Good things sometimes come in disguise. In the early years following Jesus’ resurrection, the persecution of His followers steeled their resolve and firmed their faith. Joseph’s having been sold into Egyptian slavery by his brothers ended up saving Israel from a terrible famine. Such examples are numerous. Now, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has found, we hope and pray, some moral courage versus the political left.
In order to accomplish the needed push-back against the secular left, it will be necessary to see and to admit the kinship of the religious freedom issue with the taxation/redistribution scheme, the “global warming” hoax, the “liberation theology” scam, and all the rest of the leftist agenda. It must be expected and understood that the the Church’s silence on partisan politics must be overcome. It must be admitted that one political party is against all things truly and legitimately Christian, and that one other political party is comparatively friendly, at least for now.
This could be a great opportunity for the Church, especially for the USCCB, to make a badly needed and long overdue shift away from the fetid swamp of the political left, whence has come so much of its staff.
As far as not having sought the fight over Obama’s contraception mandate? Oh, Yes, we did. The Church has courted, promoted, and loudly championed collectivism for decades, while condemning it in the Catechism. Consider: The Church is fully convinced that the government’s taxation/redistribution scheme is equal to charity. It is not. The Church is fully convinced that the elusive and undefinable “common good” trumps individual, God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It does not. In fact, it is by these rights only that the “common good” can be attained.
In an interview with Raymond Arroyo on 12 April 2012, Bp. William Lori was asked several questions which begged for clear, decisive answers. The bishop offered none. Not once did he answer “Yes” to a question. Not once did he answer “No” to a question. All of his responses were drawn-out, non-specific and tentative, with the exception of one issue: The Alabama and Arizona immigration laws. He and the rest of the bishops refuse to acknowledge something that everybody knows: Using the descriptive “immigrants” without making any distinction between legal and illegal is flagrantly dishonest. It is the same error, existentially, as a failure to differentiate between invited guests into one’s home and burglars. The difference is sharp, stark, and of critical importance to every citizen. The bishops’ deliberate misrepresentation is shameful.
This is, nonetheless, a time of great optimism in the Church, if only the hierarchy will recognize it and take advantage. The Obama administration, thoroughly anti-Christian as it is, has given the Church leadership a wake-up call. Ready to go to the mat over the contraception mandate, the Church has perhaps found some mettle. If the hierarchy will now generalize their righteous discontent to include “things leftist, generally,” then the struggle can be effective.
The fight specifically focused on the contraceptive mandate is merely one detail in a tyrannical administration onslaught. It is tantamount to refusing admission into our tent of the camel’s tail, after the nose and all the rest of the stinking beast has been welcomed.