The Catholic Church wingnuts are at it again, protesting plans to give Archbishop Desmond Tutu an honorary degree from Gonzaga University. Apparently it’s now imperative that Anglican bishops conform to Roman Catholic views on abortion, birth control and gay rights. Charlie Pierce:
Desmond Tutu is a genuine hero. He evinced more courage on any particular afternoon of the 1980’s than these people collectively have demonstrated in their entire lives and then, when his work for justice was done, he helped put his country back together again. In addition, he happens to be a high-ranking cleric in his own church. He won a Nobel Prize. His views on abortion and gay rights — as if opposition to them were the encompassing definition of Catholicism even for most Catholics — are as irrelevant to his life’s work as are his opinions on the designated hitter and the future of high-speed rail. Are these people seriously arguing that any speaker at any commencement at any Catholic college must adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church even if said speaker is, you know, not Catholic. This is an appeal back to the stifled, bell-jar, We’re-The-Only-Path-To-Salvation-So-Don’t-Sing-With-The-Protestants Catholicism of my youth. At my graduation from Marquette in 1975, an honorary degree was given to Elie Wiesel. Strangely, the heretic Jesuits involved never asked him about The Pill.
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/Tutu_Stupid_For_Words#ixzz1stUOIYpD
