This
week, our class discussed the hypocrisy and intolerance deeply rooted in the
culture of the Puritans who first colonized America.
In Of Plymouth Plantation, William
Bradford’s pilgrims at one moment praise God’s name, trying to be the pure,
innocent sheep He wants in His flock. The next moment—in complete disregard to
the Ten Commandments—they slaughter some “barbarians” (Native Americans) and
feel no remorse (Bradford 102). In
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter,
a woman in the town calls for Hester Prynne’s execution, saying she has never
seen such a vile creature who has lived a life more contrary to Jesus’
teachings. But this woman’s lofty and superior attitude is exactly what Jesus
tried to eliminate.
This week, Pope Francis discussed
the acceptance and forgiveness deeply rooted in the culture of Catholicism and
how to bring some of it back. He said the Church shouldn’t constantly discuss
issues like gay marriage that alienate priests as crazy, intolerant radicals.
In fact, issues like this make people intolerant
of the Church and less likely to accept its teachings. However, the pope does
not wish to change the Church’s position on the issue. Detroit’s Archbishop
Vigneron, though he opposes gay marriage because Catholic doctrine says it is
not the will of God, says he is glad that the pontiff wishes to “heal wounds
and warm the hearts of people” as Jesus originally aimed to do.
In both
today’s society and that of the Puritans, the Church should be allowed to set
whatever laws and statutes—whether they be about adultery, the definition of
marriage, or anything else—she wants. But in both these societies, the Church
should not let her laws breed hypocrisy that overshadows that beautiful,
pulsating spirit that is the life force of Christianity: God’s love.
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