I was back on the East Coast recently to see my younger brother. He lives about 45 minutes out of New York City in New Jersey, but we always spend at least a day in the Big Apple, which he considers the center of the universe.
Some of the things I heard and read out there remind me of something Forum Editorial Page Editor Jack Zaleski said in his Sunday column.
Most people on the East Coast -- and in most metropolitan areas -- don't know diddly about production agriculture or national food policy.
I don't mean to imply that my South Dakota-reared brother feels that way. The majority of his neighbors think the potentially $75 billion farm bill is nothing more than what Zaleski called "welfare for rich farmers."
As Zaleski reminded all of us, this country's farmers do their jobs so well that they are simply taken for granted. All that cheap food we shovel into those shopping carts at the grocery store just magically appears.
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My brother's wife thinks Dakota Growers Pasta -- processed right here in Carrington, N.D. -- is as good as any she's ever eaten. I wonder if people ever think about that angel hair pasta that ends up in their salads? They would if they could no longer get it off the grocery shelf.
The spin on pedophilia
I haven't said anything until now, but a commentary page piece by Harry J. Flynn, archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, is a bit disconcerting.
The archbishop complains about the deluge of media coverage and claims that serious charges, some of them unfair, have been made against the church. He further claims that this outpouring of criticism has contributed to a "tragically distorted" view of the church.
But even more disconcerting to me was the announcement by Flynn's committee later Tuesday that priests who molested children only once in the past could continue in the ministry under certain conditions.
When it comes to pedophilia, there can be no tolerance -- none whatsoever. And believe me, there will be a firestorm of media criticism between now and June 13 when bishops gather in Dallas.
Flynn maintains that the 45,000 priests faithfully serving parishes throughout America have been kissed off -- perhaps even mocked -- in a media feeding frenzy seldom seen in this country.
Most Catholics know very well how valuable their parish priests are and faithfully support them in their often difficult work.
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That the church is basking in the glow of a very unwelcome spotlight is a condition largely of its own making.
I have heard the mea culpas ad nauseam. All the apologies and prayers in the world won't make up for the sexual abuse of even one child. If you don't believe it, just ask the abused child or the abused child's parents.
And, yes, priests should be held to a higher standard.
Until the Catholic Church unceremoniously defrocks this small percentage of criminal -- yes, criminal, priests -- and forces enablers like Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law into involuntary retirement, the U.S. church will remain in great turmoil.
That is a certainty, and that is one of the reasons 17 million Catholics have fled the U.S. church. And that is a shame.
Readers can reach Terry DeVine at (701) 241-5515 or tdevine@forumcomm.com
