Keith Patrick O'Brien - a Victim Himself?

It has been difficult to ignore the media furore that has surrounded the Archbishop emeritus, Keith Patrick O’Brien and his fall from grace in yet another sexual scandal for the Roman church. Given his outspoken views against homosexual relationships the knee-jerk reaction of ‘hypocrite!’ has been widespread.

Those who have never gotten drunk and done regrettable things that we would never dream of whilst in a state of sobriety are entitled to completely unalloyed glee at the spectacle of a moralist revealed as a hypocrite. The rest of us should reign-in our delight. I say this not to trivialise O’Brien’s behavior, nor to take anything away from those who have been hurt by his actions and words, or deny that he has abused a position of power. But I do believe that O’Brien himself is a victim of the fear-fuelled moralism of the Roman curia.

This moralism approaches questions of human sexuality from a position of ugly, intransient dogmatism. But questions about human sexuality are not questions of correctness, they are not about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. It is precisely because they are questions about human sexuality that they are anthropological questions, they are questions about love and the very essence of being human. When approached as dogmatic questions they can never be answered in a way that will honour and affirm a richly diverse and beautiful creation. Dogmatism will always seek uniformity rather than celebrate diversity and in seeking uniformity dogmatism will seek to re-forge or ultimately cast out that which does not conform.

The crux of the matter is a combination of fear-fuelled moralism on matters of human sexuality and the blanket expectation from the Roman church of unrealistic standard of continence from its priesthood. By no means am I suggesting that there is no place for celibate vocations. Celibacy is neither pointless nor impossible. I have known some very good, loving and trustworthy people who have taken vows of celibacy and so far as I know they have kept them. I do not believe that we are living in the golden age of sexual freedom and expression that the media all too often constructs for us. But I do feel that when the Roman church talks about sex it often focuses on fear rather than love and charity.

It goes without saying that O’Brien’s anti-gay rhetoric probably masked deep seated fears about his own sexuality and that his fears have caused him to create much told and untold pain for many LGBT Roman Catholics. I cannot help but wonder to what extent O’Brien is himself a victim of the churches teaching. A cleric who – before the whiff of a red cardinals hat - was once considered a voice for tolerance in the Roman church, O’Brien was clearly under pressure to speak out against gays forcefully during the marriage equality debates. And that he did, calling homosexuality a "grotesque subversion”. And thus has emerged the familiar and sorry tale of a powerful, sexually repressed man who is the victim of an authority's soul-destroying desire for absolute uniformity and same-ness, who has in turn used his power to victimize many others.

A slightly calmer, more reasoned response to the English Synod.

‘THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! IT IS SIMPLY NOT ACCEPTABLE!!! WE MUST WORK BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE TO STOP THIS BIGOTRY IMMEDIATELY’!

I seriously doubt that any argument has ever ended with the words “Now that you have shouted at me, called me names and belittled my opinions I agree with and respect you, thank you for transforming my heart”. In the aftermath of the decision of the General Synod of the Church of England not to consecrate women to the Episcopate there was much anger and upset. I admit my initial reaction to the decision of the Synod was not exactly charitable, and looking around online I certainly wasn’t the only one who was hurt and disappointed by the decision.

History gives us countless examples of how the message of the loving, involved and living Gospel has been distorted and used to justify pre-existing prejudices: crusades, slavery, accusations of blood libel, exclusion and bullying of LGBT persons, the medieval church condoning women being ‘subservient’ to men and being raped and beaten by their husbands - all of these things have been done in the name of God, who we profess to be Love. Discrimination in the church is nothing new. We live in a world where many people are insecure, unaffirmed and fearful. In the face of prejudice, which is always fuelled by fear, we face the challenge of trying to reflect Christ to hearts that are afraid, both inside and outside of the church.

How do we rise to this challenge? Should we just leave it all in the hands of God, with the faith that all will be well, and keep the peace? A big question I had after the decision of the English Synod was ‘is it okay to get angry and frustrated when we meet prejudice and injustice’? Or is turning the other cheek about maintaining a ‘serene’ disposition at all times in all situations the right thing to do?

Of course, apathy is never the answer. Apathy is the opposite of love, and is answerable for much evil and exploitation in the world.

One of my favourite theologians, Richard Rohr (OFM), speaks of the process of being authentically and truly-present with another as ‘an encounter wherein the self-disclosure of one evokes a deeper life in the other’. Very often we settle for being ‘human-doings’ or ‘human-sayings’ rather than human-beings, but it is at the being level of life that love is most profoundly transferred. The words of Jesus “When you forgive others they are unbound; and those you don’t forgive you keep them bound up” (John 20:22-23) show us just how much power God has given us to affirm or deny one another, to receive one another’s love, to receive one another’s curse. The way that we treat others is the very gateway for Divine affirmation or ignorance of the Divine. 

God took such a risk in creating us with such power for one another and how awful must it be for persons for whom there are few or no truthful, loving and affirming mirrors- nobody who treats them in a way so as to be the gateway for Divine affirmation. As such, it is important in our dialogue with others to remember how Jesus looked at the rich young man “and loved him” (Mark 10:21). When we engage with other Christian groups, with those who have different opinions to ours – no matter how baffling, unjust and discriminatory they seem to us - we must be mindful of how our words and actions lead them towards or away from Divine affirmation.

