOLICISM IN AMERICA, I DID NOT BELIEVE THAT THERE WAS, IN FACT ANYTHING LIKE ANTI-CATHOLICISM IN AMERICA ANYMORE. I SPENT A WEEK AT THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS WORLD HEADQUARTERS IN NEW HAVEN, CT AND THEY HAVE THE SINGLE LARGEST COLLECTION OF AMERICAN ANTI-CATHOLIC LITERATURE IN THE U.S. I FOUND IT TO BE QUITE EYE-OPENING. IF YOU, TOO, HAVE YOUR DOUBTS, YOU MIGHT BEGIN YOUR OWN LITTLE RESEARCH PROJECT BY GOOGLING 'JACK CHICK' OR BY VISITING CHICK.COM. YOU WILL BE AMAZED - AND UNDOUBTEDLY ALSO AMUSED - AT WHAT YOU FIND THERE. THE LIST OF EXAMPLES OF WHAT MANY FOLKS REFER TO AS THE 'NEW ANTI-CATHOLICISM' IS LONG, AND I WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO OFFER IT TO YOU HERE. I WILL, HOWEVER, OFFER YOU JUST A FEW EXAMPLES:

DURING AN ESPECIALLY NASTY ACT OF 'POLITICAL THEATER' AT ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL IN THE EARLY 90'S, SPONSORED BY THE NEW YORK CHAPTER OF 'ACT-UP' ('THE AIDS COALITION TO ULEASH POWER') TO PROTEST AGAINST THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S REPEATED CONDEMNATION OF THE USE OF CONDOMS - DESPITE THE LATTER'S EFFICACY IN SLOWING THE SPREAD OF AIDS - A CONSECRATED HOST WAS THROWN TO THE FLOOR AND STAMPED ON. BOTH THE THEN-MAYOR OF THE CITY, ED KOCH, AND THE THEN-ARCHBISHOP, JOHN O'CONNOR, POINTED OUT THAT ORTHODOX JEWS, BLACK EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTS - LIKE THE PASTOR OF THE LARGEST BLACK CONGREGATION IN NEW YORK, THE ABYSSINIAN BAPTIST CHURCH, - AND THE MUSLIM IMAMS OF NEW YORK HELD THE EXACT SAME TEACHING. THE PRESIDENT OF ACT-UP TOLD A REPORTER FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, 'BUT WE HAVE A SPECIAL OBLIGATION TO DENOUNCE THAT FAT CREEP IN BLACK SKIRTS IN THAT HOUSE OF WALKING SWASTIKAS' - REFERRING TO CARDINAL O'CONNOR AND ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHINS, SELF-DESCRIBED ATHEIST AND HATER OF EVERYTHING CATHOLIC, WROTE A SERIES OF ARTICLES FOR VANITY FAIR ABOUT MOTHER TERESA, ENTITLED 'THE MISSIONARY POSITION,' 'THE DEVIL AND MOTHER TERESA,' AND - MOST OFFENSIVELY, 'THE GHOUL OF CALCUTTA,' IN WHICH HE ARGUED THAT THE 'HATEFUL CATHOLIC TEACHING REGARDING THE NEED TO BREED' REPRESENTED A THREAT TO HUMANITY ITSELF. INDEED, HITCHINS WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO PROVOKE CATHOLIC OFFENSE. HE DESCRIBED THE FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY AS HAVING (QUOTE) 'A FACE LIKE A CAKE LEFT OUT IN THE RAIN,' WHOSE 'LIFESTYLE WAS BUTCH.' WHEN CHALLENGED BY A NUMBER OF JOURNALISTS ABOUT THIS, HITCHINS WAS SUPPORTED BY THE THEN-EDITOR OF VANITY FAIR, TINA BROWN, WHO OBSERVED THAT 'ANY THINKING PERSON IS OF COURSE ON HITCHENS' SIDE IN HIS ATTACK ON SUCH A HATEFUL INDIVIDUAL AND INSTITUTION.'

DURING THE DEBATES A FEW YEARS AGO ABOUT NAMING A NEW CHAPLAIN TO THE U.S. CONGRESS, SEVERAL SENATORS MADE REMARKS ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF A CATHOLIC CHAPLAIN THAT TACKED VERY CLOSE TO THE WINDS OF ANTI-CATHOLICISM. YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD FOR YOURSELF ON THIS, BUT I THOUGHT IT AMAZING THAT ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE COULD ACTUALLY SAY THINGS LIKE 'ELECTED BODIES LIKE THE CONGRESS SHOULD HAVE CHAPLAINS WHO ARE THEMSELVES CHOSEN AND ELECTED BY THEIR OWN PEOPLE, AND NOT CHOSEN BY SOME HIERARCHY UNACCOUNTABLE TO THE FOLKS IN THE PEWS.'

