Bad fruit

In my home town, churches have been the target of theft, vandalism, and threatening calls. It is fruit of a poisonous tree.

In early May, the priest at local Catholic church issued a rousing sermon in support of the nuns of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). A series of thefts began shortly afterwards, including thefts from donation boxes. And then someone defaced the entrances to the church with red paint.



None of the other Catholic churches in the area have been targets of theft and vandalism. Of course, they support the doctrinal reprimand of the nuns by the bishops. Perhaps it is just a coincidence.

The pastor of a United Methodist church received recognition for her work supporting full rights for homosexuals in the denomination. Shortly after the announcement, someone broke into the pastors office, stole her laptop, and left threatening messages related to her stance on social issues.

These are acts of intimidation. They are aimed at people who have challenged church policy on women's rights and homosexuality, the hot-button issues for the culture warriors.

It would be nice to write off such events as the work of a few bad apples. The trouble is that rotten apples seem to be popping everywhere.

Here is a recent exchange between conservative political radio host Jan Mickelson and Republican Congressman Tom Latham:

MICKELSON: There’s a bus full of nuns headed towards Washington to lobby against the Ryan plan. Do you guys, do you have any power to pull the Nuns on the Bus over and pistol whip them?

LATHAM: It’s always fun to be on your show. [Laughs]

Rush Limbaugh, another conservative political talker, called the nuns of the LCWR "feminazis" for daring to question the culture wars and advocating the ordination of women.

All is fair in politics, right? And when nuns dare promote social justice over the politically useful culture wars, it requires tough talk. More bad apples.

The real problem is not rotten apples. It is the trees responsible for them. Trees like these:

The rhetoric is pretty strong. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who leads the bishops conference, says the White House is "strangling" the church. The bishop of Oakland warns of "despotism." And then there was an April sermon by the bishop of Peoria, Ill., Daniel Jenky.

"Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open," Jenky says in the video, adding that the dictators would not allow the church to compete in education, social services or health care.

"President Obama with his radical pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda now seems intent on following a similar path," he says.

Lori says the times call for blunt language.

"Sometimes prophets are thought to be unduly alarmist, and sometimes their speech is a little bit strong," the archbishop says. "But that's what prophetic speech always has been."

Bear in mind that these powerful religious authorities are talking about contraception. Claiming that a law that does not exempt religious organizations from health insurance coverage for contraception is tantamount to fascism is not prophetic speech. It is manipulative speech. It is political speech. It is deeply cynical speech. It is the kind of speech from religious leaders that fosters hateful speech and behavior among followers.

The idea that contraception is immoral is about power, not about God. No good tree bears bad fruit.

More and more people are suffering in our society and crying out for mercy. The Lord hears their cries. The Lord also expects us to lift their burdens. So why are religious leaders whipping up people into a frenzy over birth control and homosexuality? A frenzy that even fosters theft, vandalism, and intimidating speech.