Christians Need to Love One Another

As a lifelong Catholic who loves the Church, defends her publicly, and tries my best to follow her teachings, I have observed a phenomenon over the years.

It has become very obvious to me that some of my brothers and sisters in the Church have a serious moral superiority complex in regards to other Christian faiths. And I believe that this attitude has played a major part in continuing a divide in Jesus' Church.

Let's remember that one simple fact to begin with: it's not our Church. It's not mine, or yours. It doesn't belong to Pope Francis, or any other human being. The Church belongs to Jesus Christ. He is it's founder, and he is it's genuine leader still today.

Throughout centuries past, the sometimes immoral actions of Popes and other Church leaders directly led to many of the major schisms that have occurred which have separated believers from one another. Catholics need to recognize the truth in that burden before judging any Protestant, Episcopalian, or other Christian denomination.

The most important thing for any Christian is that they believe in the fact that Jesus Christ suffered and died for their sins, and that as followers of the Lord we have a responsibility to learn about his teachings and spread his Word, both to unbelievers and to those who have never heard it in the first place.

Disagreement Does Not Equal Hate

Traditional, Conservative, and Christian, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee used his popularity in those circles and publicly called for Americans who support traditional marriage to get out to their local Chick-fil-A restaurant this past Wednesday.

On his Facebook page, Huckabee posted the following statement: "Let's affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse."

This led to an uprising of support among those, such as myself and my wife, who agree with Huckabee's position on marriage as intended by God to be between one man and one woman. We ate dinner on Wednesday late afternoon at the Chick-fil-a restaurant at 2301 E. Butler Street, just off Aramingo Avenue in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The place was packed, and had to bring extra help on to serve all those who, like us, heeded Huckabee's call and came out in support.

The controversy began when leaders within the LGBT community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) had discovered that Chick-fil-a takes public stances on behalf of, and supports charitable organizations that benefit, traditional marriage as biblically defined. As the company's President, Dan Cathy, said when confronted on the issues this week: "Guilty as charged!"

New Life in Death for a Moral Compass

"He has now been gathered by the Lord, in whom he trusted."

Those are the words of Fr. George Butler, who administered the last rites of the Church on Thursday to one Richard John Neuhaus.

At age 72, the former Lutheran clergyman turned Catholic priest died after a short battle against the cancer with which he had been diagnosed in late 2008.

If you moved on after having caught a blurb of his passing on the TV news, or having seen a headline in a newspaper the past couple days, wondering why the big deal about a priest's death from cancer, you moved on too quickly.

This was not simply the death of your Average Joe after one of life's most common end games. This was, as Philadelphia's great newspaper The Bulletin called it, the loss of a "moral compass."

Fr. Neuhaus was one of the leading voices in the Church and in the country in defense of the millions of innocent children butchered each year in abortion procedures.

He was said to be an articulate defender of Catholic orthodoxy, and perhaps the leading conservative Catholic voice in the country.

Fr. Neuhaus also had a vision, the dream of many of today's Catholics, to see the Lord's Church whole again.

Embarrassed About Christ?

There are many people in this world, especially right here in the United States, who would describe themselves if pushed into a corner as Christians.

However, many would have to almost literally be pushed into that corner and have a knife held to their throat to admit it. You might then even get their denomination: Catholic, Protestant, whatever.

But many are simply reluctant to ever bring up the subject in normal discussion, or to ever 'advertise' their faith, their belief in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

Maybe they will wear a crucifix or a cross. Unfortunately, if left dangling on the outside of shirts and tops, it's frequently as much a fashion statement as anything true advertisement of faith or belief. Why is this so?

I was reading a great article yesterday by Colonel Oliver North in a recent issue of Townhall magazine. North was lamenting the fact that so many of us seem to know the names of our top athletes such as Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps and Venus Williams, and care about what is going on in the lives of celebrities such as Britney Spears, Madonna or Brad Pitt, but care little about our military heroes.

These men and women are fighting and dying for our country, and for the cause of freedom, all over the world. They are often committing incredibly brave and selfless acts that rival and surpass any story that could be told about a sports figure or a Hollywood starlet. Yet you don't know who they are.

The vast majority of you reading this article couldn't name a single 'Medal of Honor' winner, a single 'Purple Heart' recipient. The everyday heroes of law enforcement, fire fighting, and other public services only get attention when they are killed while doing their jobs. Even that is usually only a local story, with the exception of an event such as 9/11. Why is that so?

Much of the reasoning behind why you so easily speak about sports and entertainment, but so little about Jesus Christ and real American heroes, is that media and academia in this day and age have a political and social agenda. Roll your eyes at the claim if you like, but tell me it isn't the truth.