Consciência vence na Polónia, FNO no Porto

Temos mais um caso de choque entre “direitos homossexuais” e liberdade de consciência. Agora é na Polónia, onde o Tribunal Constitucional deu razão ao dono de uma gráfica que se recusou a imprimir um cartaz de um evento LGBT.

Na Alemanha já vamos em dezenas de igrejas atacadas nos últimos meses. Parece que a moda pegou.

Se vive na região do Porto, não perca o Faith’s Night Out já no próximo sábado!

Conheça a plataforma online que dá visibilidade ao património da Igreja.

O Comité Olímpico Internacional, que outrora se preocupava com o doping, diz que os homens podem competir contra as mulheres, desde que tomem doses massivas de químicos para alterar o seu corpo e os seus níveis hormonais. Confuso? Eu também.

“Transjacking” no Desporto

Brad Miner

Estamos a cerca de um ano dos Jogos Olímpicos de Tóquio (24 de Julho a 9 de Agosto, 2020), mas já existe polémica. Por outro lado, há sempre polémica nos Jogos Olímpicos, normalmente por causa de drogas que melhoram o desempenho desportivo (PED, de Performance-enhancing Drugs).

Nos Jogos de Inverno de Sochi, em 2014, os atletas russos e os seus “cientistas” fizeram batota em tão grande escala (sobretudo nas análises à urina) que a Agência Mundial Antidoping recomendou que a Rússia fosse banida de participar nos Jogos de Verão no Rio, em 2016. Isso não aconteceu, embora a Rússia tenha sido subsequentemente banida dos Jogos de Inverno de 2018 em PyeongChang. Ainda assim, alguns atletas russos competiram como “Atletas Olímpicos da Rússia”, mas sem a bandeira da Rússia ou hino nacional. (E mesmo muitos desses viriam a acusar em testes antidoping.)

No geral o Comité Olímpico Internacional (COI) tem tido manifestado repetidamente um grande interesse – partilhado por todas as organizações que supervisionam desportos – em manter os Jogos Olímpicos livres de PEDs. Não só por causa das vantagens competitivas que estas substâncias fornecem aos atletas, mas também por causa do perigo que estas drogas apresentam para a saúde dos mesmos atletas, no longo prazo.

O ideal do atleta amador talvez já não exista nos Jogos Olímpicos, mas pelo menos persiste a crença na importância de atletas naturalmente saudáveis.

Ou será?

O COI e muitas – se não a maioria (e em Julho do ano que vem talvez todas) – as federações atléticas defendem agora o uso de drogas mais extremas que se possa imaginar: drogas supressoras de testosterona para homens que querem competir como mulheres, isto é, atletas “transgénero” macho-para-fémea (MpF).

O debate que ainda existe – se é que ainda existe – apenas diz respeito a quão suprimido deve ser o nível de testosterona no atleta MpF, medida tanto nos níveis de soro de sangue reduzido da hormona e na duração desses mesmos níveis.

Na prática, o COI e outros estão a dizer que aquilo que define uma atleta feminina, por exemplo, nos 100 metros é simplesmente o nível dessa hormona. Atualmente, a fórmula do COI é: não mais que 10 nmols/L (nanomoles por litro) de soro de testosterona durante pelo menos os 12 meses que antecedem a competição. Segundo o COI: “As alterações anatómicas cirúrgicas como precondição de participação não são necessárias para preservar a concorrência leal e podem até ser inconsistentes com a legislação em desenvolvimento e com noções de direitos humanos”.

Temos, por isso, que um homem poderá qualificar-se para competir nos Jogos Olímpicos de 2020 contra atletas nascidas mulheres desde que declare o seu “género” como feminino e comece um regime de supressão de testosterona que coloque os seus níveis em 10 nmols/L, mantendo-os assim até ao começo dos jogos, no dia 24 de Julho de 2020.

A questão aqui é que enquanto o nível normal de soro de testosterona nos homens é entre 10.41 e 34.70 nmols/L, os níveis normais nas mulheres são entre 0.52 e 2.43. O que significa que um velocista MpF que se qualifique para os Jogos Olímpicos com um nível de 10 nmols/L, isto é, o limite inferior do espectro de testosterona masculino, continuará a ter quatro vezes mais do que o máximo para mulheres.

