Let’s say I happen to steal some money and it looks like I won’t get away with it because there is a witness. What are my options? I can come clean, admit that I made a mistake, give back the money and even sacrifice and pay the money back tenfold. Or I could bribe the witness, or blackmail, or “silence” the witness. If I choose to do the right thing, should I expect to keep my job? If word gets around that you really can get fired for stealing, then the next time a person finds himself with stolen money will he resort to murder to cover up the first sin? Is my employer wrong to fire me even if they are vocal in their pro-honesty, pro-forgiveness stance?

Is this an unfair comparison? The difference with pregnancy is the lifelong consequence of a choice and the “legal” life and death power of the chooser. Maybe a better scenario would be drinking and driving. We used to think that it was no big deal until MAD mothers taught us to think before we drink and drive.

Robert,

In a secular nation there is no place for schools that place religous beliefs over societal rights. None. Simple answer, if private schools can’t work within that framework then no private schools. Seems to work brilliantly in Scandanavia. The perpetration of whatever superstitions you have should be kept to your own time. If Faith is the most important thing in a Catholic school then it fails as a school and should cease to exist as such.

Your presumption that values of society have their basis in Christianity is misplaced. They all existed before the cobbled collection of chinese whispers that is the Bible. Most were co-opted from existing Greek and Roman precursors to fit the rapidly expanding mythology that came with the first growth spurts of the early Church. They’re sound, not because they were the mystical words a sky god, but because they had worked for centuries before Christ wandered the Earth.

The best role models are those that don’t judge, that abide by the basic principles of understanding and love for their fellow humans. Qualities that Pope Francis is trying to re introduce to the utterly venal organisation that is the Catholic Church.

There is a mote in the eye, alright, but the eye does not belong to the teacher.

It’s good to remember Aquinas was not damning to newborns but one can’t say the same for Thomas More and his dismissive attitude toward his wife and all but one daughter and all those women of Henry’s England that were claimed “witches.” I have never understood how he justified their being burned at the stake.

I am frankly bemused by some of these comments that propose to assign this poor woman public penance for a sin that I (at least) know nothing about in terms of her degree of culpability or whether she was even willing at all. Scandal? Sex outside of marriage is objectively a grave sin. That is true. Perhaps Montana is different, but where I live the whole environment is a scandal against purity and modesty, and if don’t help my kids see how the truth about sexuality is rooted in the redeeming love of Jesus, they don’t stand a chance to deal constructively with the scandal that assaults them from every direction. If we really catechize our children, they will still have difficulty but they will have an awareness–even if they sin–that the culture is a lie, but also that love, forgiveness and healing are possible because Jesus is present for them in the Church. We need to catechize our children with clear teaching, and also with a family life that helps them to discover the beauty of Christ (and dare I say a parish community life, or a group of friends, or even one other family to help us live Christian communion in a concrete way). A single mother who has fallen and repented should not be a scandal if we are raising our children to participate in the new evangelization.

And in the reality of what has long been the post-Christian “Western world,” the new evangelization is the way the Church is present in our social environment. Our parishes should be field hospitals, and our children should be learning to be doctors and medics and nurses in the trenches, along with us. Because the trenches are everywhere.

Thank you Bob for the constructive use of prayer as the answer.

Please read the blog before making comments. It clearly states that the fired teacher is an “unwed pregnant … teacher”.

Paula has it exactly right. Fair and balanced. Not assuming things about which she or most other readers of this blog don’t know. Unfortunately, in this case, it seems that the school and Diocese might have weighted more the potential danger of scandal than the commandment to be merciful. It’s not hard to ALWAYS find guidance in Scripture, especially the Gospels, for all our actions in life. Here are some examples that apply to this case: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (S. Luke 6:36-37); “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (S. John 8:7)

Peg,

Yes punishment and atonement for our sins is very much what we should expect, but I do believe and we are taught that we have a merciful God and in turn should be merciful, prudent yes, but merciful to our fellow man. Doesn’t Matthew 6:14-15 say that how can we expect God to forgive us when we can’t forgive others. I’m really not preaching at you so please don’t take it that way.

I have asked the question on another sight. what punishment the father would receive? I know in my area if a girl becomes pregnant in our Catholic high school she is no longer allowed to attend the school, but the father receives no punishment at all. He is allowed to continue to attend the Catholic High School (this I know from experience). One’s sin is visible and the other is not. In my opinion, he should be expelled also if that is the policy.