The Gadfly “To persuade and reproach” - Socrates, The Apology
Vol. XIV, Iss. II March 1, 2011
Epidemic Strikes Campus One sunny afternoon at Franciscan University, Brunhilda noticed her friend Frigga crying in the Portiuncula. Brunhilda pulled Frigga out of the Port to ask her what the trouble was. Frigga looked ashamed. “I feel horribly depressed,” she said, “because I just got in a huge fight with my boyfriend, and now we’re not speaking to each other! I don’t know what to do. I wish I had someone to talk to.” Brunhilda told Frigga that she wanted to support her, but that depression was a very serious matter and that she ought to go to one of the school counselors. Then she gave her friend a hug
and sent her back into the Port. The next morning, Brunhilda was horrified to find Frigga sitting in Antonian Hall with her boyfriend, talking and laughing. She pulled Frigga aside. “What’s wrong with you?” she demanded. “I thought you were depressed. I thought you were going to see a counselor.” “I decided to talk to my confessor instead,” said Frigga. “He told me I didn’t sound very depressed, just under a lot of pressure. Then I asked my roommate to pray over me, and I felt so much better that I called my boyfriend and made up with him. Now I feel great!”
Brunhilda sternly informed Frigga that this was getting to be more serious than she thought. “You sound like you’re having mood swings,” she said. “This is probably bipolar disorder or something worse! A priest is not the same thing as a counselor! You need to be seeing a counselor!” Frigga tersely replied that she would, and went back to her breakfast. The next day, Brunhilda saw Frigga studying in the Piazza and accosted her loudly. “I love you as a sister in Christ,” she said, “And I am very concerned about you. I don’t feel like I would be Continued on page 6
You Can’t Be Both a Republican and a Catholic If someone cannot be both pro-choice and Catholic, then if understood correctly, we ought to infer that one cannot be both a Republican and a Catholic. Of course you will ask me to clarify, so please allow me to argue for the following: If you are able to say that someone is not Catholic because of one specific political stance or affiliation they may take which is not necessarily in line with Church teaching, then you cannot at the same time call yourself a Catholic if you also call yourself a Republican. As mentioned above, I will use the exam-
ple I find on many bumperstickers I come across that are wholeheartedly placed on cars throughout the parking lot or on computers lined across the library that read: “You can’t be both Pro-Choice and Catholic”! To start, I will try to and explain what it is we mean by ‘prochoice’. Many ardent pro-lifers will desire to say that someone who is pro-choice is necessarily ‘pro-abortion’. Surely you would agree that this is somewhat absurd as we realize that the holy Catholic Church is also ‘prochoice’, is it not? Sure, she
chooses life, as do I, though it is a choice nonetheless. To say the church is not pro-choice, in this sense, would imply that we should have our Bishops do our voting for us, thus we would not have a voice. Pardon me if I have gotten off topic. By pro-choice, I suggest that someone is such if they are for the right of a woman to be able to terminate a pregnancy if she so chooses. I will not get in to the technicalities that some prochoicers may disagree upon, such as, when the choice to terminate an abortion should be permissible Continued on page 4