Claro que sabemos que isto é absurdo. Como se lê no recente documento do Vaticano “Homem e Mulher Ele os Criou: Um caminho de diálogo sobre o assunto de género na educação”:

O processo de identificação da identidade sexual é dificultado pela construção fictícia conhecida como “género neutro” ou “terceiro género”… As tentativas de ir para além da diferença sexual constitutiva macho-fémea, tal como as ideias de “intersexo” ou “transgénero” conduzem a uma masculinidade ou feminilidade ambíguas pese embora (de forma contraditória) esses mesmos conceitos pressuponham na verdade essa mesma diferença que se propõem a negar ou ultrapassar.

Tiffany (ex-Rodrigo) Abreu, estrela de vólei feminino no Brasil

Mas o que falta saber é quantos homens vão decidir comportar-se de forma absurda nos Jogos Olímpicos de Tóquio. Para dizer a verdade, eu, que sou um homem velho e não uma velocista de nível mundial, não estou muito preocupado. Mas as atletas de elite estão, ou pelo menos deviam estar. E pela seguinte razão.

O recorde mundial dos 100 metros femininos de Florence Griffith Joyner em 1988, de 10,49 segundos, foi um grande feito (talvez até sem a ajuda de PEDs). Mas este ano, no campeonato dos 100 metros masculinos das escolas secundárias no Estado do Texas, Matthew Boling fulminou o recorde americano com uns incríveis 9,98 segundos. Joyner tinha 29 anos quando bateu o seu recorde mundial; Boling tem 18. E ao longo de 2019 todos os primeiros 75 velocistas masculinos dos campeonatos do ensino secundários bateram o recorde mundial de Joyner.

Estou a focar-me nestes alunos de liceu porque se trata de rapazes que já atingiram o auge do seu desenvolvimento biológico natural, sem a ajuda de drogas, e mesmo depois de passar a puberdade continuarão a beneficiar deste estímulo hormonal da adolescência em termos de altura, peso, velocidade e força. A supressão de testosterona poderá diminuir este benefício, mas só um pouco.

Volto a insistir que para competir em Tóquio um atleta MpF não precisa de parecer uma mulher. Com base no que se tem visto em competições recentes em que têm participado atletas MpF, alguns terão penteados “femininos” e outros poderão ter sinais de aumentos mamários. Outros vão simplesmente parecer gajos. Mas, como o COI já disse (graças a Deus!), não são precisas intervenções agressivas, como aquelas a que se sujeitam alguns transgéneros MpF: implantes mamários; rapagem da maçã-de-Adão; orquiectomia (remoção dos testículos); penectomia (a amputação do pénis); nem as subsequentes vaginoplastias, labiaplastias ou clitoroplastias – que requerem uma vida inteira de terapia hormonal (estrogénios, antiandrógenicos, progestogéneos e moduladores de libertação de gonadotropina – qualquer uma destas, se não todas), não vá o corpo começar a reafirmar-se, o que, inevitavelmente fará caso as intervenções químicas falhem, uma vez que é essa a sua natureza.   

Para além disso, não há qualquer intervenção que possa transformar uma pessoa XY numa pessoa XX. Essa diferença cromossómica e biológica, que define um homem e uma mulher, é que é natural. É por isso que o Vaticano considera que qualquer tentativa de mudar o género é “fictícia”.

As regras do COI para atletas femininas que se apresentam como homens apenas reforçam essa ficção. Na verdade, não existem regras, pois nenhuma mulher seria capaz de competir contra um homem, seja qual for o sexo que afirma ser.

Escrevi sobre este assunto e o seu impacto no mundo do desporto em 2016, e desde então as coisas só pioraram. Contudo, agora vemos algumas mulheres jovens a defender-se daquilo a que algumas apelidam de transjacking, e isso é uma boa notícia.

(Publicado pela primeira vez na segunda-feira, 24 de Junho de 2019 em The Catholic Thing)

Brad Miner é editor chefe de The Catholic Thing, investigador sénior da Faith & Reason Institute e faz parte da administração da Ajuda à Igreja que Sofre, nos Estados Unidos. É autor de seis livros e antigo editor literário do National Review.

