The editors at CathNews New Zealand and Pacific have been saddened by some aggressive and even offensive comments that have been submitted to our website.
Not all of them have been approved for publication.
Feed-back we have received would lead us to believe we are not alone in our discomfort.
In the year 197 Tertullian imagined pagans looking at Christians and saying “Look how they love one another (for they themselves [pagans] hate one another); and how they are ready to die for each other (for they themselves [pagans] are ready to kill each other.”)
We wonder if a searcher for the truth coming across the comments in CathNews New Zealand and Pacific would say the same thing.
At CathNews New Zealand and Pacific we work hard to provide a broad range of news items, comments, features and opinions.
We select items from all parts of the faith spectrum, in the hope that knowledge might lead to understanding and understanding to bridge building.
It is not a matter of agreeing, but of seeking to get inside the skin of another person so as to understand why they think and act in the way they do.
Without this understanding, a genuine exchange of ideas is impossible.
No one changes their mind by being shouted at, let alone being labeled as evil.
Polarisation is a bad thing. Conflict need not be, and in fact in human affairs it is often vital for growth in truth.
The opening of the Good News to us, the Gentiles, depended in no small measure on the conflict between Paul and Peter in the early Church.
Pope Benedict XVI repeatedly stressed the compatibility of faith and reason, and there is a lovely phrase in the Declaration of Religious Freedom in Vatican II that says, “Truth cannot be imposed except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entry into the mind at once quietly and with power.”
So in the words of Barack Obama can we:
- Find a way back to civility empowered by faith
- Step out of our comfort zones in an effort to bridge divisions
- At least be civil, by relearning how to disagree without being disagreeable
A rule of thumb could be, “If you can’t speak the truth with love, then it is better to remain silent.”
In 1997 Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who was the Archbishop of Chicago, wrote:
“American Catholics must reconstitute the conditions for addressing our differences constructively—a common ground centred on faith in Jesus, marked by accountability to the living Catholic tradition, and ruled by a renewed spirit of civility, dialogue, generosity, and broad and serious consultation.”
Here is a summary of seven principles for dialogue suggested by Bernardin:
- We should recognise that no single group or viewpoint in the church has a complete monopoly on the truth.
- We should not think of ourselves or any one part of the church a saving remnant.
- We should test all proposals for their pastoral realism and potential impact on living individuals as well as for their theological truth.
- We should presume that those with whom we differ are acting in good faith. They deserve civility, charity, and a good-faith effort to understand their concerns.
- We should put the best possible construction on differing positions, addressing their strongest points rather than seizing upon the most vulnerable aspects in order to discredit them.
- We should be cautious in ascribing motives. We should not impugn another’s love of the church and loyalty to it.
- We should bring the church to engage in the issues of the day, not by simple defiance or by naive acquiescence, but acknowledging, in the fashion of Gaudium et Spes, both our culture’s valid achievements and real dangers.
Called to be Catholic in a time of peril
There is always a fair degree of editorial judgment in allowing and not allowing comments. In general the editors’ choice is governed by several factors:
At CathNews New Zealand and Pacific, in deciding whether or not to approve a comment we ask ourselves:
- is the comment spam?
- is the comment offensive?
- is the comment libellous?
- is the comment ad-hominem?
- is the comment a put down?
- is the comment a “cheap shot”?
- is the comment on topic?
- is the commenter repeating themselves?
- has the point been been already made by someone else?
- is the comment adding to the discussion?
We hope comments on CathNews New Zealand and Pacific will be expressed in a manner befitting the followers of Jesus Christ who said, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37
DenisO’Hagan
Denis O’Hagan is the editor of CathNews New Zealand and Pacific
Image: ovenantaldivide.com
