I do not normally write about moral issues but the events of this past weekend were extremely emotional for me and I thought I’d share.
I was asked to give some brief closing remarks at the end of a Respect Life Dinner event at our Catholic church which is actively supported by my local Knights of Columbus Council. The keynote speaker was the founder of a crisis pregnancy center in North Jersey. My role was to speak about the positions of our local congressional candidates vis-a-vis abortion. This was to be a simple outline comparing two candidates, and I had not prepared any notes.
As I listened to the keynote address, heard the stories about the expectant mothers who struggled with peer pressure, family abandonment and socio-economic forces pressuring them to abort their children, stories I have heard time and again, and how our country had lost its moral compass, how we have failed as a society to elect representatives who would support our values, the emotions and passions that have roiled within me this past year forced me to reevaluate what I would say. How would I address 110 of my fellow Catholics, and tell them things they needed to hear, but would never be told?
A few thoughts formed, I approached the podium, and judging from the reaction of the room, and the dozens of grateful comments that I received afterwards, delivered one of the most well received and powerful talks I have ever given. Since there were no prewritten notes, this is an approximation of how it went.
I was asked to give some brief closing remarks at the end of a Respect Life Dinner event at our Catholic church which is actively supported by my local Knights of Columbus Council. The keynote speaker was the founder of a crisis pregnancy center in North Jersey. My role was to speak about the positions of our local congressional candidates vis-a-vis abortion. This was to be a simple outline comparing two candidates, and I had not prepared any notes.
As I listened to the keynote address, heard the stories about the expectant mothers who struggled with peer pressure, family abandonment and socio-economic forces pressuring them to abort their children, stories I have heard time and again, and how our country had lost its moral compass, how we have failed as a society to elect representatives who would support our values, the emotions and passions that have roiled within me this past year forced me to reevaluate what I would say. How would I address 110 of my fellow Catholics, and tell them things they needed to hear, but would never be told?
A few thoughts formed, I approached the podium, and judging from the reaction of the room, and the dozens of grateful comments that I received afterwards, delivered one of the most well received and powerful talks I have ever given. Since there were no prewritten notes, this is an approximation of how it went.
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I have been asked to speak to you tonight about the positions on abortion of the congressional candidates here in our district. I have decided not to do that, for that would be too easy for you. We are now in a new America, an America where we must all become intimately aware of what is going on in our country. We can no longer leave decisions to others. We cannot expect someone else to tell us whom we should or should not vote for. We must understand that we are responsible for this nation. We have a duty to be informed and educated citizens. We live in the greatest country in the world, have the most opportunities, and are blessed with abundant liberties bestowed by our Creator, and with these blessings come a sacred responsibility to be vigilant and knowledgeable citizens.
So how do we discuss religion and politics – how do we deal with that awful taboo?
I have been asked to speak to you tonight about the positions on abortion of the congressional candidates here in our district. I have decided not to do that, for that would be too easy for you. We are now in a new America, an America where we must all become intimately aware of what is going on in our country. We can no longer leave decisions to others. We cannot expect someone else to tell us whom we should or should not vote for. We must understand that we are responsible for this nation. We have a duty to be informed and educated citizens. We live in the greatest country in the world, have the most opportunities, and are blessed with abundant liberties bestowed by our Creator, and with these blessings come a sacred responsibility to be vigilant and knowledgeable citizens.
So how do we discuss religion and politics – how do we deal with that awful taboo?
We have been taught, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” But when Caesar condones the murder of innocent children, when Caesar strips the citizens of every vestige of self respect, condemning generation after generation to believe that only Caesar can care for them, depriving them of the very human dignity that comes with self reliance and personal responsibility, and takes their very freedom in return for his largesse, then it is time when we as Catholics, when we as citizens, must rise up and proclaim “No, Caesar, this will not stand!”
Elections have consequences, and in the end, we really do get the kind of government we choose. It was said tonight that it’s a shame that New Jersey, a predominantly Catholic state, still does not have a parental notification requirement before a child has an abortion. It’s not a shame, it’s a fact. We Catholics voted for the representatives we have. We have two senators who will continue to sanction the murder of the unborn child because Catholics elected them.
We complain about the current administration in Washington. Somebody has to tell you that 54% of Catholics voted for Obama. Some of our church hierarchy and some religious communities also supported his slogans of Hope & Change without looking at the consequences. Understand that these Catholics, some of our bishops and other religious, have bought into this nebulous notion of “social justice” and supported candidates who espouse that term. Do they not realize that the progressive interpretation of social justice is merely redistribution of wealth, class envy and the subjugation of entire generations of people for a vote? Shouldn’t we instead be looking for social justice as defined by charity, unbridled opportunity, personal responsibility and individual freedom? And shouldn’t charity begin at home, then be supplemented by friends and by church, with government intervention only as a last resort, and only for the truly needy?
Such was not the case. Catholics voted for their social justice, and along with the progressive or liberal social justice candidate comes a sure fire vote for unbridled abortion rights. Fifty four percent of Catholics elected the most anti-life president we have ever known, a man whose record includes repeated votes against legislation which would have banned the most heinous crime of partial birth abortion. Fifty four percent of Catholics, if they most likely voted party line, elected a congress that has rubber stamped this president’s agenda. Fifty four percent of Catholics have consented to the de facto nomination of two Supreme Court judges, who will undoubtedly vote down any legislation that might limit abortion on demand.
Elections have consequences. When you go home tonight, I admonish you to pray as hard as you ever have for the continued health and safety of Justice Scalia, Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy. If God forbid, something would happen to one of them, then that fifty four percent of Catholics would have sealed the fate of your fight for a pro-life society. We could be saddled for twenty or thirty years with a court which would overturn any progress you could ever achieve and would uphold legislation that would render your efforts harmless. You would be left with prayer and only prayer, and while that is a powerful tool, would it hurt to have some legislative and judicial clout on your side?
So understand that it is up to each and every one of you. Yes you, and you, and you. You cannot wait for someone else to do your job. You cannot complain and hope for some miracle change. In the words of Ronald Reagan, “To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last – but eat you he will.”
Nico
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