The debate

After a conversation with V. last week, M. sent me the link to the Intelligence Square debate in London on the motion: "The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world". Against the motion, two well-known figures -not for me! Such and ignoramus...-: Christopher Hitchins and Stephen Fry. On the other side, defending the motion stood a couple of not so-well-recognized characters: Anne Widdecombe, a conservative MP, and John Onneiyaken, the Archbishop of Nigeria´s capital, Abuja. (By the way, yesterday, on Christmas Day, a couple of bombs blasted in two different places in Nigeria. The details are gruesome; the attacks against Christians in vast areas of a forsaken world have become, sadly, a routine, largely inconspicuous in the West).

These debates, or so-called debates, make me sad. For several reasons. First, because of its bias, albeit presented in a neutrality disguise. Second, because of its vindictive nature against the Catholics: the Church never plays home; the scorns, the laughs, the provocations run always against; the final development of this linked debate, the double voting, is a painful ruse for humiliation, a sentence-final blow against the rival. The host of the event, Zeinab Badawi, who did a poor job in conducting the debate or rephrasing questions, repeated thrice: "I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry".

It really makes me sad is that such debates hold the essence of a non-debate. The arguments are fluffy and feeble; the motivation for the exchange of ideas is completely missing. The parts are no, at all, in search for a truthful confrontation of ideas; there is no facts shown, no honesty. Instead, the combatants have immovable positions. What can you expect from Hitchins and Fry; the former, a radical leftist, infamous precise because his extreme points of view; the latter, a "90 % homosexual", flying and fluttering the flag of his own battle for decades? I certainly expect more from a bishop. In addition, painful enough, the Church side is always meagre, docile, out-of-touch, toothless, weepy.

Foremost, what makes me really sad -it hurts- is that the Catholic Church is a force for good in this World. It is. It really is! To a large extend, indeed. And we have not learned yet how to defend such -clear, out-of-the-question- statement. It is imperative we learn how to do it. It is a matter of justice. The enemies will always be there, ready to hurt and prepare to scorn, and we shall be blessed for it (Mt, 5). The battles might be fought and lost seven times seventy. It does not really matter. The truth really does matter. It is our duty to search for truth, find it and make it shine.

Shame upon us!

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