Anger, although an entirely natural and human reaction does not serve our goal. Harsh words and argument will not transform the hearts of those members of the English Synod who still seek to exclude women from the Episcopate. All too often, in our passion to end injustice in the church and the world, we can easily become the oppressor or the aggressor at the opposite end of the spectrum to those we disagree with. When we mirror others negatively we become obstacles instead of gateways to Divine affirmation (both of ourselves and the other person).

If we can transform hearts by presence, lifestyle and loving relationship instead of, ‘having rows’ with people, this will bring the living, involved and loving Gospel into realisation and transform the church and the world in a way that no amount of heated debate, doctrine, or moralistic ‘purity competitions’ ever will. We should be confident in moving forward with faith, hope and love knowing that this is not the end of the story, that the transforming Holy Spirit is working in the church and that the full ministry of women in the Church of England will one day be realised and affirmed. 

Edible Central Heating.

Perhaps this is not the most ascetically pleasing dish in the world, but it hits all of the right spots on a cold November evening washed down with a glass of Pinot Noir and accompanied by some great music from the Celtic Connections festival.

I use this recipe from the Hairy Bikers, tonight it was made with the following modifications;

• I forgot to buy bacon so I added an extra can of butterbeans and a red salad pepper.
• I used a pinch of dried Thyme instead of the recommended amount of fresh Thyme.
• I used ground sweet paprika instead of smoked paprika.
• I added half a teaspoon of ground Cayenne pepper for that extra 'ooomph!'.
• The recipe seems to think the wine is optional, but I beg to differ. 
• I forgot to add sugar. Didn't seem to impair the flavour. 
• There did not seem to be any need to add salt. The stock made it salty enough, in a good way!

It was served with mashed potato. The orange bits in the mashed potato are the bits of a lonley carrot that was at the bottom of the vegetable draw and needed to be used, so I chucked it in with the tatties!

Bliss. 

A self-indulgent first post!

I have tried blogging before and it is always a challenge to write the first post; it sets the tone for the rest of the blog and one can put a great amount of ‘expectation’ upon oneself when writing the first post.

However I think that this blog will amount to an eclectic mix of ‘stuff’ that makes up my life and with this in mind I’ve gone for a first post with some eclectic facts about myself. Twenty five in fact. I hope to write more interesting posts in the future. So here goes for now...

1.   I'm quite shy. Until you get to know me then, as my husband would tell you, the trouble is getting me to stop talking! 
   
   2.       My Myers-Briggs 'personality type' is INFJ.
   3.       Thanks to the resourcefulness of the dentistry students of Dundee University, one of my teeth is held in place with a piece of paperclip and some dental cement.
   4.       I have never been stung by a bee or a wasp. But I have been stung by several jellyfish.
   5.       I went to the same 6^th Form college as Dominic Monaghan.
   6.       I went to the same university as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I even sat in the same bar as the Duke once…at the same time. My mother was far more excited by this than I was!
   7.       I honestly don’t know if abortion is right or wrong.  
   8.       Despite living the majority of my teenage years a stones-throw away from Manchester, I have only ever visited one nightclub. I despised it.
   9.       Roxanne is my ‘Sunday name’. Most people call me Roxy. And please NEVER sing my first name, nor my confirmation name (Cecilia) to me.
   10.   I am a ‘recovering’ Catholic. Keith Patrick O’Brien is enough to put anyone off!  
   11.    I met my husband on our sixth day at University. We got to chatting over a crate of beer at a college barbeque. The rest is history!
   12.   I do not have an appendix.
   13.   The nicest place I have holidayed is Muscat, Oman. It was stunning.
   14.   I voted for the Tories in the last election. I will never make that mistake again.
   15. The two things I would really like to own are a Gandalf-style pipe and a full length cloak.
   16.   I see no valid argument at all against ‘gay marriage’.
   17.   I love reading anything that has dragons, wizards, alternate realities, monks or Tudor court politics in it.
   18.   The only soap I have ever followed is Coronation Street and I stopped watching this around 5 months ago as I got sick of storylines about infidelity.
   19.   Platonically, I have always preferred the company of men to the company of women. I don’t know why, I just do. Maybe it’s the old adage about balancing yourself out or some such other!
   20.   I have most certainly not read ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. Not for any deep, moral reasons, but because I am informed it is terribly written. I was a little intrigued, but once you’ve read Wideacre you’ve kinda read it all!
   21.   I LOVE choral music, but I cannot sing at all! My musical ability extends to being able to play the ‘Anderson Gloria’ on the guitar (a throwback to my very liturgically liberal childhood parish).
   22.   I had my first cigarette when I was 12. I quit nearly a year ago. I cannot begin to imagine how much money I wasted on cigarettes!
   23.   I prefer savoury to sweet. If I become morbidly obese (which I am convinced one day I will), it will be because of pies, crisps, nuts and curry, not because of chocolate or cake!
   24. My favourite song must be Corpus Christi Carol by Jeff Buckley - very closely followed by Hallelujah. 
   25.   My most recent discovery is that it is far easier to write self-indulgent facts about myself than I previously thought!