38 | November/December 2022 | BAEC Bulletin
Lawyers Come Together at Red Mass: Reprint of Address by the Honorable Mary L. Slisz on Oct 5, 2022
On behalf of the St. Thomas More Guild I would like to wish a warm welcome to Bishop Michael Fisher, members of the clergy, my colleagues on the bench, members of the bar and members of our community. It is my privilege and honor to offer these comments on behalf of the judiciary. These comments are very different than what constitutes our normal dialog, directives and rulings each day in our courtrooms. The task was not easy and in the back of my head I heard my uncle, Father Chuck Slisz, say “I do it every week.” He makes it seem so easy. We know STM was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, Lord High Chancellor of England under Henry VIII and a noted Renaissance humanist. Renaissance humanists believed in the importance of an education in classical literature and the promotion of civic virtue, that is realizing a person’s full potential both for their own good and for the good of society in which they live. Humanism focuses on helping people live well, achieving personal growth and making the world a better place. Almost 500 years after his death St. Thomas More continues to have great relevance in our society today. Thomas More tells us in his writings that “Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that’s training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed.” The pandemic brought many great life challenges for all of us. While it swept through the world and our country, we witnessed the best and the worst in people. We are familiar with the stories of the unsung heroes of the pandemic, those first responders, police officers, firefighters, health care providers, and others who worked the front lines. What became apparent over time was the undercurrent of bitterness, hatred, intolerance and divisiveness that had developed as well. We saw people become intolerant of other people, the views and opinions of other people, other people’s religions, beliefs and lifestyles. We witnessed an inability of some individuals to listen to a view other than their own, let alone garner enough respect for the other person to agree to disagree. Our basic humanity towards others was being challenged. In our age of technology social media exploded with this intolerance of other people and provided a platform to espouse the evils of hatred, racism, prejudices and biases. Our society became not only a house or family divided, it became a community and nation divided. On May 14 of this year, our community experienced an unspeakable tragedy. The Wikipedia listing simply states
“On May 14, 2022, a mass shooting occurred in Buffalo, New York, United States, at a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in the East Side neighborhood. Ten Black people were killed and three people were injured.” It goes on to talk about the shooter, the charges and his not guilty plea. What it does not say is that it is a tragedy born of the seeds of hate, racism, divisiveness, biases and prejudices. For centuries people have perpetrated such evils against other human beings. One would hope and pray that by 2022 we would have rooted out these evils and intolerances from society. We have not. During Pope Francis’ visit to Kosice, Slovakia in 2021, he denounced the way in which this socially segregated Roma community had been shunned by much of Slovakian society. Pope Francis said “You have been the object of prejudice and harsh judgments, discriminatory stereotypes, defamatory words and gestures. “As a result, we are all poorer, poorer in humanity.” He lamented that “Restoring dignity means passing from prejudice to dialogue, from introspection to integration.” He also reminded us “It is not easy to leave prejudice behind, even for Christians.” “It is not easy to value others especially if we see them as problems or enemies; if we pass judgment without making any effort to get to know them and to listen to their stories.” Everyone thinks that tragedies, like the Tops shooting always happens in other places and not in Buffalo, NY. We know that is not true. In the words of St. Thomas More, we must make visible what is hidden as a seed. If we are going to get rid of the seeds of hatred, racism, divisiveness, biases and prejudices each of us must be accountable and do our part. As judges and lawyers, we are leaders in our community. Unfortunately, we are often put on a pedestal where we are labeled as “infallible” and “perfection” is the expectation. We are fallible. We are not perfect. We are human. We bring our religions, education, training and life experiences to our profession. While we continue to lament the challenges of our existence during life in law school, we recognize that as part of that process our minds were re-programmed and re-trained to think like lawyers. What biases and prejudices did we obtain as part of our life experience, education and training? Are the judgments we make every day really prejudices or pre-judgments? Unfortunately, history is the witness that small cognitive effects can compound over time and across populations to create large societal impacts.
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