My unpublished letter to the editor

Dear Wabash,

This week I submitted a letter to the editor of the Bachelor, which Mr. Patrick McAlister ’10 has refused to print. Therefore, I have little recourse other than to send this letter to the campus by this medium. My intent in so doing is not to start an “email war,” but rather to further the pursuit of free speech and open information on this campus. If Mr. McAlister and his newspaper are not interested in furthering free speech and open expression, our email system must serve as our final recourse. If you desire to send vitriolic responses to this email, please send them only to me rather than to all of campus.

The letter is as follows. I have made slight modifications since its original submission to Mr. McAlister:

Dear Sir,

I write today to express my shock at being terminated from the staff of your publication for “personally attacking” people in my columns. But before I do so, I find it advantageous to give to your readers a description of my service to the Bachelor. There is no student on campus whose membership in the Bachelor spans a greater period of time than my own. I have served as a reporter, section editor, and columnist since the beginning of the fall of 2005. Over the years I have penned a regular column that has been one of the most thought and discussion-provoking features on campus. I’m not easy to agree with, but little that is worthwhile is, and I don’t think my writing could ever be called unsubstantial. Thus when I heard of your decision to remove me from the staff of the Bachelor I could only be perplexed.

One of the most important parts of writing, especially journalistic writing, is to see that behind events are people. It is the people who make this campus, and they do so not only through their successes but also through their failings. There is absolutely no shortage of stories about success on this campus, but for years I have been one of the only voices willing to call to the campus’s attention those people whose failings have been detrimental to our college.

Mr. McAlister, you have accused me of personally attacking Juan Carlos Venis, Professor Agata Brewer, Dr. Harry Stout, and Dr. Cathy Birkenstein-Graff. This concept of “personal attack” is a vacuous nonsense that has become common parlance representative of our unwillingness to see that people whose actions and words have a negative effect on our campus must be called to task. Furthermore, you have insinuated that referring to someone as “overbearing” is ungentlemanly. This is obviously preposterous.

Mr. McAlister, your publication may win numerous awards, and indeed it produces some stellar articles and has a very professional look and feel, but so long as you continue a policy of editorial blandness your editorial board will continue to lack the most important quality a college newspaper can possess: credibility with its student body. You consistently fail to see that behind the negative events that happen on campus are people who must from time to time be called to task, people whose public failings merit public admonition. Until you learn to do this the student body will not think of your publication as its voice.

Furthermore, your silencing of the Bachelor’s most consistently provocative columnist is indicative of your unwillingness to deal with the more uncomfortable side of journalism – the fact that you cannot say anything substantial without making a few people angry. You have met with criticism, and you have caved. This decision makes clear your desire to stay cozy with those in power, especially within the College’s administration and faculty. You evidently have little interest in rocking the status quo and giving a voice to those who are interested in challenging the newly-formed orthodoxies of our campus culture.

To date I have not been given a full description of the reasons behind my termination. Furthermore, you have alluded to numerous “complaints”

that have been lodged against me, the content of which you have not revealed to me. I demand to know the exact number and content of the complaints against me so that I may answer them. I also believe it fair to know exactly who has complained about the columns that I have written. I also think it reasonable for you to explain the logic behind leveling disciplinary action against a columnist for material that has appeared in your own publication after being duly edited.

Additionally, I believe it necessary to point out to the student body that removal of a student from a student club is to my knowledge completely without precedent and certainly violates the spirit of open participation required of all student organizations that receive student activity fee derived funds.

I encourage all students who are disappointed with this publication to express their views. I’m sure that all of you have disagreed with me about something, but I think you might be inclined to agree that none of us wants a campus culture so bland that no one ever gets offended.

