with a VCR
Daniel Byrne
visiting lecturer, history department
As is often the case with the right wing within the Catholic Church, they have missed Christ's message about poverty and, indeed, 2,000 years of thinking on the issue of social justice. This is truly obvious in the case of Christine Niles and her recent unfocused diatribe against the poor and Europeans. As with last semester's assault on the "brooding sullen class," Ms. Niles misses the mark. The fact that the working poor in the United States have more material goods than the poor in other nations should not condemn them to ridicule.
Rather, Ms. Niles should feel ashamed to have let a pregnant woman work on the construction of a church rather than rest in the comfort of her own home. Whatever happened to family values and raising the standards of living in Ecuador and elsewhere? Isn't there a better measure of the standard of living than the number of VCRs? As she railed against socialism in Europe, she failed to see the strong support of laborers for programs of national health care, education and wage and price supports.
She derides the English for their anti-materialism, which she interprets as anti-Americanism. Is she accusing the Brits of VCR envy or angry over their seeming lack of concern? European socialists understand that basic social needs are far more important than providing entertainment. Bread is far more important than circuses.
Perhaps Ms. Niles should consider a sabbatical from law school and attend courses on Catholic social justice and statistics. Since she believes that the poor in the United States are so well off, perhaps she would like to change places with them. When God graces her with children, I pray that she not be burdened with church construction in her fifth month.
Ms. Niles seeks an answer to the question of what should be the appropriate gap between rich and poor. A simple answer is all that is needed. None. If there is to be no difference in the kingdom of heaven, then there should not be one on earth.
Daniel Byrne
visiting lecturer, history department
February 28, 2002
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, March 1, 2002
