Now is what a go get myself into

I checked my mail and this person has responded to me already and seems to be quite agitated. I was annoyed because I don't know who this jeckle is. I answered and then calmed down a bit and answered again. I hope this person does not reply again because I've lost the unction. Maybe they will say something that will stir me to action....... though I hope not.

Below is their reply and then my reply. Well at least they are giving me plenty of blog material. Please please tell me if you see their point in what I wrote because it missed me and I'd hate to miss out on constructive criticism. Otherwise how'd I grow?

Their letter

Hayden Hamil,

Seems you have some problems when people object to the Catholic traditional behaviors. Your are having problem with openness, as the Catholics hierarchy had done for millenniums. Avoiding complains would not have brought justice to those whom had suffered under its hegemony.

The part of your letter I quoted, deals with your wish for Christian forgiveness. I have no problem with that, because forgiveness is the pivotal root of Christianity. The problem with your last letter is your hidden agenda of anger. More like a tacit agreement with the historical Inquisitions and other rapacious and inhumane behaviors. No one should complain! You may have your religion, while many of us seek Spirituality… Your harping about complain shows your lack of openness. If no one had complain with the recent aberrant sex scandals, a situation which had permeates your religious group over the centuries, then there would never be positive changes. What is your wish; genuflect without thinking?

What standard are you using when you said, “I was taught that a good Catholic is a good Christian…” Tell me about the Pope Innocents and the late Pope Pius? Tell me about Bartholomew de las Casas.” You may be upset as much as you wish, but the try truth sometimes hurt. The unalterable truth, not truism or some politico-religious dogma. Your anger about complaints implies your tacit agreement with your religion’s cloistered misconducts. I know you live in Kingston, so inhumane treatment may be the order of the times. There were better days...!

Probably you are now incensed with what you conceived as your righteous indignation. Want to call the Inquisition to imperil my life? Imagine, probably a darker hue Jamaican papal apologist fighting to save an archaic system, which nefariously decreed his darker-hued grand parents were better suited for the cane field of the New World! Garvey, have you heard this....?

S. Reklaw

My reply

Is it that you are incapable of reading the words typed? You are insistent on fighting a battle of the evil dominion of the Catholic church by looking at our sordid despicable past which did not fill the last 2000 years. Once again and very slowly for you. We had some good and we had some bad including very recent scandals. You have already shown a knowledge of the details of the bad times and the scandals, so I need not spell them out for you. No denial there, though you keep saying otherwise.

I have no problem with ppl objecting to traditional Catholic behaviours. In fact I had no idea that we were discussing traditional Catholic behaviours (is that the oppression we have heaped on ppl for generations?) so I'm not sure how you arrived at such a conclusion.

The level of my openness gleaned from one editorial edited for space, and an e-mail response to a stranger can hardly be attributed to a closed mind about religious beliefs. My choice of words to avoid offence, is less about skirting the issues and more about protecting those directly affected by my actions. After all, you know more of my demographics than I know about you. I don't fancy loss of life over an editorial. Lose my life for my beliefs, YES!; for an editorial, NO!

Hidden agenda at anger? Interesting! Am I being psycho-analysed? Is this session free? Perhaps...... no, not perhaps..... indubitably the cheek in me to goad persons on, to poke a bit to see what happens is what you got. Having given you that answer, do I qualify for a discount?

No one should complain? After conceding that we all have a right to complain (I use we to include myself, though I prefer to be stirred to action than complain) you still insist that I am harping against complaining. Is this because you are complaining and feel sensitive about the issue because your toes were stepped on? My concern is that complaining alone doesn't get the job done or change things. It serves its purpose in agitating for change, but 'so so' complaining is naught but a panacea.

How did we get to genuflecting without thinking? Clearly you have much to be angry about. I don't know your pain and cannot feel it for you. Nor would I care to feel it for you. I'm comforted knowing that God never gives us more than we can bear. I hope that in time you will be able to overcome your pain and anger. I pray that those in your life who closed themselves off from you, sensitizing you to such behaviour, are reunited with you in a way that helps to ease your pain.

A good Catholic (1) seeks to develop and play his/her part in maintaining that relationship with God, (2) follows the teachings of the bible (similarity with other Christians) and the teachings of the church not found in the bible (where we tend to differ from other Christians). Better Catholics than myself can reel off a longer list. Regular attendance at Mass, receiving Holy Eucharist, regular confession, etc.. all fit into one of the above categories.

I think that at this point you are more upset about those popes than I am. Last I heard, they were all human and as such prone to human acts. However, they don't need me to bat for them. Jesus has already gone to bat for them. Their lives will have to speak for them come judgment day.

Inhuman treatment in Kingston. Now this is where I'm more likely to get angry. But that would be pride speaking and it has no place in a life surrendered to the Lord. This issue is another that talk won't change things. We've talked for years, it's time for positive action. Feel free to continue discourse with the others in my society, who are still talking; it is your right.

Tacit agreement? You like that phrase. :-)

Righteous indignation? I don't believe that I have a right to that level of self-importance within my relationship of surrender to God.

Darker hued? I guess because we have a range of shades of skin tones, "darker hued" just doesn't adequately distinguish between us. Our motto is "out of many one people". We have an interesting racial and cultural mixture. Inter-racial unions/couplings have led to an array of shades. May I have your permission to share with my friends the comments from your last paragraph? As loyal Garveyites I'm sure they would be interested in knowing that the Right Honourable Marcus Moziah Garvey is turning in his grave due to their association with me.

Papal apologist? If a man is wrong, he is wrong. If he is right, he is right. The bible says there is one anti-christ. If all the preceding popes were correctly identified as the anti-christ then Revelations is wrong. I don't believe it is, so we are still waiting. Even Nero was identified as the anti-christ. Is basic logic thrown out the window because you got emotional?

My religion is Roman Catholic (I am unapologetic about it). My spirituality is the strength of my personal relationship with God. Religion is supposed to support man in his search for God. Should they ever oppose, God is more important than tradition. Jesus said it and lived it. So too is my aim.

Hayden Hamil

P.S. Many suffered under the Nazis. Many Africans and native Americans suffered under the French, Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese. We world cannot keep tally of the oppression of one group over another. If we should take on the guilt of our ancestors, we won't grow. If we hold descendants accountable, relationships will never improve. Forgiveness is a choice we make for ourselves.