Principle of the matter
As Nov. 4 ( Election Day ) draws near, I think religious people can add their voices to the partisan discussion without compromising our non-partisan position when it comes to elections.
Clearly, the governor's race is heating up, with Gov. Pat Quinn and Bruce Rauner virtually neck and neck in the polls. While we do not endorse political candidates, we do comment on issues of concerns that affect the common good of the broader and the LGBT communities.
For many people on the left, Rauner seems to be a menace—the embodiment of a cold and indifferent Republicanism; for many people on the right, he is a knight in shining armor, representing principled conservatism.
Clearly, our state is facing many critical issues. Some think it is a time for change, while others believe in staying the course.
Our perspective is based on Catholic social teaching, and which candidate embodies those values. I believe this race gives us an opportunity to think through issues such as supporting social security, labor unions, bettering our education system and not privatizing it, keeping in place a mechanism to take care of the less fortunate in our society, improving our employment numbers, and giving a women the right to control their own bodies.
The two master principles of Catholic social teaching are subsidiary and solidarity. It is the coming together, or the blending of these, that mark Catholic social teaching with a primary focus on the preferential option for the poor.
The Nov. 4 races for governor and other government offices give Catholics the opportunity to think through these issues while reflecting on the values that social teaching promotes.
It is our opinion that Quinn, not Rauner, more clearly reflects the concerns of Catholic social teaching.
We need to start moving away from the mindset that "greed is good." I believe Quinn will also best represent the call that the free market be disciplined by moral principles.
Joe Murray
Chicago
Middle men-agement
Dear Editor:
In the Oct. 22 issue of Windy City Times, there was an article regarding the eviction of the Middle Men support group for mature gay men from the Center on Halsted.
In 2010, my husband of 17 years died of HIV-related cancer. Last winter I realized that I was continuing to deal with issues of loneliness, grief and depression. I learned of the Middle Men group and approached Marvin Evans, the facilitator; after interviewing me, he agreed to me joining the group.
As one who spent more than 20 years in pastoral counseling and who is also a certified rehabilitation counselor as well as a member of the Professional Counseling Society, I know first-hand the value of therapeutic groups. The thing that impressed me about this group is that, while it is led by a therapist, it is also a peer-guided group—which is unique and valuable, from my perspective. All members participate in the discussions. The men have bonded well and support each other. This is something that just doesn't easily happen in short-term groups.
In August, we were informed that the group was being disbanded as of the end of September. Apparently, the nature of this ongoing group no longer fits into the vision and goals of new leadership in the Behavioral Health Department. We were told that individuals would possibly be allowed to become part of some short-term groups, but that Evans would not be the facilitator. We were also informed that leadership of a possible short-term group may or may not be provided by a gay man—even possibly a straight person.
It is hard to imagine that a lesbian group would be told that it would have to accept a male as a facilitator. It was evident to me that the men in the group have been visibly stressed by this decision of the center's staff. Many of these men are already dealing with a great deal of stress in their lives. Several in this group have dealt with major life issues—including struggles with the closet, severe physical abuse, sexual abuse, the loss of life partners, and the AIDS plague of the '80s and early '90s.
The leadership provided by Evans, a fully licensed therapist, is professional and respectful. In fact, when he is aware that a member of the group is going through a particularly rough patch, he contacts them during the week. He has done this with me more than once. While this group's meetings may gone longer than some other groups at the Center, I fail to see why that should have been an issue. After all, most of the men need time to talk about the issues in their lives. And even if was a matter of time, that issue could have been resolved through discussion and a mutually agreed understanding. The group was always out of the building long before closing time.
After it became clear that the Middle Men support group would no longer be allowed to be a part of the behavioral health program, we then requested that we be allowed to simply rent space for our weekly meetings—like any other group such as AA or other groups from the community. We were told "no." When we pressed for a reason why, we were told that there was no space available. Since we were aware that in addition to the room we were using there were two other empty rooms nearby, we knew that was a falsehood.
For me, the question becomes "Is the primary purpose of the Center to serve the needs of the community or is it to serve a particular agenda of the staff or perhaps to primarily be a training program for interns?" It seems to me that even if the new leadership of the Behavioral Health Department is changing its focus, the Middle Men Group should have been "grandfathered."
Evans had also been doing one-on-one therapeutic counseling at the center as a volunteer. He was recently informed by the leadership of the Behavioral Health Department that he will no longer be allowed to do that, either. How ironic that this able volunteer therapist has gone from being the center's 2013 Volunteer of the Year to being persona non grata a year later. Interestingly, much of the one-on-one therapy at the center is now being done by interns. One has to wonder if the clients have been informed they are not actually seeing fully licensed therapists.
One also has to wonder if perhaps some systemic racism is at play here. When this African-American therapist became "uppity" and dared to "talk back" to the white leadership of the Behavioral Health Department, he found himself banished.
Finally, I can only conclude that much of this is about power and control—the desire by those in leadership to pressure everyone to walk in lock-step and to not allow any self-determination by the group. That should not have been the determining factor regarding the future of this much needed, long-term support group. It is clear that the actions of the leadership of the Behavioral Health Department have been vindictive and mean-spirited. We feel we have been bullied and disrespected.
The final irony is that the Center on Halsted, which should be a refuge for the oppressed of the LGBT community, has taken on the role of the oppressor—while the Church, which has historically oppressed LGBT folks, has stepped forward to provide refuge for this group of gay men. The leadership of the Behavioral Health Department of the Center on Halsted would do well to remember the cardinal rule of counseling and care-giving—"Primum non nocere"—First, do no harm!
Rick Newbury, member of the
Middle Men Group and
volunteer in the Youth Program
at the Center on Halsted
Center of disappointment
Dear Editor:
As someone who has received mental-health services from the Center on Halsted, I can recall several instances where group facilitators and therapists have entered sessions visibly upset and fighting back tears due to how they were being treated by management and general behind-the-scenes drama. Groups were dismantled and tremendously talented therapists either fled out of frustration or were removed.
As a client, I felt outraged that my therapy sessions needed to be used to "process" the effect Center on Halsted's internal politics and management were having on me, psychologically. Adding insult to injury, they charged me for that time as well. That said, the sad and pointed dismantling of the Middle Men Group and the dismissal of Marvin Evans is consistent with my experiences there at the Center on Halsted.
Sincerely,
Anonymous
More of the same
Dear Editor:
The archbishop-designate of Chicago, Blase Cupich, is being touted as a "moderate" with the implicit assumption that he will represent a sea-change from the autocratic Francis George. As with the new central church leader, Pope Francis, Cupich does seem to represent a change in style. But what policy changes can one expect from a seemingly more approachable Blase Cupich?
Cupich is squarely against same-sex civil marriage, as his opposition to civil legal equality in Washington state demonstrates. That he warned against coupling this opposition with violence against LGBT people is small comfort, indeed.
Cupich is opposed to abortion rights—for everyone, of course, not just those who might choose to forego the procedure.
The Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests ( SNAP ) has expressed concern about the dismissive manner in which Cupich handled cases in his present assignment, and in his ( underserved ) praise for Cardinal George for his leadership role on the abuse scandal as head of the Bishops' Conference.
Cupich is a member of an all-boys club that shuts women out of leadership roles in a church that claims to embrace them. But, he is affable whenever he defends church teachings that oppose equality for women and gays both within the church and in the society in which we all live.
It is only the continuing fawning attitude toward religious leaders that permits agents of such retrograde teaching to parade about as people deserving respect and deference.
Bob Schwartz
Chicago
