Separation of Church and Brain; or Principles, Principles, We Ain’t Got No Stinking Principles

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken its long standing anti-abortion position in the Health Care Reform effort consistent with its religious and moral position. There is nothing surprising here. This is not exactly a breaking news items, although it is a part of the debate that has been reported in coverage on the Health Care bill. The important aspect of the news reporting is that the Bishops are conveying their opposition to provisions in the Health Care Reform act from including any accommodation to abortion rights in the bill or even a status quo of existing provisions in current law. The Bishops are advocating the Catholic Church’s stance as one would expect, and they are conveying to lawmakers their disapproval of any position at odds with their own.

The dissonance that the Bishops’ involvement in the legislative efforts creates for me comes from two basic principles. One of the principles is a core tenet of our constitutional social agreement; that is the separation of church and state. The second is a Catholic Church principle that has been derived from the American principle. The Catholic Church has established a principle that its clergy are not to be involved in political advocacy and in leading political movements.

I applaud and admire the Catholic Church’s recognition that in a free society which aspires to accept and protect the freedom of religion and religious expression, that the Church has an obligation and responsibility to respect the separation of Church from State. I also acknowledge the thorny predicament that this principle presents to its clergy and its parishioners. Being a person of faith, you are faced with the dilemma that you believe that there are things that you should do and things that you should not do. The Ten Commandments are a small set of rules that exemplify such religious principles.

So the Catholic Church’s position that abortion is immoral and unacceptable and that it needs to be opposed is reasonable and appropriate. And for Catholics, it is their personal decision and responsibility to choose to understand and follow that direction according to their beliefs and understanding of their religious faith. And it cannot be a surprise that many Catholics, both American and those in other countries, do not either agree with the Church’s view or occasionally elect to act against the anti-abortion position. But the question of pro-life versus pro-choice while an difficult reality for Catholics is not a difficult choice for the Church with respect to political activism. At least it should not be. If the Catholic Church acknowledges its responsibility to abstain from political advocacy in the United States, then the U.S. Bishops should practice what they preach. The Bishops and their American clergy should be espousing their reasons why they are pro-life and why they believe that abortions are immoral. But they should not be advocating that the laws or programs of the United States be framed to be consistent with their views, their positions, and according to their faith. As important as their right to religious freedom is, it is less important and completely dependent upon the right to religious freedom of all people, of all faiths, and of all persuasions.

If you believe that your faith requires you to follow particular rules then follow them. But if your faith requires you to mandate others to do as you would dictate them do; then you are not accepting the principles that citizens of America are required to hold above all else. You are excommunicating yourself from membership in the society that has offered you its protection, and which has given you the very freedoms that you want to trample and sacrifice to a belief in your understanding of God’s plan.

Being a person of faith myself, I have to protest the efforts of any group who places their religious beliefs over those of others. And in accordance with my understanding of both my faith and my duty to the American system which provides all the freedoms that I enjoy, I have to resist these groups’ efforts to deprive the American people of their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. And since I am as sure of my God’s teachings as they are of their God’s, I believe that such groups are not only wrong in the context of the American social system, but that they have erred in understanding the teachings of their God. I am comfortable in allowing them to live their own personal lives according to their understanding and belief in their faith, for that is one of the blessings that the God I believe in has bestowed upon our country and contained within the doctrine of freedom that we established in our Constitution.