4
The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
I saw what ! saw, but i didn't see it
By PAUL R. LEINGANG
Editor
I saw it. But I didn't see it.
I was rushing back to work after an outside-the-
office appointment. I stopped at a fast food place for
a late lunch and drove toward the office.
In the left turn lane, I slowed for a red light; and
approached a busy intersection. That's when it hap-
pened.
The cars in front of me, dozens of them, were
proceeding in typical intersection fashion. That is to
sa); some were crossing, some were turning, some
were waiting, and some were slowing down as they
approached and others were picking up speed as
they moved away. It was a full 360 degrees of activity
all around,me, more than any one person can see at
any one time.
That's when I saw the sudden crash of two cars,
the front of one striking the right side of the other
amid a spray of plastic and chrome pieces flying into
the air at the point of impact.
But what I saw, I did not understand.
Where had these two cars come from? I could not
tell.
They were directly in front of me. One slid across
my line of sight to a curb on my right. The other spun
in a circle and came to a skidding stop no more than a
foot in front of my car. A spray of safety glass sprin-
kled from the shattered back window onto the rear
seat of the car, falling onto an infant seat securely
buckled in place.
The faces of the two women in the front seat were
full of fear as they turned toward the baby in the back
seat.
The driver of the other car sprinted from the curb
side to see if everyone was o.k. An emergency med-
ical team was there in minutes. Other drivers at the
intersection I I was among them m picked our way
around the crash and continued our journeys.
As I drove away, I could not put the scene back
together again. I wanted instant replay, another cam-
era angle, a shot from the sky-cam, something to
make sense of what had happened, some third per-
son omnipotent view of the cars and their progress.
But life's officials ruled against my request, and now I
will never be quite sure of what I had seen.
Among the Gospel accounts which continue to
stir my thinking is the story of what people wit-
nessed at a particular point in the life of Jesus. Some
heard a voice from heaven, saying that Jesus was
God's son. Others heard thunder.
Life in the middle can be confusing. Perhaps it
was so, too, in the middle of tlqe Red Sea, among the
families and individuals fleeing Egypt. Was it God
May 29,
'i
who saved them? Or was it the
down the wheels of the chariots and led
of the charioteers?
That close call you had on the highway
that luck? Or providence?
Seeing may not always be believing.
may often lead to a new kind of seeing.
Take the time today to look at that
you probably carry with you -- the one that
what to do in case of an accident.
If you don't have such a card, ask
from an automobile club or from the local traffics
ty people.
Examine the laws in your state or
your obligations as a witness to an
i
crime.
When you know what is legally
things over with others in your home.
morally required.
If there are children in your home,
learn the moral respon,
If laws in your state or locale p
try to help, work to change them.
Take the time to make a difference.
Comments about this column are welcome at
prleing@cfm.org or the Christian Family
Box 272, Ames, Iowa 50010.
After India, religious renew call for nuclear test
By NANCY FRAZIER
O'BRIEN
Catholic News Sentice
and to make further progress"
toward nuclear disarmament,"
said Archbishop Theodore E.
McCarrick of Newark, N.J.,
chairman of the U.S. bishops'
International Policy Committee,
in a letter to National Security
Adviser Samuel Berger.
Since its approval by the Unit-
ed Nations in September 1996,
149 nations -- including nuclear
powers Russia, China, Great
Britain, France and the United
States -- have signed the treaty.
But only Britain, France and 11
other countries have ratified it.
Ratification by all 44 of the
countries that have nuclear
power or nuclear reactors is
required before the treaty can
take effect. If such approval is
not achieved by September
1999, the treaty calls for an inter-
national conference of the rati-
fying nations "to consider and
decide by consensus what mea-
sures consistent with interna-
tional law maybe undertaken
to accelerate the ratification
process."
But for many U.S. religious
leaders, the key to worldwide
approval of the treaty rests in
the hands of the Senate, which
has taken no action on the treaty
since President Clinton sent it
there in September 1997.
'q'he U.S. Senate has within its
powers the capacity to take deci-
sive action on some of the most
fateful issues affecting the secu-
rity of our nation and the peace
of our planet," said a coalition of
more than 200 Christian and
Jewish religious leaders in an
open letter to the Senate May 18.
"We assure our senators of'
our determination to interpret
this issue as a vital matter of
religious_ conscience for our
Letter to the editor
Radio show 'incredibly disgusting'
To the editor:.