Sincerely,

R. V. Gregerson ’09

Former writer, section editor, and columnist for the Bachelor

Truth and Love

As I've written on here, this weekend St. Boniface has up the renowned chant expert Fr. Samuel Weber for a conference on Gregorian Chant. Thursday he did a session with our schola and then spent some time socializing with the young people of the parish (young being like my age - 35). This evening he did a session called "Introduction to Gregorian Chant," just teaching people what it is, its history, the basics you should know before you start actually learning it, which we'll be doing tomorrow in the full workshop.

He does an amazing job connecting chant to the fullness of the Catholic faith. It really is an integral part of everything we believe and the fullest embodyment of our faith outside the Sacraments themselves. He said both Thursday and today, "There are only two things worth doing in life: knowing the truth and being in love." What wisdom! But the two are intimately connected. To know the truth is to be in love with that Truth, to be in love with God. And that is exactly what chant can do. Its rhythms, intervals, patterns, and tones teach us the truth because they bring out the text in a way that no other music can. It speaks to us of a truth that is timeless and culture-less, that comes to us from God to be used only to praise Him. You can't sing (or hear) chant without falling in love with the Truth every time you experience it.

What a shame that so few Catholics know this great beauty. But I count myself blessed that God has directed my life here to have these amazing experiences like singing with the St. Boniface Schola and meeting Fr. Samuel Weber.

Rome for Christmas

I just found out last night that we've finalized plans to spend Christmas in Rome. I am so excited and am already trying to figure out how to go to Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Square. It's going to be amazing!

Am I a hard-core Catholic?

So there's this group on Facebook. It has a list of things by which one could know that one is a "hard-core Catholic." I'm amazed at the amount that don't apply to me. Here are some of the funniest.

-you have a "favorite" religious order
This is kind of funny because mine are the Carmelites and most Americans have no clue who they are.
-whenever anyone says "JPII" in your head you think "We love you"
Um, yeah, I am very fond of you, but I think more: "May perpetual light shine upon him."
-you know that Father Stan could take on Eminem anyday
Um, yeah ....
-you looove the book Captivating and/or Wild at Heart (Even though they were written by non-Catholics)
That caveat should be taken into account here ...
-You can name off all the Joyful, Glorious, Sorrowful, and Luminous mysteries.
That's a nope on that last one ...
-you think Scott Hahn writes the coolest books.
Definitely not ...
-You refer to John Paul II as John Paul the Great
We've already been here ...
-when watching star wars and hear "may the force be with you" you respond with "and also with you"
I think more 'et cum spiritu tuo'
-you arrive at Mass half an hour early to get a good seat and talk to Jesus
Or go to Confession ...
-You associate the smell of incense with major feast days
Or Mass in general ...
-You lie awake at night wondering why the St. Michael Prayer was removed from the end of Mass
Boy would I like to talk to the person who suggested this one!
-People tend you look in your direction in class whenever anything involving religion comes up
Okay now this is true
-You know that some Catholics don't eat meat on Wednesdays or Fridays, even not during Lent.
Another yes! There is hope!
-youve ever thought it would be fun to read the CCC as if it were a novel
Actually, no. I'll take St. Augustine over the CCC any day.
-you instinctively grab the person's hand next to you when it's time to pray
NO!!!!!!!!
-you hug strangers at Mass during the sign of peace
NO!!!!!!!
-you convince your roommate that Jesus loves Him/Her no matter what religion they are
Um ... what is Catholic about this?
-You look at this list and laugh really hard, b/c you know it's so true
Or you cry because of what passes as being Catholic in modern America
-you have at one point had to stop a younger sibling from playing in the holy water font.
Well, if we didn't make them so big now-a-days we wouldn't have this problem ...

Hebrews Six

One of my favorite things about this semester is how many Protestants I have discovered who are interested in the Catholic faith. Most are religion students who, having made a serious study of the Reformation and Protestant principles, have come to the conclusion that Christ's body is not meant to be fragmented, that Catholicism truly is Biblical, and Sola Scriptura is a faulty doctrine. They also tend to find the sacraments very attractive.