II. THIRD: SOME CATHOLIC EXPLANATIONS FOR THIS PREJUDICE

A NUMBER OF VERY SMART CATHOLICS HAVE WEIGHED IN ON THIS ISSUE OF WHAT HAS BEEN TERMED THE 'NEW ANTI-CATHOLICISM,' AND IT IS USEFUL TO HEAR THEIR VOICES ATTEMPTING TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS GOING ON. MY DISTINGUISHED COLLEAGUE AND GOOD FRIEND AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY, DR. ELIZABETH JOHNSON, ARGUED IN HER AWARD-WINNING BOOK, SHE WHO IS, THAT MANY AMERICAN WOMEN DISTRUST THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AS AN INSTITUTION BECAUSE IT IS A HIERARCHICALLY ORGANIZED PATRIARCHY THAT REFUSES TO DE-MASCULINIZE ITS GOD-TALK, MAKING GOD INTO A 'HE' IN ITS WORSHIP AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP LIKEWISE REFUSES TO OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZE WOMEN'S MINISTERIAL GIFTS, AND ORGANIZES ITS POWER RELATIONS LIKE A 19TH CENTURY MEN'S CLUB. IN JOHNSON'S READING OF THE CURRENT INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (AND I QUOTE HER HERE):

'EXCLUSIVE USE OF MALE LANGUAGE IN WORSHIP - AND OF AN ALL-MALE ORDAINED MINISTRY - IS BOTH RELIGIOUSLY IDOLATROUS AND SOCIALLY OPPRESSIVE... IT DOES DAMAGE TO THE TRUTH OF THE LIVING GOD AND TO THE DIGNITY OF WOMEN MADE IN HER IMAGE. GIVEN THE LODE-STAR QUALITY OF A COMMUNITY'S IMAGE OF GOD, IT RESULTS IN A COMMUNITY BENT OUT OF SHAPE BY THE RELATIONS OF PATRIARCHY.'

LIKEWISE COMMENTATOR GARRY WILLS HAS ARGUED IN HIS BOOK, PAPAL SINS, THAT - AS MY GRANDMOTHER USED TO SAY, 'THE FISH STINKS FROM THE HEAD DOWN.' WILLS HAS ARGUED THAT THE POPES SINCE PIUS IX IN THE 19TH CENTURY ARE THEMSELVES RESPONSIBLE FOR A GREAT PART OF THE WIDE-SPREAD DISTRUST OF, AND RIDICULE DIRECTED AGAINST, THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH, BOTH BY NON-CATHOLICS AND AMONG CATHOLICS THEMSELVES. TO QUOTE WILLS:

'THE OSTENSIBLY SOPHISTICATED THEOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS OFFERED BY ROME AND ITS MINIONS IN THIS COUNTRY - UNDER CONTINUALLY-ESCALATING STRICTURES OF MORAL OBLIGATION USING PHRASES LIKE 'INTRINSICALLY DISORDERED', 'MAGISTERIALLY DEFINED,' AND 'UNCHANGEABLE TEACHING' - IN SUPPORT OF ISSUES LIKE AN ALL-MALE PRIESTHOOD, THE BAN ON ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROL - WOULD MAKE A HIGH SCHOOL SOPHOMORE BLUSH FOR INTELLECTUAL TAWDRINESS. ONE ONLY HAS TO READ THE 'UNCHANGEABLE TEACHING' OF THE CHURCH DEFINED IN THE 12TH CENTURY REGARDING, SAY, USURY, TO REALIZE THAT THE SUPPOSED 'UNCHANGEABLE TEACHING' OF THE CHURCH CHANGES ALL THE TIME. AS JOHN HENRY NEWMAN OBSERVED SO WELL IN HIS ESSAY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE, 'TO LIVE IS TO CHANGE, AND TO LIVE LONG IS TO HAVE CHANGED OFTEN.''