© 2019 The Catholic Thing. Direitos reservados. Para os direitos de reprodução contacte:info@frinstitute.org

The Catholic Thing é um fórum de opinião católica inteligente. As opiniões expressas são da exclusiva responsabilidade dos seus autores. Este artigo aparece publicado em Actualidade Religiosa com o consentimento de The Catholic Thing.

Dois passos em frente, um para trás, rumo ao precipício

Tirem a vossa política do meu jogo, sff.

O admirável mundo novo vai chegando, entre avanços e recuos. Avanço: Uma juíza inglesa ordenou que uma mulher de 22 anos fizesse um aborto contra a sua vontade. Recuo: O tribunal de recurso anulou a decisão. E é assim, dois passos em frente, um passo atrás. Mas é para a frente que vamos, rumo ao precipício.

Uma sondagem encomendada pela BBC revela que os árabes são cada vez menos religiosos.

Os símbolos da JMJ já começaram a sua longa caminhada até Lisboa, onde chegam a 5 de Abril de 2020.

Está a nascer em Trás-os-Montes uma “aldeia para Deus”. Conheça-a aqui.

A equipa feminina de futebol do Vaticano abandonou o jogo que ia disputar no passado fim-de-semana, na Áustria, quando jogadoras da equipa da casa levantaram as camisolas para revelar mensagens pró-aborto (ver imagem).

Publiquei no blog a transcrição integral da minha conversa com o cristão siríaco Johan Cosar, que treinou uma milícia para combater o Estado Islâmico. Podem ler aqui.

E não deixem de ler o artigo da semana passada do The Catholic Thing, sobre comoa liberdade que todos estes “passos em frente” nos querem apresentar não é, afinal de contas, liberdade alguma.

Música portuguesa para o Papa

No sábado vão ser beatificadas 14 monjas concepcionistas, mártires da Guerra Civil de Espanha. Conheça as suas histórias aqui.

O Papa Francisco recebeu esta quarta-feira dois presentes para ouvir em português. Trata-se de uma “missa de Santo António” do maestro Vitorino d’Almeida e do disco “Encontro(s)”, de Luís Zagalo

Lembram-se do Suíço que foi multado por combater o Estado Islâmico? Publiquei agora a transcrição integral da entrevista que lhe fiz, que podem ler aqui.

Os defensores da ideologia do género invocam frequentemente o argumento da liberdade individual. No artigo desta semana do The Catholic Thing, Robert Royal explica porque é que esse conceito é, na verdade, o exacto oposto de verdadeira liberdade. É um assunto urgente, não deixem de ler!

"The Syriac people in Syria are not happy with the regime"

This is a full transcript, in the original English, of my interview with Johan Cosar, a Swiss born syriac Christian who fought against the Islamic State. English is not Johan's first language, some of the answers have been edited for clarity. The published news story, in Portuguese, can be read here.

Esta é uma transcrição integral, no inglês original, da minha entrevista com Johan Cosar, um cristão siríaco, nascido na Suíça, que combateu o Estado Islâmico. O inglês não é a primeira língua de Johan, por isso algumas das respostas foram ligeiramente editadas, por uma questão de clareza. A reportagem, em português, pode ser lida aqui.

---

You did your military service in Switzerland? 

Yes, like any other Swiss.

And did you enjoy it?

Actually, the first days I wasn't that happy. But as the weeks went by I enjoyed it more. I took it like a new education, a new challenge, and at the end one of my instructors, who had really motivated me, I think he saw the leadership I had in me, and he captured it and cultivated it. So that is why in the end I decided to continue and I signed a five year contract as a sergeant. 

What was your specialty? 

Mountain infantry and local combat, small special forces, if you'd like. 

Did it ever cross your mind that you might ever need to use that training in the Middle East?

No, not at all. I was so far from the Middle East, even if I do have roots in the Middle East there was no reason to think about it. So, in 2011 I finished my military duty, in November, and around that time the first demonstrations began in Syria. You could see that something was going to happen. 

Your roots are in Turkey?

My father was born in Syria, but my mother is from South East Turkey, but very close to each other, separated by only a small border line. 

Was the Syriac identity and culture present in your education? Did you speak Syriac at home?

Yes, of course. 

