Volume XVIII, Issue 1

September 13th, 2013

The Gadfly Volume XVIII

“Bite the sleeping horse.”

Issue 1

Can a City on a Hill Stay That Way?

By Ryan Adams

Facetted very securely within the idea of “what is Franciscan” is the notion that the school is a sort of bubble - an island in a vast sea. The school stands, in the minds of those who think of her, as a sort of oasis, a thriving and, in a sense, hidden enclave of the once great and beautiful Students bask in the sun outside the J.C Catholic Culture of Western Photo by Kathryn Carnell Europe (or, if your opinion is sense this is true. We do act as less high of the establishment; a safe harbor for many of the a tucked-away fortress of overly religious, reactionary, bigots). In great things of Western Culture that the world has largely lost. both the positive and negative

True though this may be, we also harbor a very frightened tendency toward isolation. This tendency towards isolation has created a void, a gap, between the University and the community around it. The fact that it seems odd, even incorrect, to say: “the community it belongs to,” attests to this problem, in a certain sense.

While not belonging to from the University (and even in a sense against the statements continued on page 6

Freedom or Fate?

By Joseph Danaher

The talk of the day,

circumstances which we have

decides how he will feel, how he

whether it’s by way of media,

been dealt, that we are just stuck

will act, and how he will view the

academia, or politics, is always

with no way out. You know,

situation at hand.

focused on reasons why we could

sometimes people are dealt a

not have done otherwise in our

really bad hand, and fortune

lives. We live in a generation

When I was a child my dad would ask me to do things and I would reply many times with:

fed stories of determinism and

can never evade them. Albert

I can’t. Yet as I’m older I must

abdication of responsibility.

Camus, in his novel The Stranger,

“put away childish things.” When

We are told the lie that we

illustrates that even a prisoner

can’t really further ourselves

has choices. Sure he cannot go

it all comes down to it and the

if that means transcending the

anywhere he pleases, but he 1

situation presents itself before us continued on page 7

The Gadfly

Five Definitions

The Sixth Definition

By Peter Maurin

By Joseph Antoniello A Catholic is a Communitarian because he is called to be a light to the world and no one can see without this light.

is a fellow who tries to be somebody by trying to be like everybody, which makes him a nobody.

A Dictator is a fellow who does not hesitate to strike you over the head if you refuse to do what he wants you to do.

A Catholic is a fellow who looks at the world

A Leader is a fellow who refuses to be crazy the way everybody else is crazy and tries to be crazy in his own crazy way.

A Catholic is a fellow who gives his hand to the poor amputee because he may need it more than himself.

not because it is evil but because evil is in it.

A Catholic is a fellow who lives for the other because God is Love and we partake in that same nature.

is a fellow who tries to get what the other fellow has and to regulate what you should have.

A Communitarian is a fellow who refuses to be what the other fellow is and tries to be what he wants him to be.

“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.�

- 2 Corinthians 5:17

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V. XVIII

I. 1

Letter From The Editor

Gadfly Staff 2013-2014

-

Elias Hage

your new life in a community of seemingly like-minded academicians you may begin to notice that not everyone is so like-minded, and that debate. We are a student run publication that assumes the position of directing a form of communication for students with varying ideologies and points of view. With the aim of increasing intellectual stimulation, I encourage all students to add to this dialogue. Never stop questioning and never grow complacent.

With a new semester come new promises. Our University is in the process of major changes - beautiful things are to come. New

Editor-in-chief

Joseph Antenello Copy Editor

more than excited for the new 25,000+ sq. ft. facility), and a new Gad-

Sarah Carts email any articles you would like to see published to:

Elias Hage “Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air, amply spread around everywhere, question the beauty of the sky, question the serried ranks of the stars, question the sun making the day glorious with its bright beams, question the moon tempering the darkness of the following night with its shining rays, question the animals that move in the waters…question all these things.”

-St. Augustine

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Layout Editor

Michael Sherman Business Manager

Write for us!

Interested in becoming a staff or freelance writer?

Emial us: NotesToTheGadfly@ gmail.com

The Gadfly Fate, continued from page 1 we cannot stand before anyone and say, “Well, my upbringing...

My society... I was tired...

Everyone else...” “Man is without excuse.” I understand the sad nature of very real impediments, and I believe that anything and everything should be done to rid the world of such tragic what we do, we can never claim that we couldn’t help an action notes, man is thrown into the world “condemned to be free.”

Concerning my acting, fate does not hound me down; I create it.