THUS FAR WILLS. JESUIT CARDINAL AVERY DULLES, WITH WHOM I HAVE BREAKFAST EVERY MORNING, ARGUED A FEW YEARS AGO IN AN ARTICLE IN AMERICA MAGAZINE THAT AT LEAST PART OF THE HOSTILE COVERAGE OF THE CHURCH BY THE AMERICAN PRESS WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE MEDIA - AND AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE GENERALLY - THRIVES ON CONTROVERSY, RUMOR, AND THE FIVE-SECOND SOUND BITE. THE CHURCH, ON THE OTHER HAND, THINKS IN TERMS OF CENTURIES IN TERMS OF ITS COMMITMENT TO AN ETERNAL GOSPEL, AND MAKES ITS THEOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS REGARDING ITS TEACHING WITH NUANCE AND APPEAL TO ANCIENT TRADITION AND TO A HIERARCHICAL AUTHORITY STRUCTURE. LIKEWISE, THE AMERICAN PRESS LIKES TO PORTRAY INDIVIDUALS BUCKING THE POWER STRUCTURES OF SOCIETY LIKE DAVID BATTLING GOLIATH - THE 'LITTLE GUY' CALLING BIG, FACELESS INSTITUTIONS TO ACCOUNT REGARDING THE TRAMPLING OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, NON-DEMOCRATIC AUTHORITY STRUCTURES, AND VIOLATION OF WHAT AMERICANS DEEM 'DUE PROCESS.' IT IS THUS NO SURPRISE, DULLES ARGUED, THAT THE PRESS TAKES THE PART OF THOSE WHO CHALLENGE THE TRADITION: HOW COULD IT BE OTHERWISE, DULLES ARGUES, GIVEN THE VASTLY DIFFERENT STARTING POINTS AND PRESUPPOSITIONS OF THE PRESS AND CATHOLIC TEACHING AUTHORITIES? RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS, EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL FIRST THINGS AND PROMINENT CONSERVATIVE INTELLECTUAL, HAS ARGUED THAT THE REAL CULPRIT IN MUCH RECENT 'CATHOLIC BASHING' IS THE NEW POLITICALLY-CORRECT 'ORTHODOXY' BEING PRESSED BY POWER ELITES IN UNIVERSITY FACULTIES, THE NATIONAL MEDIA, AND '60S RADICALS' NOW GROWN UP - OR SORT OF GROWN UP. AND THAT POLITICALLY CORRECT ORTHODOXY, NEUHAUS CONTENDS, IS BASED ON A RADICAL SECULARISM THAT TARGETS NOT CATHOLICISM ITSELF, BUT RATHER THE VERY NOTION OF TRANSCENDENCE AND UNIVERSAL MORAL NORMS. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THUS, IN HIS ESTIMATION, SIMPLY A VICTIM IN A MUCH LARGER WAR AGAINST TRANSCENDENT 'BELIEF' AS SUCH, AND THE CHURCH IS PICKED ON MORE THAN OTHER INSTITUTIONS SIMPLY BECAUSE OT ITS SIZE AND VISIBILITY RATHER THAN BECAUSE OF ITS UNIQUE TEACHING. IN NEUHAUS'S ESTIMATION, THE REAL GOAL OF THIS CRUSADE TO BANISH THE WORD 'GOD' FROM ALL PUBLIC VENUES IN AMERICA.

III. FOURTH:

MY OWN THEOLOGICAL EXPLANATION - THE 'TRUE EXPLANATION' (JUST KIDDING) NOW, SINCE I PUBLISHED AS BOOK THREE YEARS AGO ENTITLED ANTI-CATHOLICISM IN AMERICA, YOU MIGHT VERY WELL SUSPECT THAT I MIGHT HAVE MY OWN OPINION ON THIS TOPIC, AND YOU WOULD BE CORRECT. ACTUALLY, I THINK THAT ALL THE EXPLANATIONS I'VE JUST OFFERED YOU - FROM BETH JOHNSON, GARRY WILLS, AVERY DULLES AND RICHARD NEUHAUS - ARE CORRECT - IN PART.

THAT IS, ALL OF THESE FOLKS OFFER REAL AND COMPELLING EXPLANATIONS FOR THE PUBLIC RE-EMERGENCE OF THE ANTI-CATHOLIC IMPULSE IN AMERICAN CULTURE. BUT I ALSO THINK THAT THEY MISS SOMETHING IMPORTANT - INDEED, I WOULD SAY THAT THEY MISS SOMETHING VITAL IN EXPLAINING THE ANIMUS. I WOULD ARGUE THAT WHAT THEY'RE MISSING IS THE EIGHT-HUNDRED-POUND ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. IN A WORD, I BELIEVE THAT CATHOLICS ARE PERCEIVED TO BE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES BECAUSE, IN FACT, THEY ARE DIFFERENT. I WOULD ARGUE THAT CATHOLICS SEE THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY FROM OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS. THUS, I WOULD ARGUE THAT THE 'DIFFERENCE' COMES FROM THEIR THEOLOGICAL WORLDVIEW. I WOULD THUS ARGUE THAT THEOLOGY IS IMPORTANT, AND THAT RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES CAN'T BE REDUCED SIMPLY TO POWER RELATIONS (HOWEVER MISUSED), MEDIA HYPE, BLATANT PREJUDICE, OR RADICAL SECULARISM.