I was talking about this with some friends just a few days ago. I had the great opportunity to grow up in two big cultures. One, the Middle East culture, especially the Syriac/Assyrian culture, where all the civilizations came from. 

And, of course, at home – especially my father – was pressuring us to not forget our own roots, and not to be ashamed of them, because you can be good for no other culture if you deny your own. So, at home, still today, we speak Syriac, and I have one brother and one sister, and many cousins, and we don't regret or deny our culture. The whole family is connected this way.

But at the same time I had a Swiss education in Switzerland, we had a good education and the great opportunity to have a good education. So I grew up with two cultures and this made me very happy and very cultured. 

What is that made you first go to Syria?

My father had been involved in fighting for the rights of our people for a long time. And by going there and back he kept mentioning what was going on there, and pressing me to go and see what was happening. 

I finally decided to go in 2011, to report in a free-lance way, because everybody was talking about Syria from outside Syria, and that is a big mistake, talking about something that you can't see, and that you are not involved in, just from seeing and listening from outside, is a big mistake. Especially since my people were there. I had people who could finally achieve something, after 2000 years. I thought "let's try this trip, go in, and achieve something good for my people too". 

So that is why I decided to leave Switzerland, for around six months, reporting what was happening in Syria from inside. I made some reports for friends in radio and newspapers. But things didn't go like I'd planned. 

What was your first idea when you began to see the first signs of the Arab Spring?

Hope, of course. And helping the people. 

I have had much contact with Christians from Syria, mostly from Damascus, Aleppo, and so on, and they tend to be very much pro-regime, or at least against the rebels. But that is not the universal reality. The Christians from Qamishli maybe saw this with hope that they could get more rights?

I think that even the Syriac Christians in Damascus, Homs and Aleppo, right now, think like we do, but they can't express their own opinions, for one reason, because around Aleppo, Homs and Damascus there is only the regime, no other forces and no other solution. In Northeast Syria there was the Syrian regime, there was ISIS, there were jihadists and us. So the people could choose. 

Are you including the Free Syrian Army as jihadists?

At the beginning, no. At the beginning I was one of those who appreciated what they were doing. But after we started seeing them chant Allahu Akhbar after every attack, I realised this was going to change and become something else. 

The Syriac people in Syria are not happy with the regime. They are controlled. It's a fake protection, protection under the name of being controlled. For our people, at the moment, if you have to choose between ISIS and the regime, or between the revolutionaries of this time and the regime, of course they are going to choose the regime, because the others have nothing to offer them, they are chopping off heads, forcing people to leave their homes, not accepting their culture or their religion... It's an easy decision. 

But if the regime could give us – which isn't going to happen – the chance to go there and to present ourselves and give the people a choice...

This is the difference between North-eastern Syria and other places. I am sure, absolutely sure, that the Christians do not see the Assad regime as their saviour or protector anymore, because they saw what happened. Where was the regime in Al-Qaritain? In Qunaitra? In all the places where ISIS came in, made mass destruction and left? Where was the regime in the Khabour area? In Hassekah? 

I think that in 8 years of war the people opened their eyes, they are not blind anymore.

So you were in Syria when something happened to your father…

[Johan’s father was kidnapped by regime agents, who then told the family that he had died in custody, although they never provided the family with a body]

I was in Syria when my father was kidnapped. We met each other the day before. It was not the main reason for me to go to Syria or to stay in Syria. Of course, the love I had for my father, and how much we were attached to each other, is unbelievable, because we were like friends, even in this movement. 

But that was not the main reason he and I were there. It's a cause, a purpose, that is what brought us there and made me stay there. 

Do you believe he is still alive? 

I do. It is still a matter of 50/50. As long as we don't have a sure answer we keep up the hope. I can't say if he is dead or alive, so let's keep it like this.

What year was he kidnapped? 

August 12th, 2013.

So by that time you were already in Syria full time?

Yes.

And you were already involved with the military aspect?

Not that much... I started to be involved one month later, with training. So it was the very beginning of everything at that time. 

So in 2013 you began training, is that when the Syriac Military Council began to form?

The SMC officialised in January 2013, but in practical terms, in starting to form and organise itself, it started in August and September.

When you began with the training, were you aware you were breaking Swiss law?

