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I have often wondered whether arrogance is a requirement
for public office or just something that attaches itself over time,
like barnacles on a ship. Either way it doesn’t take long for many
elected officials to start taking themselves a tad too seriously.
Some are now advising God how to do his job, or at least
the church they proclaim as his. A group of 48 congresspersons,
every Roman Catholic Democrat in the House of Representatives
according to CNN, have sent Cardinal Theodore McCarrick a letter
warning the church not to deny communion to Catholic politicians who
vote contrary to the church’s core beliefs. They cite a number of
issues but you, they, and I know they mean abortion and gay
marriage.
McCarrick chairs the Task Force on Catholic Bishops,
which is reviewing the church’s response to legislators who use
their positions to oppose key Catholic beliefs. Some Catholic
authorities have acted on their own to deny communion to such
politicians; the church is now working on a unified policy.
The letter raises a number of questions, not all of
which were intended by the signers. For example, why does one
profess faith in God in the first place? The Catholic Church, like
all Christian denominations, believes we were created by God and
that he will decide our eternal fate. It believes that he, not we,
determines what is right and wrong. If one accepts these things,
what earthly agenda could possibly be more important? If one
doesn’t, why identify as Catholic or give a hoot about what the
church thinks?
Perhaps
these politicians believe they have the inside track and their
church is wrong. Then why be Catholic? Do they like the potlucks?
Do they crave the veneer of piety they think comes from a
declaration of faith?
Possibly,
but more likely they lack the guts to risk their jobs by standing up
to their party or the voters, so attack their church instead.
Webster’s
New World Dictionary defines religion as “any system of beliefs,
practices, ethical values, etc., resembling, suggesting of, or
likened to such a system.” If so, “Democrat” and “Republican” are
truer religions than most and the 48 signers of the letter are
arguably just practicing their creed. That’s still a far different
thing than faith, which is not a system of beliefs but unconditional
trust in a higher truth, in moral absolutes than can no more be
repealed by man than the law of gravity.
Here’s
another truth: No one is required to belong to any particular
church or political party. The honest approach would be to either
quit the one with which they disagree or try to change their party,
because God isn’t budging.
The main gripe of the letter writers is that the church
is attempting to influence strictly political matters, noting voter
fears from years past that Catholic politicians would take orders
from the Pope. This seems to argue that abortion, homosexual
marriage and the like are primarily matters of partisan politics,
which they are not. These are moral issues first and political
beanbags second.
For the record I am a rock-ribbed Protestant but it
doesn’t appear to me that the Catholic Church is trying to dictate
any legislator’s vote on any given issue. The message seems clear:
Vote any way you want but don’t try to pretend you’re Catholic while
you’re doing it.
In Matthew
6:24, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one
and despise the other.” The signers of the letter to Cardinal
McCarrick have made their choice, and one could hardly fault the
Catholic Church for agreeing to make it official. |
