Beige is a good color to paint a house, but not for practicing the
Christian faith, said Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin.
"It is not
acceptable for a Christian commitment to be beige, to just blend in with
everyone else around you," Bishop Tobin said during the Massachusetts
Family Institute's 19th annual fundraising banquet on Oct. 14.
"Christians have to be vibrant, bold and stand out to make a difference."
Bishop Tobin was invited to give the keynote address to the
Massachusetts Family Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan research and
education organization dedicated to strengthening the family.
Michael Gilleran, director of the Massachusetts Family Institute,
introduced Bishop Tobin by highlighting his support for the unborn and
marriage, and credited him for "pulling the mask" off politicians who
"claim to be part of the faithful."
The bishop's speech focused on the role that the faith community can play in shaping the culture.
"I believe Jesus wants us to be involved in the life of the world," he said.
"Jesus sent his church into the world to teach, to preach and to lift
up the people. I believe I was not ordained a priest or a bishop to be
irrelevant."
The faith community's efforts to engage an increasingly secularized
society is not always welcome, the bishop noted, adding that whenever he
speaks publicly on an issue such as abortion, embryonic stem-cell
research or immigration, the blogosphere heats up with commentary about
him violating the separation of church and state.
"As I understand it, the doctrine was meant to protect the church
from the state and not the other way around," Bishop Tobin said.
"This
philosophy is not intended to cleanse society from every religious
influence. Indeed it's been abused and confused."
The bishop said the nation's founders never envisioned a public
square where religiously-informed debate was disallowed. He said the
growing secularism is not religiously neutral, but rather
anti-religious.
"A truly secularized United States would be a nation without a soul, a
nation with a hole in its chest," said Bishop Tobin, who urged those in
attendance to not be intimidated into silence.
"You have every right to be part of the conversation," he said.
Hope Hallett, of Dartmouth, Mass., said she enjoyed the bishop's speech, which was peppered throughout with jokes.
"I think he gave us a well-balanced encouragement to press on with Christian values with humor and insight," she said.
Philip Moran, the president of the Pro Life Legal Defense Fund in Massachusetts, said the bishop's remarks were "fabulous."
"I thought his analogy of Catholics in particular being beige was
just directly on point as to what's wrong with the Catholic Church
today," Moran said.
Bishop Tobin said people of faith have an obligation to fill their
historic prophetic role in speaking truth to power, and to offer hope in
the midst of suffering.
"Without a doubt, we have problems and challenges, but as believers,
we speak of spiritual values, a better way, a higher road that points
beyond this world to the world to come," he said.
SIC: CNA/INT'L