At the beginning I didn't even think about it. I saw the state of emergency we were in and I didn't think about it. When you see the jihadists coming, very close to you, when you see people are being kidnapped, abducted, and killed, from the groups very close to you, you don't think about laws. 

What was the state of the people you were training? Did any of them have any military experience, or were they beginning from zero?

I had people who were veterans from the Assad regime, but it was like training somebody from zero. Because the military education I had was very different from theirs. So you can say that all the people I trained was from zero, because giving them a Western training is like teaching them a new language. 

When does the Syriac Military Council begin to be involved in actual conflict?

Our first session, about 1 month, was in October 2013. 

Already allied with the Kurds?

Yes. 

Were the YPG better prepared?

YPG were, of course, better prepared. They are old fighters. But we reached their level of preparation very well. 

Did they respect the Syriac fighters?

Of course, very much. They had very high respect for us. The Syriac Military Council is still very well respected by the YPG and other military forces because at that time that I was there fighting with them they could see how ready we are for everything, so there is great respect of the Kurds for the Syriacs. It is not only about the military forces, there is a lot of respect about what we are. 

Because traditionally, over the past 100 years, the Syriac and the Assyrian people have not been a fighting people. Was it difficult to convince people to take up weapons?

100 years ago we were not, but 2000 years ago we were. We tried to take back that feeling. 

It wasn't that hard. The most difficult thing was to convince them that the we were in the wrong status to begin with. That was the main difficulty, to change the minds of the people, not just making them fight, but to fight for what? 

You can bring people during a war and let them fight, that is easy, but if they don't know what they are fighting for, that is your main problem. One day you will stop fighting ISIS, and then? You have about 1000 people, with military training... If they don't have any goals they can turn against you, they become a threat, but if they are educated, if they have a goal, if they are really focused on a purpose, on a way, it becomes much easier. But if you have 1000 people who are just fighting, they become like a gang after that. 

Which we see in several places in the world. So what is that goal?

At the beginning it was just to have our own rights, to be recognised as a people, with our culture, our religion, our language, like any other people, and like indigenous people of Syria, not just a minority, because we are not a minority in Syria. There are more than three million Christians in Syria, more than Alawites, more than Kurds. So we are not a minority in Syria, we are not a minority in the Middle East, we are indigenous. This is our place. 

The main goal was that. We never wanted to create a new nation, anything like a Kurdistan, or for us a Mesopotamia... Just to be recognised as a people in the place where we were, that was our main goal. 

So when do you change from training officer and actually go and fight on the front lines?

Very fast. After starting training in October, I was part of assault groups in December.

And here you were facing ISIS?

No, at that time we were facing Al-Nusra. After that came ISIS.

When you are on the ground fighting, is there a difference between fighting ISIS or al-Nusra?

Of course. Fighting al-Nusra was... I won't say easier, because they are very fanatical, full of drugs and therefore harder to take down, because it was like fighting a non-person, no fear, no hunger, no cold in the winter... Because they were full of drugs. And they attacked in mass, 50, 60 or 70 people. 

ISIS is different. It is an ideological movement, supported by many nations, so more professional. And you saw what they did, so it was more difficult to fight them. Especially because of the equipment they had, it wasn't normal... The technological equipment they had, the tunnel systems, the IED systems, things you can't even imagine, and these are things that came from big nations, and one of them is Turkey. 

If you were captured by Al-Nusra, what would they do to you? 

Cut off my head. 

So in that sense no difference between ISIS and al-Nusra...

No difference, it was the same. 

Obviously you were in dangerous situations all the time. Were you ever in situations where you thought, "that's it for me?"

There was one where we were going to patrol a village, myself and three YPG fighters. It was a recon group, so we were going to the village, see what was going on there and return to the assault groups and prepare the assault. 

The four of us went, and according to the report, the village was empty, no al-Nusra. When we were there of course we were walking next to each other, and unfortunately the village was, in fact, full of al-Nusra.

This was 2013, we didn't have any night vision goggles, radios, operation rooms. We just had one radio for each group to connect to the others. So when we were walking another patrol from al-Nusra was walking towards us, but it was so dark, and so foggy, that we didn't see each other. 

I was the one on the far-right. I touched the shoulder of the one on the right of the other group. Our shoulders touched and I jumped. We understood that we were from opposing groups...

