Don't let history repeat itself

By DEACON WALTER AYRES- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

For me, it's personal. Whenever I read or hear something about why Muslims should be banned from entering the United States, or see claims that their religion does not mesh with American values, I recall what my Irish Catholic ancestors went through when we were the ones who were being mistreated. It was not unlike what Muslims face today.

I will never forget the story my uncle told me about the year Al Smith ran as the first Catholic candidate for president. My father's youngest brother attended the elementary school near their farm, while his older siblings went to the high school in town. The week before the election, my grandmother had to remove him from school, because the Protestant boys were beating him up every day.

Then there is the time my father ran for town supervisor in the 1950s. On the Sunday before the election, the local Presbyterian minister informed his congregation that they could not vote for a Catholic.

None of this is unique to my family, or to the Irish. Nor did it start with Al Smith's run for office. Anti-Catholic fervor has a long history in America.

In 1775, a Catholic priest caught saying Mass anywhere in New York State was subject to death by hanging. There were only two American colonies where our faith was not outlawed.

One of our Founding Fathers and future presidents, John Adams, proposed that Catholics be prohibited from voting because we owed allegiance to a "foreign power," meaning the pope.

There was no limit on the nonsense people would believe about us. During Al Smith's run for the presidency, a photo circulated claimed to show Catholics secretly digging a tunnel from Washington, D.C., to Rome, so that, if Smith won, the pope would have easy access to the White House. The photo in question was actually from the construction of the Holland Tunnel.

Pope Francis has stated, "It is not possible to build bridges between people while forgetting God. But the converse is also true: It is not possible to establish true links with God while ignoring other people. Hence, it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam."

More recently, the pope said, I do not think it is right to identify Islam with violence. This is not right and it is not true." For such comments, he has been condemned by some on the internet at the antichrist. Apparently, anti-Catholic sentiments are not a thing of the past.

As a nation, we do not have a stellar record of treating minorities well, especially in times of fear and anxiety. German-Americans bore the brunt of that in World War I. In World War II, Japanese-Americans fared worse, being sent to internment camps.

History shows that when Americans are scared, we can act in ways for which future generations must apologize.

Today, as we face legitimate threats from terrorists, let us not repeat the mistakes of the past, fearing those who really are our friends or ignoring those who truly need our help. Instead, let us bravely choose to side with those innocent people who are feared instead of those who persecute them.

I think our ancestors in heaven would be proud.

(Deacon Ayres is director of the diocesan Commission on Peace and Justice.)[[In-content Ad]]