I've never really been much of an apologist. Wabash, after all, is the first non-Catholic school I've ever been to. There just aren't a lot of people to convert at a Catholic school, not to mention that my perspective on Catholicism was MUCH different in high school. So it comes as quite the surprise to me to have people coming up and asking about the Faith. I guess it's a good sign, though, because it means people take seriously the fact that I'm Catholic and try to live my faith wholistically. I think that if someone is truly Catholic, that will impact every part of his life. I'm not saying that everything I do could or should be used to determine the 'Catholic perspective.' It's an ideal, not a reality. No one's perfect.

Almost all of them, though, have little Biblical hangups, little passages of questionable relation to the issue at hand, but things through their personal reading of the Bible have become foundational to their understandings or that at first glance seem to contradict certain Catholic doctrines. I enjoy dealing with these very much, because it increases my knowledge of scripture. Well Saturday night I was explaining how the death and resurrection of Christ is perpetuated in every Mass, and the guy I was talking to says, "But doesn't that go against Hebrews six?" I was a little confused, because Hebrews six is itself a discourse on the Eucharist and direct Biblical justification for the Church's teaching that those in a state of mortal sin are not to receive the Eucharist (notice also that this is indirect justification for the Church's teaching that one can make a distinction between mortal and venial sins, because not all sins keep us from Communion). So I inquired as to what my friend meant by this, and he said that Hebrews six says we should not re-crucify Christ. Sounds like a weighty charge, so how do we answer it?

There are two routes here, the first of which is most obvious to the Catholic (to show that we are not re-crucifying Christ in the Mass), but relies on a theological distinction about sacrifice that most Protestants really won't relate to that well. The second route of course is a fuller exploration of what the Bible really says. The second route is really much more effective and generally found to be much more convincing. It also has the added benefit of showing that Catholics are not the biblical whimps we are made out to be.

So what does Hebrews six say? I looked at both Protestant and Catholic translations, and the differences I found were not between those two but between the newer, simplified translations and the older, more literal translations. The NAB says that those who receive in the state of mortal sin are "recrucifying the Son of God for themselves." Now I am going to grant (and not just for strategic purposes) that recrucifying here is bad. The whole point is that we should not be "recrucifying the Son of God for [ourselves]" So now I think we can see how this would create confusion when we say that the Crucifixion and the Resurrection happen at every Mass. This is especially true when the consecratory prayers make it rather clear that the Divine Sacrifice is offered for the Church. Are we not then recrucifying our Lord for ourselves? Now I'm leaving our real lack of action very briefly and going to another issue, which is this pesky word "for." The King James and the Douay-Rheims, both older more literal versions both read "to themselves" instead of "for themselves." Now I can see how this is a bit easier to understand in the general sense of the meaning of this passage, but in this context it sure is confusing (which is why we should never try to simplify the Word of God!). While we do offer the Mass for ourselves (the Church), it is in no sense offered to ourselves. Everything about the Mass makes clear that the Divine Sacrifice is offered to the Father. Even leaving aside the deeper issue of the nature in which the Mysterium Fidei takes place, it is clear that this criticsm of the author of Hebrews does not conflict with the Catholic notion of the Divine Sacrifice at Holy Mass.

Now, to take up the deeper issue ... to say that the Crucifixion and the Resurection happen at every Mass is in no sense to say that the Divine Work of salvation is repeated or that Christ is "recrucified." On the contrary, it is the one and same salvific action that is continually taking place. God, after all, exists outside of time and space. His Sacrifice is continually present in whatever way he chooses. Additionally, the Gospels make clear the connection between the Last Supper, the Passion, and the Resurrection, which is why the three events operate as one continuous liturgy in the Church. God, conceptually, is completely prior to space and time. Biblically, space and time do not exist without God in really the same manner that their existence is below Him on the coceptual order of things. Gathered at the foot of his altar to receive Communion we are the same group gathered around his Cross watching his Passion, because that Passion is the same.

