I was talking to Frederick Clarkson yesterday, and over our lunch of smoked turkey-wraps I mentioned that I'd come across what seemed to be an Opus Dei dating website.
"You're %$#%$# kidding, right ?" Fred burst out.
"No, really, I'm pretty sure....."
So, today I checked it out. Yup.
It is the goal of Ave Maria SinglesTM to be an instrument of Jesus Christ used to bring hope to single Catholics who are serious about their faith, loyal to the Pope and Magisterium, and seek to meet their future spouse who shares their convictions.
We have had over 200 successful marriages thus far, a powerful testimony to God's power at work through this site as an instrument of His Holy Spirit.
"I had been seeking to find a way to bring serious single Catholics together for a long time. Contributing to the growth of Ave Maria Singles through the Ave Maria Foundation was my opportunity to do that. I look forward to seeing it grow in great numbers all around the world with many marriages, children and holy Catholic families established." - Tom Monaghan, Founder of Domino's Pizza
Now, this isn't an 'official' Opus Dei Catholic Singles site, but take a look at who the site lists in it's "
Prominent Catholics Appreciate the Ave Maria Singles Website!" page - number two there is one of Opus Dei's top leaders in the US [ see
article by Frank Coccozzelli ] figure, Rev. C. John McCloskey. His blurb informs us:
He has personally advised many of his spiritual directees to join. (6) have met their spouse here.
"This service is providing an ideal setting for serious Catholics to search for... and find their spouse for life. Together with their children they will build 'the civilization of love and truth' in the next millennium."
Prominent Catholics Love the Ave Maria Singles Website!
A top Opus Dei leader
loves the service and sends his acolytes there - OK, it's not called
the "Opus Dei" singles site or
"Opus Singles get it on in a Godly Way" or whaever. But it's highly unlikely Dei would ever attach its name to such a site - Opus Dei's name is - too many - sketchy. It would amount to bad PR.
( what's Opus Dei ? Check out
Frank Coccozzelli's ongoing series, at Talk To Action, on the Catholic right )
So, what's my point if not to mock this ?
My point is NOT to poke fun at this, nor will you find any salacious material in the hundreds of testimonials on "AveMaria Singles" although if you find long courtship narratives involving lots of prayer in and out of church, and marriage proposals involving beds of rose petals ( you get the picture ) erotic, well this is for you.
Anyway, I'm here not to mock but to praise.... the tactic.
You see, Tom Monaghan is funding this for a very good reason : it preserves and concentrates the Opus Dei ideology. Lately there's been a reassessment, by genetcists, of the reproductive perils of cousin marriages, and it turns out there are benefits as well as risks. One main beneft is the concentration of potentially desirable genetic traits.
In this case, Monaghan is encouraging the concentration of Opus Dei-ness, lest that ideological stock get watered down as Opus devotees, in desparation, turn to non-Opus members for marriage.
But here's my main point: Monaghan has his beliefs. He puts money behind them.
There's one thing the religious and Christian right get : they support their own.
Now, the reason Fred Clarkson and I founded Talk To Action was mainly this :
People with a deep knowledge of the Christian right have on the whole, for decades, been marginalized. There are endless reasons for that but the phenomenon is quite pervasive - it's as manifest here on the Daily Kos as it is within the Democratic Party : why doesn't a guy such as Fred Clarkson - whose groundbreaking contributions in researching the Christian right get routinely cited by the latest books on the Christian right - by Michelle Goldberg, Kevin Phillips, and countless others - get a voice on the top Democratic progressive website in the US ?
There's something pervasive going on here. Yes, there are immediate politics and no, I won't go into details.
But beyond those, there's something more profound at work. Last week, I wrote a diary called "EZ guide to making a difference: how to fight the Christian right and get laid too", [ the "EZ" part and the "getting laid" part were disingenuous for the most part although somebody did hit on me once at a theocracy conference for my vague resemblance to Jeff Sharlet ]
In the diary, I wrote this :
At the time, I knew I had an awful lot to learn on the ( vast ) subject of the Christian and religious right. So, I found a relevant professional in the field to partner with. Frederick Clarkson had been studying and writing on the intersection of religion and politics for several decades.
Oddly, even though I didn't grasp it at the time, at that point I was ahead of most of the leaders of the American left in that I had recognized that knowledge of the Christian right, Christian nationalism, Dominionism, Christian Reconstructionism, and so on is a professional specialization : on the Christian right there are thousands of organizations and hundreds of sects and faith group, para-faith groups, associations, businesses, media empires....On and on. It seems endless.
[ How could newcomers to the field imagine suddenly getting any useful bearing ? Home brain surgery is possible, sure, but not desirable - there is a body of relevant knowledge, and that is so concerning the Christian and religious right. ]
Now, here on the DailyKos there's been a fantastic proliferation of diaries on the Christian right, Dominionism, Reconsructionism, on and on and on. But, there's just not much - and not much that's deeply informed - on the front page. For me to say that will not be well received. So be it, I'm a persona non grata on that count anyway. The funny thing is that the dKos community of diarists seems far more aware of the Christian right than the blog leadership..... but - to be perfectly fair - that's exactly where the Democratic Party is at too : the DNC is sidling up to the Christian right, making overtures, in hopes of skimming the Evangelical vote.
But, professional expertise on the subject is elsewhere. Now, there's something to the homespun nature of bog punditry, yeah, and I prefer it often to punditry emanating ( or oozing ) from the NYT and the mainline media.
But, politics is complex, and religion is way complex. Now, try combining the two. There are indeed things to learn. Really.
Or, if not - here's an electric power drill and a chisel. Have fun with your home brain surgery ! - I'm off to enjoy the beautiful sunny spring day.
Bye for now.