Straining Gnats and Swallowing Camels

While this writer feels sympathy for the extremely tough situation that Alice Carter has experience, I think she is too narrowly focused on what she perceives are the reasons for anonymity. There’s more than just Herman from whom to fear as he is not the only person who is implicated, which if you want to believe what he says, he has nothing to fear so why would he perform any punitive action anyway? There is more than one person at the middle of this and they all have something to lose (freedom, i.e. prison, money, home, reputation). Peripheral people who were enablers who fear their reputation could be at risk or that they will forever be tainted by their association or participation, however minor, in what has happened, people who counted on this continuing for their own benefit and are now feeling vindictive, and just others who now are angry over what is happening. On the other side, we have many people that have a lot to lose if they speak out whether that be their reputation, job, etc.

Yes, there are bad people out there in this scandal, very bad, who can do very bad things to you irrespective of their cleric rank if even they are of the clergy. Harm can be done in many ways that do not have to be associated with the church or with one’s standing in their job (clergy). As Alice points out, death threats, which while, this writer hopes, is an extreme that we should not contemplate, does show that retribution can come in many forms and from many angles and not just from the obvious people at the center of this. There are a lot of people who were enablers and partakers in this scandal over the past 18 years and a lot of those people can be harmed in ways spanning the entire spectrum. You can never know to what extreme someone is going to go when faced with the fruits of what they have sown. Retribution and fear is not a point, it’s a matrix. A matrix of possible people to fear and possible actions that can occur. Unfortunately we have been witness to actions by Herman that one would never have thought he would think let alone be capable of, but nonetheless have become commonplace for him. Actions which are anti Christian and anti Orthodox and have lead people, including this writer, to questioning whether he is a religious man who fears God anymore. In that context there is no knowing just how low they will go in order to silence, protect themselves, and get back.

Take a look at another aspect of this. Some people just can’t be put in front of a group of people to voice an opinion. They might have an insecurity which prevents them from going out and to fear embarrassing themselves fearing perhaps that they may say something stupid or overly obvious. If they are able to use anonymity they do not have to have that psychological trauma heaped upon them if what they say is mocked, discounted, or whatever fears the person may have. There are others that want to say something, but have a demeanor which is quiet, which they want to preserve. There are others who do not involve themselves in conflict or scandal and use anonymity to keep their reputations intact in that respect and keep that overt appearance of a back bencher who goes to church, gives his donations, and goes home afterwards. Yes, a person might have a problem with the clergy, but wants to retain cordial relations with his parish priest. Some people want to appear unaffected although they may be highly angry, rightly so, because of this scandal. There may be a person that Herman trusts completely who needs to air out. The list goes on.

In another thread I put forth more reasons, relating to group dynamics, as to why anonymity has been used and why it’s good and should be used. Unfortunately there has been a lot written about the use of anonymity on this site and almost invariably from the point of view that it’s a bad or not a good thing. It’s a tool, like this very computer that we use to communicate is a tool. It’s a tool that a new medium affords us to use and use effectively. A medium which has enabled us to do all we have done to date in battling this cancer in the Church and which, Herman is right in thinking, if we didn’t have it, he’d be living the high life yet. We have much more open and frank discussions because of it. Instead of that pervasive feeling here that people are hiding because of fear, which may be the circumstance in some situations, it is also that people see the value and the freedom in all senses that they have because anonymity is available. If you doubt that, consider the activity and level of discussion on this site versus others.

Pseudonyms have a long, cherished, and celebrated history. For instance, more people know Mark Twain than Samuel Clemens. No one knows who William Sydney Porter was although he wrote over 400 short stories, but they have heard of O. Henry. In both cases the pseudonym does nothing to lessen what was written. My own name, Publius, was used by three of the founding fathers in their defense of the newly created Constitution of the United States. John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton were three of the best known and well respected of the founding fathers. One became the First Supreme Court Chief Justice, one a President (and author of the Constitution), one a Treasury Secretary with a list of accomplishments that takes a good long while to read. A pseudonym allowed them to argue the case of the Constitution from the point of view as a disinterested person concentrating on the defense rather than the defenders, which is probably the reason why political writings were always pen named during those days. The Federalist Papers, to this day, authored under a pseudonym, remain, and will always be, at the pinnacle of political writing in our land. So, maybe, it’s not so bad after all…