Dear Editor,
An op-ed published Wednesday, Feb. 29, titled "Keep your rosaries off our ovaries" and written by John Lapin removes itself from legitimate political discourse and places itself firmly in the realm of incendiary and hateful speech. If Mr. Lapin's remarks had been directed at Muslims or Jews, rather than at Catholics, he would have been the target of disciplinary action and widespread condemnation. There is a legitimate argument to be made against the Catholic Bishops' opposition to President Obama's birth control policy. However, Mr. Lapin avoids intellectual discourse, preferring to promote petty attacks against Catholics.
In a 900-word article, Lapin calls Church officials "Old white men in funny hats," "an army of sexually repressed men who know nothing about birth control or women's bodies and probably even less about sex," "defender[s] of pedophilic priests" and "crusaders." He adds the sarcastic remark, "The Catholic Church needs to join the 21st century. (A necessarily impossible challenge, I know.)" These remarks are intended to incite religious animus and undermine legitimate discourse. In order to have an argument about U.S. contraception policy, it is necessary to understand one's opponents, rather than target and demonize them with insinuations and underhanded slurs. While Mr. Lapin may disagree with the values of celibacy held by Catholic clergy, he should focus his criticism on policy disagreements, not insults.
Mr. Lapin's criticism of the Catholic Church's "archaic beliefs" is similarly troubling. He seems to hold the idea that the Catholic Church must change the beliefs it has held for the past two millennia due to a rise in secularism that has lasted for around 50 years. Such a statement compares with San Francisco's abhorrent attempt to ban Jewish ritual circumcision, similarly driven by a belief that Jews should be forced to abandon an "archaic belief" that they have practiced for over 4,000 years. It is ironic that someone in his 20s should believe that he is able tell a 2,000-year-old institution what to do.
If Mr. Lapin wished to convince people, he should have laid out the case for universal birth control coverage without his offensive remarks about Catholics. His attacks delegitimize his argument and prevent him from convincing anyone who does not already agree. Mocking the clothes of clergy and unnecessarily referencing the Church's sex scandals only distracts us from constructive discussion.
Sincerely,
Timothy Lesinski
Class of 2012
