|
Make Your Voice Heard
It seems that within minutes of Governor Eliot Spitzer’s election to office, his proposals have been entirely free of any ethical or moral bindings.
If you disagree with the governor’s budget plan to fund embryonic stem-cell research with $100 million in the next fiscal year, to be followed by $500 million over 10 years, and a $1.5 billion bond act, then join Cardinal Egan and all New York State bishops on Lobby Day, March 13, in Albany. If you are unable to attend, there are other ways to let your voice be heard.
As Catholics, we should object to the use of human embryos in experimentation and not want our tax dollars funding this research in the name of scientific advancement. Let the governor and your legislators know of your opposition immediately. State budget negotiations are under way right now. We ask you to urge your State Senator and Assembly member to reject this proposal for the destruction of living human embryos. Act today, because the legislature has begun budget negotiations and the state budget must be finalized by April 1.
We support life-saving research with adult stem cells and umbilical cord blood cells to treat a wide variety of disabling conditions and diseases. The governor’s proposal would bias state grants in favor of embryonic stem-cell research and take away from adult stem-cell and cord blood research. Because we are sympathetic to the plight of those who suffer debilitating diseases and injuries, we strongly urge lawmakers to support successful adult stem-cell research, not take funding away from it.
The governor’s plan is fiscally irresponsible. A huge investment into embryonic stem-cell research is unlikely to lead to speedy cures for disease, and experts agree that treatments, if any, are decades away. Taxpayers should not foot the bill for speculative research that even private investors deem too risky.
By visiting the New York State Catholic Conference website, www.nyscatholicconference.org., you will find your elected officials, as well as where to e-mail or call them. Let them know that you do not support the governor’s proposed budget. Make your voice heard.
Catholic in a Multi-Cultural World
Those who explain that they were raised Catholic but no longer identify themselves as Catholic make up the second largest religious group in the United States, coming in just after Southern Baptists and just ahead of practicing Roman Catholics.
Peter Feuerherd who writes of this statistic in Church magazine divides the group three ways: those who have made a serious study of theology, doctrine and history and have found the Church of their birth deficient; those who have left the Catholic Church after wrestling with some matter of sexual morality and found themselves outside traditional Catholicism; and others described as “spiritual seekers” who are inclined to seek out other kinds of religious experience and describe themselves as “spiritual” or “religious” without any specific religious affiliation.
Another set of statistics shows that 37% of Americans were raised as Catholics and 74% of those saying that they still consider themselves as Catholics; 14% of those who now describe themselves as Protestant and 1% have joined non-Christian religions or sects. Those working in the apostolate explain that marriage to a person who is not Catholic as the main reason for Catholics to “leave the Church” or take up another affiliation. The reason in most cases is to maintain marital unity or harmony, a fact that we may see as inevitable in our pluralistic culture and society.
The fluidity of Church affiliation points out a number of things to those working with the general public. First of all, it points to the futility of relying totally on “born Catholics.” Such affiliation is usually heavily colored by ethnic tradition that is presently under fire from many sources. Being raised #Catholic usually involves attending Catholic or parochial schools where ethnic and neighborhood identification were strong. Much of this will evaporate with the decline of the “old neighborhood.”
Those dealing with marriage preparation should be very much aware of the likelihood of changed religious affiliation, or at least the need for strong affiliation on the part of the Catholic partner, if he or she is to remain Catholic and if the religion of the family is to be Catholic.
Programs such as the RCIA are a particularly contemporary need including the development of a nurturing community in addition to intellectual formation. The development of parish life should involve the development of community and identification. An unfortunate aspect of modern parish life has been the loss of a sense of community. Holy Name and Rosary Societies often appear as just “old fashioned” but they provided the flesh and blood of parish identification for generations of Catholics.
The same may be said of parish teams and other means of youth identification. It may be that approaches in the past were too heavily cultural, but they worked. It has to be pointed out that parish youth groups, although most effective with the few, still can produce effective leaders.
Nevertheless, less intense activities such as teams and dances do reach the wider audience of young people. It is true that Mormon and Evangelical youth programs are more successful than Catholic outreach these days, but the Catholic youth minister must keep the balance between intense formation and universal appeal. Both approaches have their place in a vitalized and vitalizing parish community.
|