CHAPTER FOUR OF MY MOST RECENT BOOK IS ENTITLED, 'DO CATHOLICS AND OTHER AMERICANS SEE THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY?', AND MY SHORT ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS 'YES.' I GUESS WHAT I'M SAYING IS THAT I'M A THEOLOGIAN WHO TAKES THEOLOGY SERIOUSLY: THEOLOGY MATTERS, THEOLOGY COUNTS, THEOLOGY REALLY DOES SHAPE THE WAY WE SEE THE REAL WORLD, BECAUSE THEOLOGY ADDRESSES THE MOST REAL THING OF ALL -- GOD. AND IN MAKING MY THEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT, I AM GOING TO BORROW AN IDEA FROM THE GREAT AMERICAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN DAVID TRACY, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. NOW, BORROWING ANY THEOLOGICAL MODEL FROM DAVID TRACY IS ADMITTEDLY A DANGEROUS THING, GIVEN TRACY'S REPUTATION AS A BRILLIANT BUT DEEPLY COMPLEX THINKER. INDEED, ONE OF THE OLDEST JOKES IN THE FORHAM THEOLOGY DEPARTMENT GOES LIKE THIS: 'WHAT DIO YOU HAVE WHEN YOU CROSS TONY SOPRANO AND DAVID TRACY?' AND THE ANSWER, OF COURSE, IS "SOMEONE WHO MAKES YOU AN OFFER YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND.' BUT I HOPEFULLY WILL MAKE YOU AN OFFER YOU CAN UNDERSTAND, AND I WILL USE DAVID TRACY IN MAKING YOU MY OFFER, NO LESS!

WHAT TRACY WILL ALLOW US TO CONSIDER IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT CATHOLICS WERE - AND ARE - PERCEIVED TO BE OUTSIDE THE CONSENSUS OF MAINSTREAM AMERICAN CULTURE BECAUSE THEY ARE, IN FACT, OUTSIDE THE BROAD PUBLIC CONSENSUS. FROM A CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, SUCH A POSSIBILITY IS NOT NECESSARILY A BAD THING. ON THE CONTRARY, IT MIGHT BE A VERY GOOD THING INDEED. IN A LANDMARK BOOK ENTITLED THE ANALOGICAL IMAGINATION, DAVID TRACY HAS ARGUED THAT WHAT WE NORMALLY THINK OF AS THE VERY HEART OF RELIGION IS WRONG. THAT IS, IF AN INTERVIEWER WERE TO ASK US, 'WHAT DO YOU THINK RELIGION - AS SUCH - IS ALL ABOUT?' TRACY PREDICTS THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD BEGIN THEIR ANSWER BY SAYING, 'I THINK RELIGION IS ABOUT BELIEVING CERTAIN THINGS'; OR 'I THINK RELIGION IS ABOUT BRINGING OUR DAILY LIVES INTO HARMONY WITH WHAT WE DO WHEN WE WORSHIP'; OR 'I THINK THAT RELIGION IS ABOUT GIVING PEOPLE VALUES AND DIRECTION.' AND TRACY SAYS, THESE ANSWERS ARE WRONG. ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE IMPORTANT BUT SECONDARY IN TERMS OF WHAT RELIGION 'DOES.' TRACY ARGUES THAT AT ITS MOST BASIC LEVEL, RELIGION IS ABOUT THE WAY WE SEE THE WORLD, HOW WE IMAGINE REALITY ACTUALLY OPERATES.

ON THIS MOST BASIC LEVEL, TRACY SAYS RELIGION IS ABOUT 'CONCEPTUAL LANGUAGE.' AND BY 'CONCEPTUAL LANGUAGE,' TRACY MEANS SOMETHING PRIMAL, BASIC, PRE-RATIONAL. THAT IS, TRACY ARGUES THAT LONG BEFORE PEOPLE LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF THEIR CATECHISM, READ THE LETTERS OF POPE BENEDICT OR MARTIN LUTHER, OR READ GUIDES LIKE WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE, OR CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL TO UNDERSTAND GOOD AND EVIL, GOD AND TRAGEDY, THEY LEARN A FAR MORE BASIC LANGUAGE THAT FRAMES ALL THOSE IDEAS. THEY LEARN WHAT HE CALLS A 'CONCEPTUAL LANGUAGE' THAT IS LIKE MY GLASSES - THE LENS THROUGH WHICH I SEE THE WORLD EVERY MORNING WHEN I GET UP. I REACH FOR THESE EVERY MORNING - FIRST THING - AND WHEN I PUT THEM ON, THE WORLD COMES INTO FOCUS. THEY'RE PRE-CONCEPTUAL BECAUSE I DON'T THINK ABOUT THEM: THEY SIMPLY BRING THE WORLD INTO FOCUS.

