South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, March 18, 1983 Page: 4 of 16
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Opinion
Pago 4
On moral
superiority
By Ken Pcsck_____
Last week President Reagan again warned people of the
United States against the dangers of communism. In appealing
to evangelical church leaders, he stated that we should not be
fooled by those who would have us believe (namely U.S. bishops)
that the United States is morally equal to the Soviet Union, The
president is trying to convince his fellow Americans that the U,S.
against USSR. struggle is a good against evil struggle Ke fur-
ther elaborated that one only needs to look at the facts to be con-
vinced. Is the United States moraliy superior or better than the
Communist countries? Here is what I think our history tells us.
Slavery was a way of life for nearly all blacks in the United
States until after the Civil War, Even then, equality did not
begin to exist until civil rights legislation of the sixties. After
breaking every treaty with the Indians, in 1830 the United States
Guest Column
decided to forcibly remove five Indian tribes to west of the
Mississippi. This resulted in sickness, poverty, and death for
thousands of Indians. At the onset of World War II, thousands of
American citizens of Japanese descent were forcibly moved from
the west coast to retention centers in the Midwest. Many never
recovered their West Coast homes.
What about communism? China, a country with perhaps four
times the population of the United States, has virtually wiped out
hunger Can we boast likewise? When Cuba was our ally before
the 1960s it had one of the lowest literacy rates of any country in
Central America Their literacy rate today is comparable to our
own It is true that China and Cuba have prospered at the ex-
pense of personal liberties, but were the dictatorships that
preceded them just1 Are the right wing dictatorships that we sup-
port now very just?
The trick that our president seeks to pull off is far from new to
Western civilization. W'hen faced with opposition, leaders often
declare their cause more just or superior, and then solicit the sup-
port of the church. The present administration is understandably
disturbed by the U S. bishops’ position on our involvement in El
Salvador and nuclear weapons. Through their pastoral letter,
U.S. bishops show us that they will not remain passive while the
United States pours money into still more instruments of war
True, the actions of communist countries are far from Christian,
but I agree with the bishops that we cannot be blind to the in-
justices of our own country.
Ken Pesek is a teacher and liturgist at Incarnate Word
Academy in Corpus Christ i.
The Human Side
Parents are heroes
By Father Eugene Hemrick
NC Newt Service_
I asked 18 students in a class at the Catholic
University of America to name the person they
considered their greatest hero. Nine students
named their mother or father.
At the time of my survey, the national Gallup
Poll, as well as the university’s student paper,
The Tower, were conducting similar surveys on
who it is that college students most admire. Their
surveys Lad the same response mine did.
The qualities that cause mothers and fathers to
rank first were described by my students in the
following ways.
“My father keeps going. He is steady, fun,
funny and strong."
“Dad is understanding of all our problems,
fair with our discipline and generous to all our
needs as much as he can be."
“My dad supports me and when necessary
disciplines me. He always tries to get the most
out of life and has taught me to do the same."
“My mother is willing to accept other people’s
viewpoints and yet can guide them to a better
understanding of the realities of life. My mother
has gone through much suffering but h«*i never
lost her hope or sense of humor. "
Michael Robinson, professor of politics at the
Catholic University cl America doesn’t find it
unusual to find mothei tnd fathers at the top of
the rankings. He reasoi. d, “Mom and dad most
often instill a student’s moral values and many
times they foot the bill and make the sacrifice to
put their children through college." .
As I compared the descriptions of attractive
parental traits with those my students had
previously described as desirable in teachers, I
felt 1 saw some similiarities. In teachers students
want to see a considerate. loving person who, at
the same time, gets down to work and is
disciplined.
In mother and father the students talk about
such qualities as being accepting, generous and
sacrificing. They also mention being good
disciplinarians.
In a past column on teachers, I observed that
the qualities students like to find in their teachers
are considered by psychologists the mark of
leadership. There seems to be a strong instinct in
young people to seek and admire true leadership
which reflects task-orientation and consideration.
Although mother and father may be paying
the bills, it is the sacrifice behind the bills, not the
dollars, that put them in first place.
Now, 1 will grant that parents instill moral vir-
tues in their children. At the same time, I have to
wonder if the real virtue students learn from their
parents is that of order. My feeling is, no matter
where it is found, order often is seen by young
people as the opposite of chaos and a reflection of
care.