Soren Kierkegaard tells are.” We each have a set essence of which we must realize. I must actualize who I am. So it is true that we cannot create all of reality, but we do create the choices we make. I choose whether or not to be who I am or to cop out and say that I wasn’t able to or that something was stopping me.

When we come faceto-face with a fork in the road, we must always realize that despite any push we feel in either direction we are accountable for made by unseen forces of culture and society that propel men toward their tragic destinies. who take it upon themselves to realize their potential, who make the most out of what life has us, but the greatest injustice is when we allow ourselves to be kept down by it and accept its tyranny.

That’s the thing about life - the future is not written down but is a blank page on which we can make our own novels. We are not just some part of a causal a determined direction without our consent. The world does not just push us, but we can push back. And within there may be fears, desires, and weaknesses, but we also have choices. Our freedom can seem to be a heavy

burden. After all, realizing that I am accountable for each action I take leaves me with no branch to door of possibility is much more beautiful a thing than something to be weary of. When we realize what it offers we realize that the whole world is open to a different tomorrow.

We are free to rise to the occasion. It will be hard, but it will be liberating. If there is something I keep doing wrong in life, I can change it. If there is a way in which society errs, we can change it. The world of tomorrow is not inevitable. We are neither destined for triumph nor disaster; we are destined for whatever all of us choose.

We can choose to rise out of the ashes from which we may have been thrown into, and we can choose to work toward getting rid of the fuel that started those existence is a world of possibility, and possibility can be a world of greatness if we so choose.

Got A Boiling Idea?

Add to the campus wide discourse.

Email us: NotesToTheGadfly@gmail.com 7

The Gadfly

Do Rights Really Exist?

By Alexander Pyles Over the course of

other freedoms we seemingly

and therefore the two are often

this summer there has been

possess. The American people

confused. The difference can

plenty of back and forth over

as a whole have accepted

be illustrated between saying

privacy rights being violated

our current regime’s policies

“the right to life” and the “right

(NSA anyone?) or whether our

without as much as a shout.

to bear arms.” The “right” to

freedom of speech, religion,

Sure, there are blurbs in the

life is an intrinsic quality that

or bearing arms are slowly

media of how ‘outraged’ the

exists even before a human

American people are but in

person is born. The “right” to

are protesting for the right to

reality what is truly being done?

bear arms is one that has been

a living wage. Yet what does

Congress has refused to be true

instituted by the government

this sort of dialogue mean for

representatives of the people,

where weapons are not typically

though that’s been the case for

needed in civilized society

over ten years (I’d say longer, but

outside of war, but human nature

I’ve only been alive just over two

still requires protection against

decades).

unnecessary aggression within

what does it mean for Catholics

Rights historically seemed to

Now this leads me to the

neighborhoods. Yet, in America

have emerged during the 15th

real meat of what is being said

we have the freedom to carry

century as Enlightenment

when we speak of “rights.” In

weapons as per our “right” (for

thinkers started to ponder over

the Catholic worldview, there is

the most part).

the idea of man being his own

neither faith nor doctrine that

entity, an entity that carries inner

speaks of “rights” as created by

next piece of this puzzle of

rights within him. Sure, looking

God, which begs the question as

what “rights” do, which is give

farther back there could be more

to why we give “right” rhetoric so

freedom. We must have freedom

historical analysis of rights and

This leads into the

to choose between right and

the rest, but that’s for a true

There instead is an incredible

wrong to validly make a decision.

academic paper not something

debt that we owe to God for

The crux of freedom is what

such as this brief piece. Skipping

having created us at all and

we do with it. There is this idea

more digression, there are more

giving us gifts that we should use

in America that freedom is for

persons in the United States that

to glorify him.

freedom’s own sake, but because

feel entitled to certain freedoms, rights, and things in general.

In another way entirely our terms are confused. The

Now, of course I am not

of this ambiguous assumption, it has been turned and mutilated into the banner for relativism

saying that all Americans are

the Church use the term “rights”

and the mentality of the 21st

like this, but it is prevalent in

in their speeches and works,

century. The ideas of “being how

our culture. Yet, despite the

but use it in a different way than

encroachments of privacy and

we use them here in America

you are” or “being an individual” continued on page 5

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“What does Ms. Frizzel Say? ‘Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!’”

- Dr. Gan

V. XVIII

I. 1

City, continued from page 1 of the University) the de facto attitude from students towards the city in which they live is rather negative. There is a general fear of Steubenville— the actual Steubenville, not just Wal-Mart or the drive-in at Taco and say it, but it’s there behind every concerned “should you really be going down there?” and “will my car be alright” lies a deeply entrenched fear that the city is somehow by its nature dangerous.