TRACY ARGUES THAT IN THE PAST 1000 YEARS, CHRISTIANITY HAS DEVELOPED TWO PRE-CONCEPTUAL LANGUAGES: ONE HE CALLS 'ANALOGICAL LANGUAGE,' AND THE OTHER HE CALLS 'DIALECTICAL LANGUAGE.' ONE IS NOT BETTER THAN THE OTHER: BOTH ARE PROFOUNDLY CHRISTIAN, AND THEY ARE COMPLEMENTARY. TRACY ARGUES THAT SINCE THE 16TH CENTURY ROMAN CATHOLICISM HAS - BY AND LARGE - OPTED FOR ANALOGICAL LANGUAGE. AND HE CALLS IT ANALOGICAL BECAUSE IT RESTS ON ANALOGY - THAT IS, IT RESTS ON THE ABILITY OF HUMAN REASON TO TAKE THINGS WE CAN UNDERSTAND AND USE THEM TO EXPLAIN THINGS WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND, INCLUDING AND ESPECIALLY GOD. AS A RESULT OF THIS ANALOGICAL APPROACH OF USING THINGS WE CAN UNDERSTAND TO EXPLAIN THINGS WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND, CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY HAS EMPHASIZED THE WAYS IN WHICH GOD COMES TO US IN CONCRETE, MATERIAL WAYS: THROUGH BREAD AND WINE, WATER AND OIL, RINGS AND VOWS. THESE CONCRETE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HOLY NOT ONLY POINT TO GOD, BUT ACTUALLY CAUSE GOD TO BE MADE PRESENT TO US: THESE MATERIAL FORMS ARE THEREFORE WHAT THEOLOGIANS CALL 'REAL SYMBOLS.' REAL SYMBOLS NOT ONLY POINT BEYOND THEMSELVES: THEY ACTUALLY CAUSE THAT TO WHICH THEY POINT TO BE MADE PRESENT: LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OR TWO.

WE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT WATER WASHES AWAY DIRT, AND 'CLEANS US.' THE CATHOLIC TRADITION, BUILDING ANALOGICALLY ON THIS SIMPLE HUMAN INSIGHT -- HAS DEVELOPED A VERY SOPHISTICATED THEOLOGY OF BAPTISM: WHEN A PERSON IS BAPTIZED INTO THE COMMUNITY, THAT BASIC HUMAN RECOGNITION - THAT WATER WASHES AWAY DIRT - IS DEVELOPED INTO THE LANGUAGE OF SACRAMENTALITY: THE WATER POURED ON THE HEAD OF THE CHILD SYMBOLIZES THE WASHING AWAY OF SIN, AND ACTUALLY CAUSES SIN TO BE WASHED AWAY. LIKEWISE, ON A BASIC HUMAN LEVEL, WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHY BREAD AND WINE SYMBOLIZE NOURISHMENT, COMMUNITY, AND FELLOWSHIP. BUT THE CATHOLIC THEOLOGY OF THE EUCHARIST BUILDS ON THAT INSIGHT ANALOGICALLY TO DEVELOP A SACRAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING THAT WHEN THE COMMUNITY GATHERS TO BLESS AND SHARE THE BREAD AND CUP, THOSE ELEMENTS BOTH POINT TO GOD'S NOURISHING US, AND CAUSE GOD TO BE PRESENT IN THE BREAD AND WINE TO NOURISH US: THROUGH OUR ANALOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT BREAD AND WINE REPRESENT, THE CATHOLIC TRADITION HAS DEVELOPED AN ENTIRE RANGE OF 'REAL SYMBOLS' WHICH WE CALL 'SACRAMENTS.' AND PRECISELY BECAUSE THESE 'REAL SYMBOLS' ARE CELEBRATED IN THE MIDST OF THE COMMUNITY, THAT COMMUNITY ITSELF BECOMES CENTRAL TO OUR ENCOUNTER WITH GOD. IN CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY, INDIVIDUALS ENCOUNTER GOD PRIMARILY - AND SOME CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS WOULD SAY, ONLY - IN THE COMMUNITY. TO THAT EXTENT, THE COMMUNITY TAKES PRIORITY OVER THE INDIVIDUAL: THE EXAMPLE I ALWAYS GIVE MY STUDENTS: THE DUTY OF SUNDAY MASS ATTENDANCE.

LIKEWISE, FOR AN OLDER GENERATION OF CATHOLICS: THE 'DOES THIS COUNT?' QUESTION AT SATURDAY AFTERNOON WEDDINGS OFFERS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF THIS. OVER AGAINST THIS ANALOGICAL TRADITION OF CHRISTIANITY, TRACY ARGUES THAT THERE DEVELOPED ANOTHER - AND TO SOME EXTENT, OPPOSING, WAY OF CONCEIVING GOD AND THE GOSPEL. HE CALLS THIS APPROACH THE 'DIALECTICAL LANGUAGE OF CHRISTIANITY.' THIS APPROACH SEEKS TO DISTANCE ITSELF FROM BOTH THE PRIORITY OF THE COMMUNITY OVER THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE SACRAMENTAL EMPHASIS ON GOD'S COMING TO US IN CREATED FORMS. RATHER, DIALECTICAL LANGUAGE EMPHASIZES THE CENTRALITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL: AS CALVIN ARGUED IN THE 16TH CENTURY, GOD DOESN'T CALL US IN 'LUMPS': RATHER, GOD CALLS DISCIPLES INDIVIDUALLY, BY NAME. LIKEWISE, DIALECTICAL CHRISTIANITY WANTS TO AVOID THE SACRAMENTAL EMPHASIS ON GOD'S NEARNESS IN BREAD AND WINE AND OTHER MATERIAL FORMS. TO THE DIALECTICAL SUCH AN EMPHASIS ALWAYS VEERS TOWARD THE MAGICAL, PUTTING GOD AT OUR BECK AND CALL: DIALECTICAL APPROACHES TO CHRISTIANITY WANT TO EMPHASIZE GOD'S TRANSCENDENCE -- GOD'S 'OTHERNESS' AND FREEDOM. DIALECTICAL LANGUAGE EMPHASIZES GOD AS SPIRIT.

