Great Compromise?

Recently, the determination of a group wearing Rainbow Sashes during liturgies in several American cities has occasioned a brouhaha. (Something Fr. Neuhaus would know a thing or two about.) In the name of "Bringing the Gifts, the Witness and the Challenge of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people into the Heart of the Church," all they've accomplished is this: politicizing the eucharist against the Left in the way the "Caped Crusader" (Ray Burke) does for the Right. It's not healthy at all. And why do any laypeople need to wear Rainbow Sashes anyway? Father wears one, and that's more than enough -- the color changes every day, thank you very much; he wears it for the whole community.

So I just wish that LGBT in the church -- at least, those who are public about the cause (suffice it to say, our walk-in closets are impressive) -- could be a bit more deft about their means of operating, because when they're not the whole community is dealt a further setback. The Sashes are not appropriate to an ecclesial context and, in reality, ask something which the magisterium is not able to give.

However, per usual, the usual AgitProp machine (not the one you read about in The Wanderer) is turning this into a traditional zero-sum game: liberal pain, conservative gain. And that's just as wrong as the sashes in the first place. So in the name of being a fair arbiter and distributing the penance equally, there is this proposal -- if it can be accepted, great. But it belongs on the table:

Progs (Libs, AmChurch, VOTF, Tree-Huggers, whatever you call yourselves): NO RAINBOW SASHES! Keep them stashed away in a drawer. Sometimes, you're guilty of lifting the political over the cultic -- you're not alone at this. But liturgy is not the time to go about making this kind of, literally, flamboyant statement. It'd be welcome, I'm sure, in an Episcopalian parish, but we really need to have community practice in these days, and the Sashes hinder that. Monday thru Saturday can be days to share with parishioners and attempt to persuade them that LGBT in the church is a cause worthy of attention and respect, but when it comes time to go to the altar, all that is best left behind. Deal?

Again, this is a dual-sided penance. Behold, the other shoe drops:

Cons (RadTrads, Self-Declared "Orthodox," Single-Issue Bush Voters): NO MANTILLAS! Honeys, leave the veils at home, keep them stashed away in a drawer. Sometimes, you're guilty of lifting the political over the cultic -- you're not alone at this. But liturgy is not the time to go about making this kind of, literally, flamboyant statement. It'd be welcome, I'm sure, at EWTN, but we really need to have community practice in these days, and the mantillas hinder that -- they reek of "more-Catholic-than-thou," and that detracts from the mass. Monday thru Saturday can be days to share with parishioners and attempt to persuade them that esoteric traditions in the church are a cause worthy of attention and respect, but when it comes time to go to the altar, all that is best left behind. Deal?

Of course, the one exception to the "no mantillas" compromise would be the Vatican, because it's, well, the Vatican -- and nothing beats seeing Silvio Berlusconi's 30-ish wife (who has already had more than her share of plastique done) wearing a black veil. It doesn't help the institutional perception that all women must wear black (and veils) in the presence of a man in white so he can look even more fabulous, but I'm an old softy for it.

And the exception to the "donne nella nera al Vaticano" rule is? Cons should know this pretty easily....

Teams: talk this proposal over amongst yourselves. Discussion is open.

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