'As free as we think youth
want to be, they a!so have a
high regard for direction. They
enjoy the order that ensues.... ’
As free as we think youth want to be, they also
have a high regard for direction. They enjoy the
order that ensues, so it seems. Likewise, young
people appreciate the dedication and sacrifice of
their parents. Often they do not express it. But
then, almost anyone can find it difficult to ex-
press appreciation for the generosity of others.
Today there are many parents, whether happi-
ly married, divorced, separated or single, who
are wondering if they are doing a good job with
their children I would like to believe that if they
can identify with the attractive traits my nine
students listed, they are not only doing a good
job; they also are ranked in first place by their
children.
Father Hemrick U director of research for
the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
(Copyright (c) 1983 by NC News Service)
i
The bishops vs.
By Jim Lackey
NC News Service _
WASHINGTON — The dispute between the U
bishops and the Reagan administration over U.S.
policy in El Salvador may have reached a new peak in
early March after Archbishop James A. Hickey of
Washington appeared on Capitol Hill to urge
“dialogue, ceasefire and negotiations" to end the
Salvadoran civil war.
Archbishop Hickey’s testimony, on behalf of the
U.S. bishops, not only was highly critical of the ad-
ministration’s policy, but it also came at a time of
heightened sensitivity on the Salvadoran question.
Washington
Letter
President Reagan in the same week was trying to line
up congressional support for a new package of military
aid for the country, Pope John Paul II was in Central
America calling for a “sincere dialogue" to end the
region’s agonies, and comments by administration of-
ficials linking church work with Marxism were promp-
ting near indignation among church leaders.
In the nearly three years in which the U.S. bishops
have been speaking out on El Salvador their comments
have focused primarily on urging no military aid to
cither side in the Salvadoran war. Archbishop Hickey,
for instance, delivered testimony in 1981 to a House
Reagan on El Salvador
Foreign Affairs subcommittee in which the military aid
question was one of his primary themes
The new shift in emphasis, on the other hand, was
noted even by Archbishop Hickey in his latest
testimony. “The American bishops have entered the
public debate on El Salvador numerous times to stress
what the U.S. should not do — send military aid," he
said. “Today we come before the Congress to recom-
mend a course of action."
The testimony by Archbishop Hickey, who made a
nine-day tour of Central America with two other U.S.
archbishops a month earlier, criticized several specific
aspects of U.S. policy. It reiterated the bishops’ view
that administration policy has the wrong focus when it
stresses the East-West struggle rather than the quest
for social justice by the people of Central America.
And it cricized the United States for not taking a more
“creative" role in promoting a dialogue or ceasefire
between the warring parties.
But the heaviest criticism in Archbishop Hickey’s
testimony was aimed at the administration’s proposal
to escalate military aid and advisers. Increased military
aid, he said, could “lead us further in the direction of a
military rather than diplomatic solution."
President Reagan, in at least a partial response to
the archbishop’s views, said that talk of the administra-
tion seeking a military solution is “nonsense." In the
speech in which he laid out his proposal for $110
million in additional military aid for El Salvador,
Reagan said the purpose of the aid is not to bring about
a military solution but to “enable Salvadorans to stop
the killing and sabotage so that economic and political
reforms can take root."
But the church’s involvement in the El Salvador
issue and the pope’s trip to the region did seem to have
some effect at least on the way the administration
characterizes its El Salvador policy.
Reagan himself in his El Salvador policy speech said
that “negotiations" limited to “getting all parties to
participate in free, non-violent elections" are a key
part of his administration’s policy.
But he stopped short of endorsing the kind of
negotiations sought by the U.S. bishops. Archbishop
Hickey in his testimony indicated that even after elec-
tions negotiations may still be the only way to end the
war.
With Reagan’s $110 million military aid package
finally on the table, the question now becomes not only
whether Congress will give its blessing to the proposal
but also what strings it may attach. The law requiring
six-month certifications of human rights progress tn El
Salvador expires this summer, giving Congress an op-
portunity to re-examine its restrictions and possibly
develop new ones, such as requiring the Salvadoran
government to actively pursue a dialogue with all par-
ties to the struggle.
The U.S bishops are clearly hoping that such a re-
quirement might be added. As Archbishop Hickey
noted, the bishops want U.S. policy on El Salvador to
move the parties to the conflict away from military ac-
tion and “toward ceasefire and responsible dialogue
called for by the Salvadoran bishops."
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Feist, Joe Michael. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, March 18, 1983, newspaper, March 18, 1983; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth840550/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .