 |
| Sister Simone Campbell: photo courtesy the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries, via flickr |
Feminist theologian Mary Hunt does not pull any punches in her analysis of the impact of the "Nuns on the Bus" on the social and political agenda of our nation.
Neither do the nuns on the bus! Their message reflects Matthew 25 and clearly places protecting poor and marginalized people as an agenda of compassion that impacts people of all faiths and no faith.
Young people really "get it" as was witnessed by their presence and support of the nuns on the bus! Institutional religion is not their priority, but justice and compassion is, which is at the heart of religious belief
The nuns agenda of justice and freedom for all, not just the bishops, is becoming an important election issue.
Well- done, Sisters! You have shone a bright light on immoral budgets like the one proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan. No wonder the lobbyists with big money and powerful names are running for cover.
Let's hope that your prophetic witness to Catholic social justice issues will be a top priority of U.S. voters too, and that they will elect responsible public officials who will legislate for the common good, instead of giving more tax cuts to billionaires, who are unwilling in many cases, to pay their fair share. We cannot afford spiritually to balance our budget on the backs of the poor.
The nuns on the bus have left the bishops' in the dust with their fizzling 'fortnight of freedom' out of steam! It goes to show that no multi-million dollar public relations campaign is a match for nuns' prayer power and prophetic witness!
Well done, Sisters, and outstanding analysis, Mary Hunt in your article below!
Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org
sofiabmm@aol.com
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/6156/nuns_on_the_bus%3A_2700_miles%2C_nine_states%2C_and_a_rock_star_dc_welcome/
"Tourist buses are fixtures on Capitol Hill, but the arrival at the Methodist Building of “Nuns on the Bus: Nuns Drive for Faith, Family and Fairness” in noonday heat to the cheers of their colleagues had to be a first. Hustled out by handlers like rock stars, the half-dozen nuns (and one woman who was not a nun but joined the trip anyhow) made their way to a flag-backed stage to join other interfaith leaders in prayer and speeches.
Sister Simone Campbell, a Sister of Social Service and the Executive Director of NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby the sponsoring organization, appeared flabbergasted and delighted by the hundreds who turned out in the midst of the DC region’s massive power outage to welcome them home. Prophets in their own land—in this case, lobbyists among lobbyists—usually get a mixed reception at best.
Fourth of July tourists wondered what was happening, a good question for a broader audience. Why did screaming young Hill staffers, dozens of Muslim women in head scarves, elderly people both men and women, social justice workers, and lobbyists converge to fête a group of women who traveled 2,700 miles through nine states to visit soup kitchens? I am sure the riders will tell the story in full detail once they get their land legs back, and I know video crews accompanied them. So for now, I offer a word of explanation about what I think the trip means in the big picture of religiously influenced social change.
Bishops in Limos?
Several factors converged to spark the nuns’ creativity. A major one was the passage of House Republican Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget, cutting $36 billion from food assistance programs without trimming the military budget or increasing taxes on the wealthy. Mr. Ryan claimed that his ideology was faith-based, indeed that Catholic social teaching justified his approach to push poor people to fend for themselves. The NETWORK people simply did not see it that way, nor did a sizable group of Georgetown University faculty who called Ryan on the carpet. Even the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a tepid letter from their president, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan from New York, indicated some displeasure. (Mr. Ryan’s theological advisor is probably out of a job...
The "Fortnight" Fizzles
And then there's the notable fact that the nuns eclipsed the bishops’ “Fortnight of Freedom” without even mentioning it. Apparently official church efforts are going on all over the country as I write, but enthusiasm has been so low that even the bishops aren’t saying much about it. Even critics have ignored it. So much for a large-scale buy-in to their argument that the government insisting on having insurers offer contraception without a co-pay would eradicate religious liberty as we know and love it. Not even the Vatican’s brand new Opus Dei Fox News communication strategist Greg Burke can spin their way out of this failure. Coming on the heels of the conviction of a Philadelphia priest for enabling sexual predators to continue in ministry, what virtually every other diocese did as well, appetite for the bishops’ ideology is all but gone..."
Article by Mary E. Hunt
Mary E. Hunt, Ph.D., is a feminist theologian who is co-founder and co-director of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. A Roman Catholic active in the women-church movement, she lectures and writes on theology and ethics with particular attention to liberation issues.
2 comments:
Sister Simone Campbell is a heretic who has denied the miracle of the loaves and the fishes.
Naturally she has your support.
In the spirit of Christ, bitter old women heretics like her deserve to be beaten and robbed of their little money and their keys and ID.
Post a Comment