The Fruit of the Catholic Church's 30+ Year Romance of Social Conservative Politics

 This needs to be said. Not all Catholics are celebrating the end of Roe v. Wade.


While most US Catholic bishop, priests, and Catholic media are celebrating the Supreme Court’s overturning of Row v. Wade, there are a lot of Catholics who are not celebrating.


For more than thirty years, abortion has been the dominant issue--almost the only issue--the Catholic Bishops and Catholic media talk about in the American public square. It has been preached from the pulpits, the TV, and the radio, that banning abortion is the panacea to all perceived woes. And it has overshadowed issues such as racism, sexism, economic disparity, access to healthcare, housing, childcare and living wages, the problem of gun violence, the disease of addiction...

Catholic politicians could and did  promote the death penalty; they closed polling places in minority districts; were as hawkish on warfare as they could be, and railed against immigrants and still received by-and-large a big stamp of approval from the US Bishops and the Catholic media--just so long as they opposed abortion.

For 35 years at least, it has seemed as though nothing else came close to the importance that the US Bishops gave to stopping abortion, pushing to overturn Roe v. Wade. Now they have obtained what they wanted: an undemocratic imposition of a conservative Catholic teaching on a pluralistic secular society.

But America is not a theocracy. A true culture of life gives people the means to make life-affirming decisions at every stage of their lives, through persuasion, not coercion. 

Remember, the doors to the Church open both ways. My prediction is after Friday’s Supreme Court ruling, a lot of Catholics are going to exit the Church.

I think Catholics and other Christians who are applauding the Court ruling are ignoring the further division in American society this will cause.

Close to half of US Catholics disagree with the Supreme Court ruling.

And it needs to be restated, this has been a very selective imposition of Catholic values onto American jurisprudence— no to abortion but apparently yes to guns and the death penalty. Yes to environmental degradation. Yes to racism, homophobia, and sexism. A very lopsided imposition of conservative Catholic values. Also note, no one ever restricts anything having to do with straight male sexual expression—sex trafficking and porn is at an all-time high, for example.

I have no doubt that more people will leave the Catholic Church over this... because there are a lot of pro-choice Catholics, who feel their perspective has been ignored, and that this approach will ultimately be destructive to women's rights, bodily autonomy, and democratic principles.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Blog in a Long, Long Time. But a New Papal Encyclical is a Worthy Occasion to Write

    I have not written a blog post in years. It was not really a conscious plan as much as focusing my attention elsewhere. I had gone back and re-read some of my comments on Laudatio Si from five years ago and thought it appropriate to offer some feedback on the new papal encyclical letter: On Fraternity and Social Friendship .  I am not one to criticize the Pope, other than stylistically. Pope Francis sometimes writes without the theological precision that I prefer. But as Pope, Jesus Christ’s Vicar on Earth, Francis’ words are consequential.  Here are some important points Pope Francis makes in Fratelli Tutti:      People are made in God’s image and likeness and have inherent dignity. (n. 39) “[I]t is important that catechesis and preaching speak more directly and clearly about the social meaning of existence, the fraternal dimension of spirituality, our conviction of the inalienable dignity of each person, and our reasons for loving and accepting all our brothers and sisters. (n.
Read more

Did the Blessed Virgin Mary See the Resurrected Jesus?

According to the Bible, it is unknown whether or not Jess appeared to his mother, Mary. However, according to tradition, Jesus appeared to his mother. This is known in Hispanic cultures as the encuentro --the encounter.  While Scripture does not describe any post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus to His Mother, Mary, many saints have speculated that Jesus did appear to His Mother. For example, as Pope Saint John Paul II once remarked: The Gospels mention various appearances of the risen Christ, but not a meeting between Jesus and his Mother. This silence must not lead to the conclusion that after the Resurrection Christ did not appear to Mary… …Indeed, it is legitimate to think that the Mother was probably the first person to whom the risen Jesus appeared. (Pope Saint John Paul II, General Audience, May 21, 1997, accessed on Dec. 30, 2017 at  21 May 1997 | John Paul II )
Read more

When Vaccination Is An Act of Charity

Statement of the U.S. Bishops : The “gravity” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and “the lack of availability of alternative vaccines,” are “sufficiently serious” reasons to accept the Pfizer/ BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the chairmen of the U.S. bishops’ doctrine and pro-life committees said Dec. 14, 2020. “Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine ought to be understood as an act of charity toward the other members of our community,” they said. “In this way, being vaccinated safely against COVID-19 should be considered an act of love of our neighbor and part of our moral responsibility for the common good.” The bishops addressed the moral concerns raised by the fact the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have some connection to cell lines that originated with tissue taken from abortions. However, this connection to morally compromised cell lines is (a) indirect, and (b) extremely remote. Furthermore, (c) the public health situation is too grave to reject the vaccines, said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of
Read more