Because of the good training I had I always held my weapon in front of me, not on my shoulder, and when I realised that they were al-Nusra I jumped one step back and one to the left, and I started shooting.

I heard the guy on my left get hit by a bullet. 

Then we tried to escape, but we were in this village, and we were about 500 meters in the desert, with no orientation, in the darkness and in the fog, alone. I lost my other three colleagues. One was martyred, but the problem is that all the village suddenly realised that something had happened there, and they were all al-Nusra, and they started to search for us. I don't know how I escaped. I walked in the desert, I didn't even know what direction I was walking in, because of all the confusion and the fog, but fortunately we managed to go in the right direction, and we all survived, except the one who was killed at the beginning. 

That was one time when I really thought, OK, I'm done...

You were there and fought against ISIS. To see the declaration of their territorial defeat, what did that feel like? 

Territorially it's done, but it's not over. I'm not celebrating. It's a good thing to give hope to the people, territorially, so they can start a new life, a new education, a new future with better prospects, but the war is not over. 

Of course there is a risk of sleeper cells and more terrorist activity, but when you say the war is not over, are you also thinking about Turkey and the regime?

I think so, yes. 

The war is not over because until now it was a war of militias, now the big war will start, between the Sunni and Shia factions. 

You were there for a long time. Do you believe the Federation and this democratic project will be able to survive in the long run?

I think so, yes. I believe it will. Because it is the only way to make sure minorities survive. The policy is based on minorities, not on the idea of one family, one nation. With the one family, one nation policy you can see what happened. Giving hope to the minorities is creating a new life for people, it is making Sunnis and Shia live together, Muslims and Christians live together, Jews and Muslims living together. I think that it is a big example for democracy and a new life in harmony together. It has to survive, if not the Middle East will be a disaster for another thousand years. We won't come out of this war for another thousand years.

When did you decide to return to Switzerland, and why?

My first trip back to Switzerland, after many years in Syria was in 2015. Why? Because I had to face this trial. 

By then you had already been warned that you were in trouble back home...

I had the possibility to come back, because before it was not possible for me to leave. I left illegaly, I had a lot of difficulty to leave the KRG [Iraqi Kurdistan], because I had entered from Turkey. I used fake papers to enter the KRG, then I used my Swiss Passport, then I didn't have a stamp to leave, so it was very difficult.

But when you were in Syria did anyone from Switzerland contact you...

No. I heard from the newspapers.

So obviously they were keeping an eye on you...

Of course, yes. More than one. 

You came back, and what did the Swiss authorities say?

I was stopped in Switzerland, and of course they interrogated me, and they told me they had to open a military case against me, because I broke this and that rule. But nothing bad, so I was not being treated as a criminal. At many of the places I was going around, the police and so on, they were looking at me as a good guy, who did a good thing.

At the trial that we had at the end of February they honoured my action, even though they gave me a punishment. We appealed, and so the trial will continue.

So it was just a fine?

Yes, around 500 dollars. But we appealed on grounds of principle. 

Have there been Swiss who went to fight with ISIS who came back as well?

Yes, but they were tried for small things.

Are they back in Switzerland?

Yes.

What is it like, thinking that one day you could be walking in Zurich and bump into a guy who had been fighting for ISIS?

It's a big mess for Switzerland. A big mess.

I keep myself protected. I know how to move, when I go anywhere, I know how to watch myself, but the other people... It's a problem.

Your face must have been everywhere now because of this trial. Does it worry you in terms of safety, reprisals?

No. Myself, personally, no. I am not worried, I am not scared, but I take precautions. Like everyone in Europe must, because you don't know when some sleeper cell in ISIS will shoot, cut or bomb... 

You know ISIS better than pretty much anybody else in Switzerland. Have you had any requests for cooperation? To prevent terrorist attacks?

No. I was asked to go to some conferences, but until now I have kept myself far away from these things. I want to finish my trial in a clean way and then we'll see. 

In 2015 you came back, and since then you haven't returned to Syria?

I have been to Iraq.

But were you involved in any fighting in Iraq?

No, no fighting.

So you continue to be very active in the Syriac cause...

All the time. I can't leave what I started. 

You were in Syria for about three years fighting. Did you leave your job here in Switzerland?

No, I was a professional soldier. I went as soon as I finished my contract with the army. 

