US: New Jersey Priest Asks Lector: Please Don't Wear Black Lives Matter Shirt

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adamhovey1988 said:
I REALLY wish Catholics would educate themselves on what BLM stands for. Not the phrase “Black Lives Matter”, but the Marxist group behind the phrase. They have views that are incompatible with our faith. Check the “about” on their website, if y’all don’t believe me.
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BLM and Antifa are just monikers to lure unaware people in. If you randomly asked people, do Black lives matter? 99.9% of them will say yes. If you asked people, are you opposed to fascism? The results will be the same. The names mean nothing.
 
LeafByNiggle said:
History does not show what you think.
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The French Revolution. The Spartacist uprising. The Spanish Civil War. The Boxer Rebellion. The Russian Revolution of 1905. I could go on. Violent political anarchy leads to an imposition of force and control.

As for your correlation of John Brown with the Abolitionist movement, the abolitionist movement was a deeply moral, Christian-based and essentially pacifistic ('tho highly political) cause whose philosophical roots hearkened back to the Declaration of Independence which appealed to the “laws of nature and nature’s God.” John Brown’s violent attempt to seize the armory at Harper’s Ferry was an act of insurrection unsanctioned by the leaders of the movement (and there were several). To imply that John Brown’s actions were representative of the ambitions of American abolitionists would be akin to saying that Eric Rudolph, the anti-abortion bomber of Centennial Park during the Atlanta Olympics, was somehow representative of the desires of Right to Life Movement in the United States. Nothing could be further from the truth.
 
I sympathize with the aims of BLM but I’m with the priest here.

Put ALL politics aside when acting as a minister in the Mass.
 
Out of curiosity, what city? Is this Denver? I’m up north and haven’t seen Broncos jerseys but our parish is mostly business casual. Whilst you may see some in the congregation wearing shorts (summer) or jeans, most dress modestly and appropriately.

Can’t say that I’ll be watching the NFL going forward; I grew up with season tickets and went to games at Mile High with my Dad. But my husband has put 25 years of his life into a law enforcement career and I just can’t swallow the anti police agenda.

If all of you who are used to dress clothes at Mass, if you visit the parish in Kona, Hawaii, you’re in for a shock. Hawaiian shirts, shorts, and sandals are standard. They also had drums and guitars! It was a blast, reverent, and perfect for island life.
 
I’m in a suburb south of Denver.The jerseys are ubiquitous at Mass ,particularly on older men during football season :woman_facepalming:t2:
 
Gyro said:
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LeafByNiggle:
History does not show what you think.
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The French Revolution. The Spartacist uprising. The Spanish Civil War. The Boxer Rebellion. The Russian Revolution of 1905. I could go on. Violent political anarchy leads to an imposition of force and control.
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…which has nothing to do with BLM, which is a peaceful movement.
As for your correlation of John Brown with the Abolitionist movement, the abolitionist movement was a deeply moral, Christian-based and essentially pacifistic ('tho highly political) cause …
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…as is the struggle for racial justice, as we saw from Rev.Martin Luther King Jr. And just like John Brown was an aberration in an otherwise peaceful movement, so is the looting and violence that has occurred in some places coincident with the Black Lives Matter protests.
John Brown’s violent attempt to seize the armory at Harper’s Ferry was an act of insurrection unsanctioned by the leaders of the movement…
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…just as the acts of violence today in the name of BLM are unsanctioned by the BLM movement.
To imply that John Brown’s actions were representative of the ambitions of American abolitionists would be akin to saying that…
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akin to saying that the actions of the looters on Lake Street in Minneapolis at night were representative of the ambitions of those that marched peacefully during the day.
 
Maybe I’m silly, but I thought that any sort of shirt with a “message” on it was inappropriate for serving as a cantor or lector. Apart from maybe one or two school or sports team Masses where the lectors might have worn a jersey or a shirt with the name of the school, I’ve never seen anyone lectoring, cantoring, preaching etc in a “message shirt” of any kind.
 
LeafByNiggle said:
…just as the acts of violence today in the name of BLM are unsanctioned by the BLM movement.
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So there are three BLM’s? Those who are violent and use the name of BLM but really aren’t BLM, those who are part of the BLM “movement” but are not members of the BLM organization, and the members of the “official” BLM organization. Do I have this right? It’s hard to tell - and that’s because these are probably distinctions without a difference. No one can tell. And it’s more than a bit convenient for BLM “movement” people to claim, “Oh no. That’s not us. That’s the other people who claim to be BLM.” The bottom line problem, then, is one of optics.

If people are looting and, at the same time, claiming to be doing so as emissaries of BLM, who can say they are not who they claim they to be? Apparently you can, but others among us are not so astute. The use of violence will kill the movement and no one will listen to what they have to say.
 
I had no idea dress codes were enforced. Never heard of that happening here in Spain. I would like people to dress more modestly, especially in summer, but I do wear t-shirts to daily Mass and dresses on Sunday. That has never been a topic for us. Just surprised at the difference between both countries.
 
Lea101 said:
When i was a lector, my parish had a dress code. Black pants/skirt, plain white top.
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That’s the best idea. Easy to comply with.

In my church, we really aren’t supposed to wear any clothing with a message on it, even if it’s “Eat Chili.”
 
Gyro said:
So there are three BLM’s? Those who are violent and use the name of BLM but really aren’t BLM, those who are part of the BLM “movement” but are not members of the BLM organization, and the members of the “official” BLM organization. Do I have this right? It’s hard to tell - and that’s because these are probably distinctions without a difference.
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Big difference. The movement is peaceful. The looters are not.
Gyro said:
If people are looting and, at the same time, claiming to be doing so as emissaries of BLM, who can say they are not who they claim they to be?
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I can. So can you.
By their fruits you shall know them.
Gyro said:
The use of violence will kill the movement
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Just like John Brown did great damage to the abolition movement at Harper’s Ferry. We all wish it didn’t happen, and there are instances of peaceful protesters stopping those intent on violence.
 
Patri said:
I had no idea dress codes were enforced. Never heard of that happening here in Spain. I would like people to dress more modestly, especially in summer, but I do wear t-shirts to daily Mass and dresses on Sunday. That has never been a topic for us. Just surprised at the difference between both countries.
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Beware of drawing generalizations based on what you read in the CA Forums!
 
BartholomewB said:
Wouldn’t the same rule apply to pro-Trump or pro-Biden T-shirts, or to any such display of partisan support of a political party, movement, or faction?
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Of course. It would very highly inappropriate for a lector to wear a pro-Trump or pro-Biden T-Shirt.

Honestly, it’s also inappropriate for a lector to wear a t-shirt period.
 
A priest I know gave a wonderful sermon about the Black Lives Matter movement and how anti-religion, anti-family and anti most everything I hold dear. The sentiment that Black lives matter is one he totally agrees with, but the movement is dangerous.
 
phil19034 said:
Honestly, it’s also inappropriate for a lector to wear a t-shirt period.
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It might be okay in some of the really poor neighborhoods where the lector is obviously not very well off, but those are precisely the people who would make the effort to wear a button-down shirt or whatever nicer clothing they had.
 
The priest was right to to ask this. At Mass we are supposed to be focusing on the Liturgy of the Word. Kinda hard to do if the lector is wearing something distracting.
 
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