I don't hate Catholics
With the news that Ardeth Wood's killer has officially plead guilty, the papers are full of praise for her including an opinion piece disguised as a victim impact statement in the Citizen today by her uncle, a Catholic priest, hoping that she becomes a saint.
This piece offends me. Not because I think she doesn't deserve to be remembered and recognized--she seems like she was a great person--but because of the implications of this particular view of her situation. Her uncle's main reason, it seems, for hoping she gets beatified is that she died rather than living with sexual assault. He says, "Ardeth's resistance to sexual violation to the point of death gives witness to the fact that one's own moral integrity is something far more valuable than surrender to a few moments of pleasure in violation of the law of God." Excuse me? Is he going to claim that rape victims enjoy being raped?
While that conclusion may not have been the main purpose of his statement, I think he deliberately ignores the difference between sexual contact between consenting individuals and sexual assault. In so doing, he implies that victims of sexual assault lack moral integrity, unless they die while resisting. He goes on to say that Ardeth "chose the high road of sacrifice (was it martyrdom?) rather than offend God." To assert that those who survive sexual assault are offensive to God, while Ardeth Wood is worthy of recognition as a martyr simply because she died and happened to be a Catholic is a dangerous line of thinking. It demeans victims and decreases their worth as moral human beings.
Making Ardeth Wood a martyr to chastity and virtue seems like a sick way to rejoice in her death. I realize that it is Father William Ashley's job as a Catholic priest to uphold Catholic morals, and the Catholic Church has never been keen on extra-marital sex; however, in this century is it still considered appropriate for anyone, including Catholics, to scorn, blame, and exclude victims of sexual assault? Please tell me that practicing Catholics today do not engage in honour killings or stonings. Considering the ongoing struggle in the church with its own history of abuse, and the attempts to preserve its own moral authority in light of these transgressions by its own officials, condemning assault victims is the height of insensitively, not to mention incredibly bad P.R. Clearly one priest does not necessarily speak for the whole church, but his attitude is worrying.
Father William Ashley ends his piece by blaming the state of the world and Ardeth's death on original sin and our resulting inherent fallenness. I don't seek to deny Catholic doctrine, but I wish to point out that blaming original sin for everything is not constructive. Her death was a tragedy even for those who didn't know her; it is always a tragedy when someone falls victim to violence. Rather than dwelling on the supposed moral depravity of today's society and the fallen condition of the world, using tragedies to prop up theology, we need to do something to prevent these actions. Blah blah blah from here insert one of my customary leftist rants about peace and love and mutual respect, etc.