Student Journalism at Wabash

I was involved in the student journalism business for quite a while. I'm glad to be out, but I still have a deep appreciation for what it did for my writing skills, my attention to details, and the many other positive attributes any good reporter must cultivate. So I still maintain a good interest in the publication. Thus I feel a good bit of pride at having served as a member of the editorial board of our own student newspaper, The Bachelor, here at Wabash College as it comes up on its 100-year anniversary Wednesday. But it also prompts concern for one certain aspect of the publication, that is its advancing entaglement with the Public Affairs office.

The publication receives a lot of support from Public Affairs, mostly in the area of leadership but also indirect financial support as well. Not for day-to-day operations, but they help out from time to time with big projects. And as PA has gotten more involved over the years, the quality of the publication has gone way up. They paid for an incredible re-design two years ago, and there have been other things. Student leadership has been good, but I don't think they would have pushed up to the next level without PA support.

The department's director, Jim Amidon, wrote a column in the Bachelor recently. Reflecting on the paper's success, he wrote:

"Now that Howard Hewitt, a 22-year veteran journalist, has joined the public affairs staff and has been more active in advising The Bachelor, we’re thrilled with the results. After breaking away from the ICPA for three years, Wabash is an active, competing member once again. Under the leadership of outgoing editor-in-chief Patrick Smith, Wabash journalists won 22 ICPA awards last weekend, including seven first place certificates."

While Mr. Amidon does recognize the leadership of the student editor, it's pretty hard to read this without assigning a good bit of credit to Mr. Hewitt. Now I think Mr. Hewitt's desire to help the Bachelor staff is great. I'm fairly certain he receives no compensation for his efforts outside of his normal office hours. But despite all his good intentions, the functions of the Public Affairs office and the student newspaper are completely different. PA makes the College look good. The newspaper reports on what actually happens. So what happens when you let the people in charge of making the College look good influence what we say about the reality? Right now, probably nothing. But what happens if the picture isn't so bright?

The issue came to a head for me when the Bachelor advisors, Howard Hewitt and Jim Amidon, announced they would vet the applicants for the Bachelor editorship. I think that's extremely problematic. When you control the leadership, you control the organization. Is it a big danger now? No. Do I think it effected the election of Patrick McAlister as the publication's new editor? No. But it holds a lot of problems for the future.

Really busy weekend

Yeah, seriously. It was tough. Big event of the weekend was the Glee Club's joint concert with the University of Indianapolis's Womens' Chorus. Friay night we had a rehersal with them in Indy followed by a social. Then back home I spent some time with some of our seniors. Pretty soon we won't be seeing each other much, and most of them live outside the house already meaning I don't see them very often, so it was good to spend some time with them, even if it meant I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. But there are much, much more important things in life than sleep. Or at least that better be the case because it's sure how I've lived for college (and before that too, I suppose).

So then on Saturday morning I had to report for duty at 10:30 for Glee Club funcitons. After setting up the risers for the performance later in the day, we had rehersal for the T-tones. Then we sang for a luncheon for the college (see photo above). Then I went on a service outing with the house. Then T-tones sang for a memorial service for an alumnus on campus, then we had a joint rehearsal with the womens' chorus, the Crawfordsville Community Chorus and the string ensemble. Then we all had dinner together, followed by what would have been a nap had not so many people suddenly been in need of my time, and then back for the concert.

But it was all worth it when we did our closing number. It was a Barroque piece titled Domine, ad adjuvandum me. With over 90 singers onstage, accompanied by harpsicord, basoon, viola, and five violins it was quite the spectacle. The piece was genuinely barroque -- completely over the top. Fellow musicians will recognize that familiar feeling at the end of an amazing piece, that feeling that you have just produced something really wonderful. We made great music last night, better than anything I've ever participated in at Wabash before. It was really one for the history books. And this isn't just me being a sucker for classical music. This was real, this was magic.