Religious Politics

Sorry this is a day late.  Life got in the way.

Two of my friends sent me links to a YouTube video.  The video is really rather scary in that it is dark, with a blacksmith at his fiery forge pounding on iron rods to form the words that will be in this year’s election, over and over, ad nauseum.  Economy and jobs.  But then it comes to “truths that are not negotiable”, and launches into right-to-life, sanctity of marriage, parental responsibility, and religious freedom.  The video then transitions to a woman with a ballot in her hand entering a voting booth, filling out her ballot, and exiting the booth.  And of course the words infer that if she doesn’t vote correctly, she will put her salvation in jeopardy.  If you want to view this for yourself, go to cc2w.org.  Catholics Called to Witness.  The homepage only lists the organization as a non-profit, but does not list a Board of Directors.  Only an address in Florida.

This ad is probably one of the most offensive I have seen in a long time.  My non-Catholic husband viewed it and commented that it looked like it was sponsored by a Vatican-PAC.  I wouldn’t go quite that far, but it certainly is sponsored by politically conservative activists, either in the Church or out.  It has long been apparent to many Catholics that some of our conservative Bishops have sided more with the Republican National Committee than in the values of compassion taught in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.  This ad exemplifies that.

Probably more than anything that offends me is the simplistic view of the four subjects the ad covers.  What is meant by right-to-life, other than abortion?  As I read recently in a comment to another blog, does anyone in the RNC care about whether ex-fetuses are hungry, or clothed and housed?  And if so, how do we as a society go about seeing to it that this right-to-life principal, which touts life from conception to natural death, also includes the many issues that face people after they are born? 

Since my husband and I will celebrate our 59^th wedding anniversary in a couple of months, I obviously believe in the sanctity of marriage.  But because of our long relationship I also know that there is more to sex than merely procreation; that there is a bonding that occurs in the loving relationship that cannot be explained to anyone who has not experienced it.  Which certainly includes the hierarchy.  I think it is the result of this experience that has caused so many Americans in general and Catholics in particular to change their views on marriage equality.  Even though same-sex couples cannot procreate, they can certainly love each other in a good and holy way, and can also establish a family in which children can be lovingly raised.  The New Testament Letter to the Romans, Chap. 1, 26-28 is often cited as a reason to decry same-sex sex.  But this is the only place in the entire New Testament that same-sex activities are discussed!  If Jesus hated it so much, it seems that He would have mentioned it a time or two, in particular in His Sermon on the Mount.  Further, the current marriage equality issues do in no way demand that the churches should change the way they teach.  It only gives same-sex couples civil rights they do not now enjoy. 

The third issue the video mentions is parental responsibility.  I would assume that this is birth control, although the video does not mention this.  Since surveys have shown that 98% of Catholic women have used birth control at some point in their lives, I think this video is shockingly out of touch with reality.  An experience of mine in college might sort of explain what is going on here.  I have laughingly joked that I was exposed to two years of French, but it never really took.  Well, the Catholic faithful have been exposed to some 81 years of Catholic teaching on birth control, but it hasn’t really taken. 

The final statement was on Religious Freedom.  Whose religious freedom?  It wasn’t until contraception surfaced as a Republican issue that some of the conservative Bishops jumped on that particular bandwagon to help overturn the Affordable Healthcare Act, even though it will really help some of those ex-fetuses we mentioned earlier.  It is my opinion that the Bishops see the election of a Republican Congress and President as the way for them to do away with the separation of church and state, and to have the Catholic Church become the established Church.  But if they do think that, what religious wars we will have between the Catholics and the extreme fundamentalist churches which still think the Catholic Church is the anti-Christ.  Regardless, the conservative Bishops are riding rough-shod over the religious freedom of anyone who doesn’t agree with their particularly ancient view of marriage by attempting to turn themselves into victims.  Well, they are not victims – they are the worst of bullies.

The most frightening thing about what is happening in both our country and the church of many of us is that a rigid, non-thinking fundamentalist way of regarding issues is becoming so strong.  And the people pushing these are not bad people.  They honestly believe they are absolutely and unequivocally right.  Which is what makes this all so frightening.