If nothing else, the man is indefatigable. You think that we at GOP3.com sometimes go spoiling for a fight? We got nothing on Dr. Dan Maguire, a professor of theology here at Marquette University.
In what he describes as “an act of undefeatable hope” and in what I describe as “desperation for attention,” Dr. Maguire sent a letter to all 270 Catholic Bishops in the United States urging them to read two enclosed pamphlets by Dr. Maguire, one arguing for abortion and the other for gay marriage.
He elicited this response from Archbishop Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee:
As the bishop of the archdiocese where you reside, I am obliged to reply to your circular form-letter, sent to the bishops of the country on June 19, 2006.
The opinions expressed in the two pamphlets enclosed in that correspondence are totally at odds with clear Church teaching. Sacred Scripture, the Magisterium, and Natural Law are consistent in opposition to abortion and so-called same-sex marriage.
You speak of your duty to dissent. Well, at least call it such. To claim that support for abortion and same-sex “marriage” is consonant with Catholic moral teaching is preposterous and disingenuous.
I, too, have a duty: to teach what the Church clearly believes. Your opinion on these two matters is contrary to the faith and morals of the Church.
And yet he still teaches here, at this Catholic university…
In his summer 2006 column in Marquette Magazine, University President Fr. Wild wrote, “Recently as a part of a review by the U.S. bishops of how the various Catholic universities are fulfilling the expectations of the church as expressed in John Paul II’s document ‘Ex Corde Ecclesiae,’ I had a lengthy and quite helpful conversation with Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan about how Marquette is doing in this regard. He was quite affirming of our efforts…” I wonder if Archbishop Dolan was affirming if and when Dr. Maguire’s presence on faculty came up…
As though embarrasing Marquette in front of every Catholic bishop in the nation is not bad enough, Dr. Maguire also recently embarrased Marquette in the pages of the largest circulation newspaper in the United States. Writing in a column in USA Today published on page 11A on August 13, 2006, Maguire defended abortion in reference to various world religions, including Catholicism.
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He’s not really dragging your name through the mud if he says everything you agree with…
Agreed Ricky Bobby.
We need the Dan Maguires of the world to step up and be heard if we’re ever going to achieve the social change that is so desperately needed in this country. Last time I checked, I didn’t elect the Bible or the Catholic church to represent me in Congress. It would be super if women were able to govern their own bodies and homosexuals weren’t treated like second class citizens, wouldn’t it? But why should we expect things like freedom, liberty, and equality in a place like the United States of America? Oh, wait a minute…
You do realize that we’re talking about a position of RELIGIOUS authority, not political authority, right Socialist? You’re free to elect Mr. Macguire to the senate if you like, but that doesn’t mean the Catholic Church is under an obligation to place dissenters in position to educate people on Church doctrine. Your response is rather nonresponsive.
Non-responsive and filled with soapbox pro-abortion, pro-homosexual rhetoric. You are skirting the subject to promote your pet issues.
Well yes, but I didn’t think it would help anything to go there
I was making a general comment on Dan Maguire and how much I admire and respect him for what he’s done. Also, I believe that he ABSOLUTELY belongs at Marquette, regardless of the fact that this is a so-called Catholic school (something tells me a proper interpretation of Christian doctrine wouldn’t be so exclusive and hateful, so I’m reluctant to believe that Marquette really upholds any true Catholic/Jesuits values to begin with.)
And what about free thought? Wouldn’t you rather that people agreed with your Christian view of how the world works because they were educated on all possibilities by qualified individuals and given the opportunity to decide for themselves what is right? Issues like abortion and gay rights have no universal, look it up in a book, Wikipedia consensus correct answer — they’re based on opinion and individual values and morals. Don’t you think it would mean more for someone to come out and say that they’re anti-choice or anti-gay rights because they’ve equally weighed all their options, rather than just placing blind faith in a storybook?
The point is that Dr. Maguire claims he is an authority on Catholicism and moral issues, and in the media uses his position of a Marquette Theology professor as grounds for authority. I am a committed Catholic. In spite of my religion, I support same sex marriage (while I am extremely pro-choice). However, I would never represent that viewpoint as one that is consistent with the Catholic Church’s teaching. If Dr. Maguire was representing himself as someone who is not affiliated with the church or Marquette, I would have less of a problem with this.
Christine, thanks for your honesty as a pro-choice supporter.
It does baffle me that abortion advocates, in sheer desperation for a sense of affirmation and legitimization anywhere, will cling to faux moral authority when it is consistent with their values, like Maguire, but run and hide when the truth comes out that such advocates do not speak for the authority that such an advocates claims to represent.
If abortion advocates were more blunt in their statements of support for the ending of human life, and did not try to hang moral teaching from the Catholic Church to their 20th century moral cookbooks, they’d be a little easier to respect.
By the way, Ricky Bobby is correct, it’s not really dragging your name through the mud when virtually the entire university administration agrees with your viewpoint.
Ooops! I mean pro-life ha
I am not that anti-catholic!
brandon, gop3 has become little more than soapbox rhetoric, and the Catholic Church (and I reference specifically Dolan and the heads at the Vatican when I say Catholic Church here) is a joke when it comes to homosexuality. You will not find a Catholic more outspoken than Dan Maguire on the fact that the people running this so-called Christian Church does not live up to anything it says in it’s theology about never disrespecting homosexuals and not judging them. You will not find one head of the Church saying anything but homosexuals live in sin if they are not celibate, but they will do absolutely nothing to combat the hate that happens every single day against homosexuals and I hope that God repays everyone of them for failing to act from love