OVER AGAINST THE ANALOGICAL EMPHASIS ON COMMUNITY, THE DIALECTICAL EMPHASIZES THE INDIVIDUAL: INDIVIDUAL FIRST, COMMUNITY SECOND. THE NIKE SHOE CORPORATION HAS THUS OFFERED US ONE OF THE CLEAREST EXAMPLES OF THIS DIALECTICAL APPROACH IN ITS FAMOUS LOGO: ASK THE AUDIENCE. JUST DO IT: IT'S UP TO US, AS INDIVIDUALS TO MAKE THE IMPORTANT DECISIONS OF OUR LIVES: DON'T WAIT FOR YOUR FRIENDS. FOR YOUR PARENTS. FOR OTHERS: JUST DO IT! IT'S UP TO YOU!

LIKEWISE, IN EMPHASIZING GOD'S TRANSCENDENCE - GOD'S FREEDOM FROM HUMAN PLANS AND MODELS, KARL BARTH - THAT GREAT PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN - WARNED HIS OWN STUDENTS: 'ONE DOES NOT TALK ABOUT GOD BY TALKING ABOUT MAN IN A LOUD VOICE.' DON'T HITCH YOUR MODEL OF WHAT GOD CAN AND SHOULD DO ONTO THE HOLY ONE. GOD HAS HER OWN PURPOSES, WHICH TRANSCEND HUMAN INTENTIONS. NOW, I CAN HEAR SOME OF YOU THINKING - WITH THAT SPECIAL RADAR WHICH JESUITS HAVE - 'THIS IS ALL VERY INTERESTING MASSA, BUT WHAT IN THE HECK DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANTI-CATHOLICISM IN AMERICA?' WELL, ACTUALLY, I THINK IT HAS A GREAT DEAL TO DO WITH ANTI- CATHOLICISM IN AMERICA. I AGREE WITH A LONG LIST OF RELIGIOUS THINKERS - BEGINNING WITH MAX WEBER AND GOING RIGHT UP TO THE AUTHOR OF BOWLING ALONE - THAT AMERICA IS THE MOST DIALECTICAL CULTURE ON EARTH.

THE CULTURAL EXPERIMENT IN THE UNITED STATES - ESPECIALLY AS EMBODIED IN THE BILL OF RIGHTS, OUR TRADITION OF CAPITALISM, AND OUR WORK ETHIC - IS SET UP TO HELP THE INDIVIDUAL 'PURSUE HAPPINESS' FREE FROM THE CONTROL OF GROUPS. INDEED, WE'RE THE ONLY POLITICAL EXPERIMENT ON EARTH WHERE THE INDIVIDUAL'S 'PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS' IS GUARANTEED IN THE FOUNDING DOCUMENTS THEMSELVES. 'JUST DO IT' HAS SOLD SO MANY MILLIONS OF SNEAKERS BECAUSE IT SPEAKS TO THE DIALECTICAL IMPULSES IN OUR CULTURE: 'YOUR FUTURE IS UP TO YOU. DON'T WAIT FOR ANYONE ELSE TO DO IT FOR YOU. DO IT FOR YOUR SELF. 'JUST DO IT.' AND MILLIONS OF AMERICANS DO.

MY VERY SMART UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT FORDHAM UNDERSTAND THIS. ALTHOUGH 70% OF OUR STUDENTS ARE CATHOLIC - AND ARE THUS OSTENSIBLY STEEPED IN THE LANGUAGE OF ANALOGY AND SACRAMENT - THEIR TAKE ON CATHOLICISM IS ACTUALLY FILTERED THROUGH THE AMERICAN CULTURE DIALECTICAL SCREEN.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE EXAMPLES: PETER JENNINGS AT THE PAPAL YOUTH DAY IN DENVER, COLORADO 10 YEARS AGO. THIS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ANALOGICAL AND DIALECTICAL WAYS OF SEEING THE WORLD HAS BEEN EXPLORED BY A NUMBER OF SCHOLARS: DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT: LOOK IT UP. YOU MIGHT WANT TO START BY LOOKING UP ANDREW GREELEY'S NATIONAL OPINION RESEARCH CENTER. IT'S AT NORC.ORG.

