There has to be another way

By Dr. Andre M. Perry
The Louisiana Weekly Contributing Columnist

Now that the St. Augus­tine/Josephite school control fires have moved beyond the flame stage, can we have an honest conversation on corporal punishment, school governance and community relations? If the healing process captures the attention of the city and country as much as the fight did, we may be able to arise from our community’s deeper issues of mistrust, abuse and immoral development.

Sadly, the debates around corporal punishment and school governance stayed within a political framework. As a community of faith, questions regarding spiritual wellness should have and can lead the headlines of newspapers. Therefore, let’s start with the serious but misappropriated issue of corporal punishment, which got so much attention.

Using the prophetic voice of the abused, “Love doesn’t hurt.” Communities’ journeys to God or Truth or Justice are much easier if we rid ourselves of paternalistic baggage. Nothing is more paternalistic than physical punishment. Paddling teaches our souls that love is not enough. Whipping is a horrible admission that we can’t find better ways to show love and care.

Abusive forms of governance are also damaging to the spirit. The ecumenical responsibility of the Christian church has to be about building positive connections between the different communities of faith. The presence of a very public fight provided evidence that the connections of trust, care and love are weak between family institutions.

The church’s leadership must prioritize these constructive connections to provide a stark contrast to the fallibility of abuse. It’s harder to convince a school to stop paddling if your using one. Love is taught best through practice.

New Orleans needs to see love in practice. Ultimately, we want all children to live lives of peace, charity and forgiveness. The curriculums of schools and teachings of religious communities must reach for these basic goals. The greatest signs that we are failing in this endeavor are the murders that occur almost daily.

I believe our communities are still trying to heal from the social, psychological and political consequences of slavery, in which an extreme form of corporal punishment was applied. In addition, abuses in the church have a long sordid history that has unnecessarily harmed countless numbers of people. The internalization of these legacies contributed to the current St. Aug./Josephite/Archdiocese dispute. We cannot change our past, but we can recognize our shortcomings and choose our course for the future. Faith communities should honor the lost souls of our transgressions by not beating each other literally or figuratively.

I fully expect the St. Augustine community to show what love looks like in public. If any school can demonstrate that a solid curriculum, faithful adherence to spiritual principles and community support can transform men to boys, it’s St. Aug. I also expect our Archdiocese to demonstrate how to communicate in the spirit of agape.
New Orleans needs to see people love their way out of a fight. Better – we need to believe love is the way out of a fight and fighting gets us out of the way to love.

This article originally published in the July 4, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.