Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to a column printed Feb. 17 in The Daily Cardinal.
In responding to Michael Podger’s “Badger Catholic campaign reinforces gender stereotypes,” one feels a bit like Hercules before the Augean Stables. No matter how big your shovel is, there is just so much horseshit. Where does one begin? Perhaps I have already started off on the wrong foot by mentioning Hercules — which Michael could deftly cast as a sexist, heteronormative, Eurocentric, patriarchal, violent reference (did I miss anything, Michael?). Throughout his nauseatingly puerile rant, he employed a confusing type of satirical mudslinging that made it difficult for me to follow what exactly he was “thanking” Badger Catholic for and why. I must say, however, that despite the near impenetrability of his reasoning, I admire Michael’s unparalleled ability to peer into the hearts, minds and intentions of an organization he is not a member of and to name and denounce with frightening clarity the hideous, repressive fascism of Badger Catholic. Who knew UW-Madison (full of educated people?!) could harbor so many little Eichmanns!
I will say a brief word concerning Michael’s theological claims about Catholicism, and then move on to issues that concern the entire UW-Madison community, irrespective of religion. Michael’s rhetoric is reminiscent less of an informed liberal Catholic and more of a priggish neo-atheist (Hitchens, Dawkins) who is not even cursorily acquainted with the faith he denounces. The notably progressive former Archbishop of Chicago, Joseph Bernardin, famously applied the phrase “seamless garment of life” to the Catholic Church’s holistic concern for the human person — their physical, emotional, spiritual and sexual health. These issues cannot and must not be separated. Does Mother Theresa love the poor or does she hold to the Catholic view of sex? To Michael, she cannot do both. Can Pope Francis genuinely love and welcome all while denouncing uncommitted sex, fornication and divorce? Is his love of the poor, the homeless and the immigrant compromised by his views on sexuality? No fair, thinking person could say yes. Even the Huffington Post does not deny this. Speaking of that illustrious periodical, Michael’s knowledge of Catholicism strikes me as on the level of the angry 16-year-old who learns his Catholicism through Jezebel, Buzzfeed and HuffPost, and then loudly denounces the straw man he has built to other drones on a Reddit feed. His reading of Pope Francis’ theology typifies this ignorance — why would Pope Francis tell his followers to never talk about sex and continue doing so himself (Francis rightly said not to be obsessed with it, not to be silent)? Is he senile? Michael’s position is not a historically informed or intellectually serious position and should be dismissed.
Equally fatuous is Michael’s claim that Badger Catholic’s gesture implicitly screams that “only men have the authority to tell women they have dignity and beauty, they offer no opportunity for women to decide this for themselves.” No, Michael, our sex-saturated, porn-addicted, consumerist, capitalistic, vapid culture often denies women and men the opportunity to decide this for themselves. Unrealistic and dehumanizing expectations are forced upon us all. Humans are not tabula rasa (blank slates) — that Enlightenment idea can no longer be held. We are not autonomous beings out on intellectual, social and cultural islands. Look around you at the prevalence in our culture of suicide, eating disorders, STDs, sexually dehumanizing relationships, etc. etc. Young girls in particular are getting the message that to be desirable they need to wear thongs and two-piece bikinis before hitting puberty. Sexual conquest is the modus operandi young men are initiated into. The cultural situation is really serious. Badger Catholic was humbly, kindly offering an alternative to this. Badger Catholic does not believe uncommitted, casual sex is liberating. They occupy a specific moral and philosophical position on that. But that does not mean or even imply that other views can’t be respectfully dialogued with. Everyone has a home in the Catholic Church, as a member or a valued dialogue partner — and you yourself are proof that not all Catholics uphold the Church’s sexual teaching. That’s okay. But let BC offer their narration of what a human person is alongside Sex Out Loud’s. BC holds that every human person is infinitely valued, has infinite dignity and is infinitely loved by God. People can reject this message, but in our pluralistic and tolerant society, BC should be free to offer it without slander and malice.
Michael’s second point was that Badger Catholic’s gesture “ignores that not all people base their dignity and beauty in the same way.” If he literally means “ignores,” this is obviously false. Badger Catholic handed out roses precisely because many of the ways our culture defines beauty and dignity are not life-giving — they are demeaning and fake. If Michael means that Badger Catholic has a specific view of the human person, that is different and contradictory to some other views, then this is so obvious as to be a “non-statement.” Individuals and groups occupy specific cultural, moral and spiritual places — Sex Out Loud does, Badger Catholic does, I do, you do. We cannot offer anything but our own perspective. We can respect others and seek to understand them, but all we can do is come from where we are.
As for Michael’s third point, this gesture affirms and upholds female sexuality as beautiful and worthy — independent of societal and cultural expectations and relationship status. It affirms women (and men) in their sexuality and sees their beauty and dignity rooted in who they are as people despite their choices and their religious background. What could be more liberating? That’s what a true celebration of Valentine’s Day should entail. The gesture also makes no comment about heteronormativity. Point three was in perfect harmony with the whole of Michael’s article — overreaching, vapid and a waste of time.
I wish to close with a brief response to the Madison Misnomer article accusing Badger Catholic of fostering rape culture. Rape is not a joke and should not be treated satirically (even in an article as poorly written and unfunny as that one). As a former campus minister and teacher, I have been confronted by the depth of this problem. I have counseled, cried with and prayed with rape victims. It’s not a joke, it’s not an ace card in a fiery debate, and implying a kind and thoughtful group of people are aiding and abetting this massive problem in our society is morally irresponsible and bordering on libelous. Shame on you.
These simple acts of affirmation and kindness delighted many, as evidenced on social media. We live in a sick culture, and the vitriol spewed by Michael over this simple kindness is further evidenced by this — it is truly repulsive. And in responding to it, I take no pleasure. To paraphrase Thomas More, when I clean shit out of my fellow man’s mouth, I find that my fingers, too, are covered in shit.
Shaun Blanchard (blanchard.shaun@gmail.