So now you need to start a new life?

Being involved in the organisation we have now in Iraq is my full-time occupation.

Are you married?

Thank God, no. 

Are you more hopeful for the future of your people now? 

Yes, of course. More hopeful and with brighter prospects for the future. The people we were involved with gained strength from seeing ISIS being defeated territorially. For the Syrian people that is a huge victory. 

You fought side by side with the YPG. And you said they respected the Syriacs. Now that ISIS is defeated, YPG is still the big player in the region. Do you trust them?

I trust them, like they trust me. But it is politics. I trust the people who represent the Kurds, and their idea. I trust their idea, and I respect the idea. I don't follow the people. If they keep to their idea and follow it, to do something for all the peoples there, I will trust them. If they are going to change their idea they will be betraying themselves, more than me. 

Were you ever frustrated or surprised that there were more Syriacs like you from Europe going to fight with your people?

No. I was happier to see the Syriacs inside Syria fight. The main problem was to convince them to change their mentality, not to bring them to war. So I was really happy to see all the influence we had and the young people joining the SMC, because they trusted what we were doing. We were not obsessed with bringing people from outside. If you come by yourself you are welcome, but we were pushing for the local fighters, because those are the people who are going to stay. 

It's a little bit like the volunteers of the YPG. They came in their thousands. How many are still in Syria? They left. If we had a thousand Syriac youths and then leaving, it doesn't make sense. We were looking for a long-term, strategical commitment. 

Transgénero e Liberdade Perfeita

Não faltam razões para ler a Divina Comédia de Dante, nem que seja pelo prazer de um encontro com o génio da imaginação. Mas no final de contas a razão mais importante é aquela que o próprio identifica numa carta a um mecenas, Can Grande Della Scala: “o assunto é o homem na medida em que, com os seus méritos e deméritos, no exercício da sua livre vontade, é merecedor de ser premiado ou punido pela justiça”.

Esta escolha torna-se clara no destino de Lúcifer. Podemos discutir longamente como é que certos pecadores vieram a merecer castigos específicos no Inferno de Dante, mas Satanás representa uma escolha principal.

O Satanás de Dante não é o rebelde romântico do “Paraíso Perdido” de Milton, nem um tentador engenhoso como o Escritope de C. S. Lewis. Trata-se aqui do ser que – de forma radical, pura e eterna – rejeitou Deus e toda a ordem do universo que Ele criou. Satanás pensa que se lançou no caminho da liberdade total em relação a tudo isso, mas não podia, literalmente, estar mais errado. 

Dante mostra-nos isto numa imagem inesquecível. Satanás está envolto em gelo no fundo do universo, nos recantos mais longínquos do Inferno. Dá às suas asas de morcego, procurando libertar-se, mas o vento que as asas criam apenas serve para o congelar ainda mais. É como as algemas chinesas com que brincávamos quando éramos miúdos. Mete-se os dedos de cada lado de uma espécie de tubo, mas quanto mais força fazemos para os tirar, mais apertado fica.

Não há outra saída para quem se revolta contra Deus. Satanás foge de Deus e da sua ordem cósmica, mas não há para onde fugir. Apenas existe um Deus, um universo, uma realidade. Rejeite-se isso e rejeita-se tudo, incluindo a fonte do nosso próprio ser – e a liberdade. Pode-se esforçar freneticamente, e cada vez mais, para ser “livre” segundo os próprios termos, mas está a pedir aquilo que é literalmente impossível – uma liberdade perfeita desligada de realidade. E assim se encerra, cada vez mais, em si mesmo.

Na sua “Utopia”, Tomás Moro incluiu um epígrafo: “O demónio, espírito orgulhoso, não aguenta ser gozado”. Pois aqui está um caso de gozo, gozo de si mesmo, em enorme escala.

Tudo isto pode parecer muito distante das nossas vidas diárias. Mas para um Católico na América de hoje a liberdade coloca-nos uma questão crucial. A liberdade está no topo da lista daquilo que a maioria dos americanos diria que o país representa. Os Pais Fundadores preocupavam-se com a possibilidade de a liberdade degenerar em “licença”. Tal como os pensadores antigos e medievais, eles sabiam que a liberdade podia autodestruir-se se fosse isolada da virtude e da verdade. 