GREELEY - HIMSELF A CATHOLIC PRIEST WHO IS A GOOD FRIEND OF DAVID TRACY'S - HAS TAKEN TRACY'S DISTINCTION BETWEEN 'ANALOGICAL' AND 'DIALECTICAL' AND EXPLORED THOSE DISTINCTIONS ON A HOST OF SPECIFIC POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND MORAL ISSUES, AND HE'S TABULATED THE RESULTS FOR YOU. IF WE PRESUPPOSE THAT CATHOLICS, BY AND LARGE, HAVE OPTED FOR THE ANALOGICAL APPROACH, AND PROTESTANTS, BY AND LARGE, HAVE OPTED FOR THE DIALECTICAL APPROACH - A PRESUPPOSITION THAT GREELEY SHARES -- THE STATISTICAL RESULTS POSTED BY GREELEY ARE QUITE STRIKING. WHAT GREELEY FOUND IS THAT, POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY. CATHOLIC VOTERS TEND TO BE MORE CONCERNED WITH THE PUBLIC GOOD THAN PROTESTANTS. THAT IS, CATHOLICS TEND TO RANK HIGH ON THEIR LIST OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES CONCERN FOR THE POOR, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS, THE UNBORN, THE UNEMPLOYED - THAT IS, THE COMMUNITY. PROTESTANT VOTERS, ON THE OTHER HAND, TEND TO BE MORE CONCERNED POLITICALLY WITH PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS THREATENED BY GROUPS: THAT IS, THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL PRISONERS, MINORITY GROUPS, AND THE HONESTY OF INDIVIDUAL POLITICIANS TEND TO OUT-TRUMP THE CONCERNS OF WHAT CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS HAVE TERMED 'THE COMMON GOOD.'

THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, MY OWN SENSE IS THAT AMERICAN CATHOLICS INCREASINGLY READ THEIR ANALOGICAL TRADITION THROUGH THE LENS OF A DIALECTICAL WORLDVIEW. THIS IS NOT, IN ITSELF, A BAD THING. BUT IT DOES MAKE MORE DIFFICULT THE 'PASSING ON' OF THE CATHOLIC ETHIC IN THE UNITED STATES. MY OWN VERY SMART STUDENTS IN FORDHAM COLLEGE, I THINK - AND FORDHAM HAS THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS TAKING PART IN COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS OF ANY UNIVERSITY, PUBLIC OR PRIVATE, IN NEW YORK STATE - HAVE DIFFICULTY ARTICULATING THE RATIONALE OF CATHOLIC PRINCIPLES ABOUT THE COMMON GOOD. THEY TEND TO BE GOOD EXAMPLES OF WHAT CHRISTIAN SMITH, IN HIS BOOK SOUL SEARCHING, CALLS ADHERENTS OF THE 'CHURCH OF MORAL WHATEVERISM' - ADHERENTS OF WHAT CHRISTIAN SMITH CALLS 'MORALISTIC THERAPEUTIC DEISM' - A PROFOUNDLY INDIVIDUALISTIC, RELATIVISTIC FAITH.

THE UNITED STATES WAS FOUNDED - AND ITS POLITICAL SYSTEM WAS LAUNCHED - BY REFORMED PROTESTANTS PROFOUNDLY INFLUENCED BY THE DIALECTICAL WORLDVIEW, IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS MUST BE PROTECTED AGAINST OPPRESSIVE GROUPS. THOSE DIALECTICAL IMPULSES ARE NOW DIFFUSE, AND ARE SELDOM - IF EVER - PUT INTO THEOLOGICAL PHRASES AT ALL, BUT RATHER PUT INTO PHRASES LIKE 'FREEDOM OF CHOICE,' 'BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE,' AND 'JUST DO IT.' BUT BECAUSE THAT DIALECTICAL IMPULSE IS NOW DIFFUSE AND EMBODIED IN SECULAR LANGUAGE DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY LESS POWERFUL OR LESS COMPELLING FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW CATHOLICS ARE VIEWED AS 'OTHERS' IN AMERICA. ON THE CONTRARY, I WOULD ARGUE THAT JUST THE OPPOSITE IS THE CASE.

IV. FIFTHLY: WHY THE NEW PERCEPTION OF 'CATHOLICS AS OUTSIDERS' MIGHT NOT BE A BAD THING

1. FIRST: A PERCEPTION THAT CATHOLICS ARE NOT TOTALLY 'IN STEP' WITH OTHER CITIZENS REMINDS US OF WHAT DIETRICH BONHOEFFER CALLED 'THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP.'