It is true that there is crime in Steubenville, but this is not the cause of the anxiety for those who consider it “dangerous.” All cities have crime. Where there is man, there is crime; this much is inevitable. In reality the reason for the anxiety can be said to have one of two bases: that Steubenville is foreign or that it is empty. Not knowing your way around and not having people to ask about it are, arguably, entirely comfortable with a place. has – become a phobia As student at Franciscan, Steubenville is your home. Not just the campus, but also the whole community. As such, this phobia of the city is not 6

acceptable, not in a moral sense, but a simply human sense. You can’t spend your life afraid of the town you live in, any more than you can spend your life afraid of the lobby of your dorm.

Steubenville-phobia, therefore, cannot stand any very nature of such a phobia, one which is built on a lack of to all appearances impossible to rectify. The only means available for us to rectify this situation is simply to go into town. We are afraid because we don’t know the area, and there aren’t people these problems. So, go to Mass in town, get some food downtown.

Live in the community you live in, eat and pray with the people.

Through this simple human interaction, we can overcome our phobia and in this way, simple human interaction, we have authentic opportunities to spread the Gospel of Christ. Truly, in this we can be a “light to the world” around us, rather than being a light under a basket, reduced to a

V. XVIII

I. 1

Traditionalism and Pope Francis

By Andrew Ouellette It has not even been a Francis and the media has been scrutinizing every move of the comes at no surprise since Our Lord forewarned us, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves” (Mt. 10:16). What has surprised Francis is receiving from his own stepped out onto the balcony of St.

of traditionalism, then there is a problem. We see the virus of traditionalism plaguing mass media with Catholics that are replacing the Magesterium with blogs and YouTube channels. We see it infect our Catholic brothers and sisters who value personal opinion over the teaching The funny thing in this is that those Catholics that fall into the error of traditionalism have something in common with people like Richard

mozzetta and the golden papal Choice, and certain groups within the LCWR. Like these people, some traditionalists reject the Church’s XVI worked for “in the name of authority, which is guided by the tradition” had been discarded with the foundation of truth. Sounds weeks that followed the election like there is also a commonality of Francis, it seemed that all that between traditionalists and the traditionalist could talk about was how Francis’ vestments were Recently, the Vatican too simple, or how the red papal Congregation for Religious, with shoes were gone, or how Francis forwent the papal palace. They restricted a religious community were even complaining about – the Franciscans of the how Francis wore simple black Immaculate – from celebrating slacks under his white cassock the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. This decree made problem of “liturgical extremism” traditionalists around the world must be addressed.

I am not saying that when one falls into the error 4

in allowing this to a religious that is comprised of friars, sisters, Yet when one ignores the media bias, the facts can become clearer.

The decree on the Franciscans of the Immaculate is not forbidding them to say the extraordinary form forever. Certain communities within the order can request to continue with the extraordinary form. The overlooked reason why the Church is limiting the use of the extraordinary form is because it is causing rupture within the community. If the liturgy is causing rupture in a community, then it is no longer liturgy in the proper sense but is only a shadow of what true liturgy is. You can have the most beautiful liturgy ever, but if there is no communion then the liturgy is actually abused. is not going backwards, but is continuing in the footsteps of his predecessor by reforming the Church, safeguarding beauty in the liturgy, and seeking communion has beautifully put it, “It should be apparent that all of us are called not to communicate ourselves, but this existential triad made up of truth, beauty and goodness.”

The Gadfly

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Rights, Continued from page 3 or “doing whatever you wish” are founded on this principle of freedom, which does not dictate what you do with freedom. That may sound like a contradiction to a degree – that you must be told what to do with freedom – but in a sense it is not. This is on the basis that freedom is a mode that man must act in order to make a proper decision.

It is in reality a mere medium in which action can take place.

There is this mistake in America that if we lose the medium to do such an action – such as losing

the “right” to bear arms – then we are therefore not allowed.

We hand over our freedom to senators and other legislators to make these decisions over our “rights”. Even when they take our “rights” away, we still give politicians validation by keeping on the media arenas. This may sound inherently anarchistic, but if we are to hold to government we must demand better of politicians or ask for new ones instead of holding to apathy toward our political system.

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As American Catholics, it is the reality that we should be coming away from this dialogue of “rights” and start coming to the realization that “gifts” are what we are truly given and we have been empowered to use them, no matter the medium that may be stated here or later on. Freedom is never for its own sake, but to serve persons.

There is so much we can do with what we have, despite what the government may do to take “rights” or “freedoms” away, but in the end we will always have more than enough.