;'one who has been paying
:tention will recognize the
name Howard Stern -- the serf-
prodaimed "King of All Media."
He broadcasts in almost 50 mar-
kets in the United States and is
known for his filthy talk and
lewd conduct on the air.
Stern broadcasts five hours
daily, five days a week in most
major radio markets. Recurring
themes and activities of the show
include undressing women in
the radio studio during live
broadcasts, Stem's fantasies with
lesbians, incredibly disgusting
scatological "humor," blasphe-
m3 masturbation, violent sex,
be.;;ality and sadomasochism.
For almost 10 years I have
been an active member of
American Family Association. I
invite you also to join mini-
mal annual fee (mainly to cover
postage). They have successful-
ly employed the program of
informing its membership of
such as Howard Stem (and
many others) and suggesting
that each of us write, fax, e-mail
or phone the sponsors asking
them to reconsider their support
of such trash. Takes only a few
minutes each month.
American Family Association tele-
phone: (601) 844-5036;address: PC)
Draacr 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803.
Jerome Schneider
Jasper
communities," they added.
Catholic signers of the letter
included Marist Father Ted
Keating, director for justice and
peace at the Conference of
Major Superiors of Men; Mercy
Sister Kathy Thornton, national
coordinator of Network, a
Catholic social justice lobby;
Father Michael Dodd, director
of the Columban Fathers' Jus-
tice and Peace Office; and
Father Bill Moroney of the Mis-
sionaries of Africa. Pax Christi
USA, the national Catholic
peace organization, had a more
harsh message for leaders of the
United States and other nuclear
powers.
"While we feel it is absolutely
necessary to add Pax Christi
USA's voice to the chorus of
world condemnation directed
toward India's decision to test,
we are equally compelled to cry
out against the hypocrisy and
culpability of the other nuclear
weapons states' continued
reliance on nuclear deterrence,"
said a statement released May
20 by Dave Robinson, program
director at the group's head-
quarters in Erie, Pa.
World leaders must acknowl-
edge that "there is no secure
middle ground" between "a
nuclear-weapons-free world for
all, and a nuclear weapons free-
for-aU," the statement said. It
noted that in a joint statement
two weeks before India's
nuclear tests, Belgian Cardinal
God fried Danneels and!
Konrad Raiser
doctrine of nuclear
as "morally
Darmeels is
Christi
Raiser is
World Council
"As an instrument (
rence, nuclear
innocent peopl
political and
es," the two told a
gathering in GeneVa
the nuclear
Treaty.
Religious
tough on India,
light of its rootS in'
Joan Brown
secretary of the
mittedly
of Mohandas
But in his letter
Archbishop
that the poor
not be made
bad decisionS of
ment leaders.
diverted scarCe
develop
destruction
own people
misery," t
U.S. governrnen
large numbers
vulnerable
ly urge
itari;
See
WASHINGTON (CNS)
India's explosion of five nuclear
devices in mid-May and inter-
national worries that Pakistan,
China or another nation might
do the same have brought new
urgency to calls for U.S. Senate
ratification of the Comprehen-
sive Test Ban Treaty.
The2Keligious community has
been at the forefront of those
calls, warning that the United
States is losing its moral high
ground on the nuclear testing
issue by the Senate's failure to
act on the treaty.
"The moral credibility of the
United States in urging India
and other nations to forgo
nuclear weapons depends on
our nation's willingness to rati-
fy the comprehensive test ban
4200 N. Kentucky Ave.
Evansville, IN 47711
Weekly newspaper
of the Diocese of
Evansville
PJ,sed weeJ,/excot
s't week Oecemt
by the Catholic Press of
Evansville
I ............. 8ist A. Getm¢
E .................. i .................. Paul R Lmr, gaf
Proclion Tschnidan :......:....._Jo
Advertising ................................... Pa Ne
Staff Wrr ............................ Mary Ann
Address all communications tO P.O. Box
4169, Evansville, IN 47724-0169
Subscription rate:
$'t850 per year
Single Copy Price: $.50
Entered as petodca matter at ,'e post offr, e in
Evan.sviie, iN 477C! PubtcaIlon number84380
PdmaSter.: turn POD forms 3579 to Offe of
Prd,,c j
]G,yT'; i ' 8 Cr' Press of Evi!Ie
Bbhop's sche
Ad Limina visit in Rome, with otter bishOpS
Vii, from Friday May 22.
Return to Diocese oJ Evansville, June 14.
