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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 19674
[Religious]
Date Posted:
5/14/2008
5:36:31 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 5,993
RSS: 13,469
Comments: 11
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Priest Leaves McNeil Island Job In Protest Of State Religion Rule In Prisons
Author: Ian Demsky Source: The News Tribune (WA)
Title: PRIEST LEAVES MCNEIL ISLAND JOB IN PROTEST OF STATE RELIGION RULE IN PRISONS
The Rev. Tom Suss spent Monday afternoon at McNeil Island prison loading the contents of his office into his Hyundai Elantra. His last official day is today.
For more than 15 years, he served inmates of all faiths as prison chaplain. But the 63-year-old Catholic priest chose to retire a year and a half early rather than work with a troubled heart.
He's leaving because he disagrees with new rules that allow state inmates to simultaneously chose multiple religious affiliations with the flick of a pen.
The contradictions were too much for Suss.
"I'm not a martyr," Suss said in a recent interview. "There's no hidden message here. I met my Waterloo. I had no other choice. I could not accept a pagan/Catholic."
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Community Thoughts: There are 11 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| .. | May 16th. at 11:03:34 pm EDT
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Gwenhyfar (Windsor, Ontario) - Email Me
I can respect this priest's stance. He ministered to people of multiple faiths for a number of years before they started allowing inmates to randomly select multiple faiths. Previous rules required that to be listed under multiple faiths an inmate had to be accepted by the rules governing both, so a Shinto Buddist would not have been remarked upon, both those religions allowing that. However a Catholic Pagan would not.
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| Mixed Opinions. | May 16th. at 11:23:32 am EDT
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Fred Lawrence (Kansas City, Kansas) - Email Me
I have very mixed opinions of this article. I can understand completely that a Catholic priest couldn't accept someone as Catholic if he claimed to be something else at the same time. That is basic to Catholicism. But non-Abrahamic religions have no such objections. I've read that in Japan, most people are both Shinto and Buddhist and the situation is unnoteworthy. It wouldn't surprise me either that some of you reading this posting are both NeoPagan and Buddhist.
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| The Right Choice | May 15th. at 4:24:25 am EDT
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Errapel (Lowestoft, England) - Email Me
I think he made the right choice, if he felt he could not be a part of something, instead of just putting up with if for the year or so before retirement he made a stand and left. I think that's a very brave thing to do. Whether you agree with his sentements or not, he stood up for what he felt was right, and acted the only way he saw fit.
I think he raised some valid points, I think I'd feel uncomfortable ministering to someone who just switched to my religion a month ago to get different food or some cool items.
And the issue of how one becomes a part of a religion is an interesting one. Many of the older faiths have very strict entry criteria, it can take years to fully convert. Does one need to be accepted as part of a religious community by said community? Can one simply declare oneself a member of a religion and be such?
I wish him well, and I hope he finds where he is truely needed.
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| I'm Sorry He's Going. | May 14th. at 8:26:28 pm EDT
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Adrienne (Akron, Ohio) - Email Me
I have to give him credit for this, he doesn't bash anybody in the artical, all he says is that arbitrary and seemingly incompatable multiple faiths is contradictory. I agree. I was a catholic and I worked really hard to be a good one, I know that my practice as a witch is incompatable to the basic tenents of catholicism. That being said I also know through personal experience that long term incarcerated prisoners will often try anything to get special treatment, whether they believe in something or not. These prisoners will lose greatly by the early retirement, but I have to give him credit for maitaining his beliefs.
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| Mixed Feelings | May 14th. at 8:03:18 pm EDT
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Young Coyote (W. Hempstead, New York) - Email Me
On one hand, I do agree that some religions just can't be combined. With some beliefs things like cosmology and ethics contradict one another.
On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if this guy is just uncomfortable with so many non-Abrahamic faiths in prison. Guy's got a history of saying sh*t about Pagans and such.
Also I don't think this guy is trying to be a martyr, but he certainly doesn't seem to mind the attention...
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| To Be Honest... | May 14th. at 7:50:59 pm EDT
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Pat (Edgewater, Maryland) - Email Me
To be honest I think I would have left too. How do you give advice to someone who claims to belong to two different faiths at once? I could understand if it was something like Buddhist and Christian but some of the combinations listed are a bit out there.
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| At Least, He Made A Good Move. | May 14th. at 6:56:47 pm EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
Sorry he had to quit, but if he can't handle it, it's best to leave.
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| He Is | May 14th. at 6:13:18 pm EDT
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kenneth (Des Plaines, Illinois) - Email Me
probably in the wrong sort of ministry if he can't handle working with guys who might be inclined to game the system! It's clear he has a pretty small opionion of his own god as well. He assumes that because he can't get his mind around contradiction, that god must not be able to either.
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| ... | May 14th. at 5:42:21 pm EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
Door, arse, way out.
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