A Congregação para a Educação acaba de lançar um documento sobre os transgénero (“Homem e mulher Ele os Criou”), que reconhece a fora como este movimento ideológico se desligou radicalmente não só da biologia mas da ordem cósmica. “Segundo esta visão das coisas, a visão tanto da identidade sexual como da família tornam-se sujeitos à mesma ‘liquidez’ e ‘fluidez’ que caracteriza outros aspetos da cultura pós-moderna, baseadas frequentemente em nada mais do que um conceito confuso de liberdade no campo dos sentimentos e desejos, ou nos desejos momentâneos provocados por impulsos emocionais e a vontade do indivíduo, por oposição a qualquer coisa baseada nas verdades da existência.”

Quando me constou que também convidava ao “diálogo” – o que para alguns é um tipo de tapete mágico que nos permite fugir sem ter de dizer sim nem não – temi que o documento cedesse no que é essencial. Surpreendentemente ele afirma que o diálogo significa reconhecer que algumas pessoas estão a debater-se com emoções fortes e que devem ser respeitadas enquanto seres humanos, mas ao mesmo tempo devem-lhes ser apresentadas as verdades básicas da sexualidade.

Há muito mais a dizer – e talvez venha a sê-lo. A Congregação para a Doutrina da Fé está a preparar um comentário mais puramente teológico sobre os mesmos assuntos. Mas este documento é um guia para instituições educativas e por isso é deliberadamente mais prático que teórico.

O nosso amigo Robbie George já comentou sobre a reação previsível de pessoas como o padre James Martin, S.J., que afirma que a sociologia e a psicologia modernas rebentam com as compreensões tradicionais de género. Afirmações desse género reciclam uma antiga heresia gnóstica segundo a qual alguma realidade interior, desligada do corpo físico, define a sua própria identidade. Trata-se de uma contradição da fé católica, bem como a judaica a islâmica e mesmo o bom pensamento secular. É tudo menos científico obliterar o papel de estruturas observáveis como são os genes masculinos e femininos, que existem em cada célula do corpo humano, apenas com base no que alguém diz ser.

O Dr. Paul McHugh, antigo diretor de psiquiatria na Universidade Johns Hopkins, estudou pessoas que foram sujeitas a “mudança de sexo” e concluiu que na maior parte dos casos não são mais felizes do que eram antes. “No cerne da questão está a confusão sobre a natureza dos transgénero. A ‘mudança de sexo’ é uma impossibilidade biológica.”

Santo Agostinho resumiu da seguinte forma toda a tradição bíblica: “Deus eterno, que és a luz das mentes que te conhecem, a alegria dos corações que te amam e a força das vontades que te servem; concede-nos que te conheçamos para verdadeiramente te amar, e assim amar-te para servir inteiramente a ti, a quem servir é a perfeita liberdade, em Jesus Cristo, Nosso Senhor.” (Oração para Conhecer a Deus)

A verdade reside onde o temporal e o eterno, a liberdade e a ordem e outras coisas aparentemente opostas se encontram e misturam. O Rei dos Reis e Senhor dos Senhores é também o Bom Pastor que dá a vida pelas suas ovelhas. O Altíssimo nasce como bebé humilde numa manjedoura. Os primeiros serão os últimos e os últimos serão os primeiros. E viver em harmonia com a verdadeira ordem do mundo é a única liberdade possível.

Poucos de nós compreendemos isso hoje. As nossas noções de liberdade chegam-nos por via de ‘entertainers’ autoindulgentes, políticos interesseiros, académicos excêntricos e egocêntricos e meios de comunicação autorreferenciais. Mas apesar de toda a celebração de identidade, individualismo, diversidade e singularidade, o resultado não é um tecido social rico, harmonioso e livre, mas o caos privado e público que está à vista de todos os que têm olhos para ver.

Robert Royal é editor de The Catholic Thing e presidente do Faith and Reason Institute em Washington D.C. O seu mais recente livro é A Deeper Vision: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century, da Ignatius Press. The God That Did Not Fail: How Religion Built and Sustains the West está também disponível pela Encounter Books.

(Publicado pela primeira vez em The Catholic Thing na Segunda-feira, 17 de Junho de 2019)

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