-----NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE A FEW MONTHS AGO ABOUT BISHOPS IN POLITICS. A CATHOLIC WOMAN: 'I'M AN AMERICAN FIRST AND A CATHOLIC SECOND.'

2. SECOND: PERCEPTION HELPS EMPHASIZE THE CREATIVE TENSION WITH MAINSTREAM CULTURE WHICH ALL RELIGIOUS GROUPS MUST MAINTAIN IN ORDER TO SUSTAIN A HEALTHY SELF-IDENTITY. AS DOROTHY DAY ALWAYS SAID: 'WE MUST WORK TO HELP THE CULTURE WORK BETTER. BUT THE CULTURE CANNOT SAVE US.'

3. THIRD: THE TENSION BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND THE BROADER CULTURE OFFERS CATHOLICS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BALANCE THE 'PRIESTLY' AND THE 'PROPHETIC' ELEMENTS OF CHRISTIANITY WHICH ALL GREAT RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS MUST UNDERTAKE: PRIESTLY/PROPHETIC.

4. FOURTH: THIS TENSION CAN SERVE TO REMIND CATHOLICS IN A HEALTHY WAY THAT THEY ARE PART OF AN ANCIENT, TRANSNATIONAL TRADITION WHICH TRANSCENDS PARTICULAR CULTURES.

5. FIFTH: THE WIDESPREAD PERCEPTION THAT CATHOLICISM DOESN'T SHARE ALL THE PRESUPPOSITIONS OF AMERICAN MAINSTREAM CULTURE HELPS CATHOLICS BE MORE AWARE THAT THE GOSPEL WILL ALWAYS BE MET WITH RESISTANCE IN SOME PARTS OF HUMAN CULTURE - ESPECIALLY THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF CONCERN FOR THE POOR AND THE MARGINALIZED.

6. SIXTH: THE SENSE THAT CATHOLICS REPRESENT A NOT COMPLETELY AMALGAMATED GROUP WITHIN AMERICAN CULTURE CAN HELP AMERICAN CATHOLICS TO REMEMBER THAT THE 'TRADITIO' - THE 'PASSING ON' OF THE FAITH TO THE NEXT GENERATION - MUST BE RE-THOUGHT AND RE-INVENTED IN EVERY GENERATION, INCLUDING OURS: CF. THE SOBERING FINDINGS OF CHRISTIAN SMITH.

7. SEVENTH: THE SEEMINGLY NEW SOURCES OF ANTI-CATHOLICISM CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE HEALTHY INSIGHT THAT CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY IS NEVER COMPLETELY CULTURALLY-AFFIRMING NOR SECTARIAN. THAT IS, CATHOLICISM MUST FIGHT BEING 'SWALLOWED UP' BY A COUNTRY WHICH G. K. CHESTERTON CALLED 'A LAND TOO EASILY LOVED.' AT THE SAME TIME, AMERICAN CATHOLICS MUST RESIST VERY POWERFUL SECTARIAN GROUPS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY WHICH WOULD HAVE IT WITHDRAW FROM THE CULTURAL CONVERSATION INTO A FORTRESS, AS THOUGH WE HAD NO OBLIGATIONS TO THE 'COMMON GOOD' DEBATE ON THE MESSY FIELDS OF POLITICS, ECONOMIC PLANNING, AND CIVIL CONVERSATION. IN OTHER WORDS, AMERICAN CATHOLICS MUST LEARN TO BALANCE TWO SETS OF HEALTHY LOYALTIES, AND NOT COLLAPSE ONE INTO THE OTHER: WE ARE CALLED NEITHER TO BE CULTURAL CHEERLEADERS, NOR CULTURAL NAY-SAYERS, BUT RATHER SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY - WHAT AVERY DULLES CALLS 'THE DIALECTICALLY TENSE MIDDLE.'

8. EIGHTH: THE PERCEPTION THAT CATHOLICS MEASURE THEIR BELIEFS AND PRACTICE BY A STANDARD DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF MAINSTREAM AMERICAN CULTURE MIGHT ACTUALLY ALLOW THEM TO BE BETTER CITIZENS, AS THEY CAN BE WITNESSES WITHIN THE CULTURE TO A VISION OF THE 'GOOD SOCIETY' WHOSE STANDARDS TRANSCEND POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY, PUBLIC OPINION, AND MASS CULTURE. I FIND IT DISINGENUOUS TO FEIGN SURPRISE, OUTRAGE, OR HURT WHEN CHRISTIAN GROUPS WITNESSING TO THE GOSPEL FIND THEMSELVES ATTACKED OR DISMISSED BY THE CULTURED DESPISERS OF RELIGION, FOR - AS ST. PAUL REMINDED HIS FIRST CENTURY READERS (AND US) 'WE HAVE HERE NO LASTING CITY, BUT SEEK ONE THAT IS TO COME.