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Dealing with the Devil
Today, Archbishop Chaput of the Archdiocese of Denver released a clear and concise essay on the history of the sundering of the Catholic conscience from the Catholic identity in American politics.
While the root cause comes from much further back in history, President John F. Kennedy, who spoke the infamous words that comforted a "wary Protestant audience" that he would not "let the pope" tell him what to do in office, can be seen as the primary motivator behind the modern idea of religion's relation to politics. He effectively "severed his Catholic identity from his public service," as Archbishop Chaput writes.
Since Kennedy's day, many "Catholic" political figures have since followed in his footsteps, claiming his words are an argument from authority and assuming its validity outright -- "welll of course I can't let my religion dictate how I make political decisions! We do have a separation of church and state you know" (or so the line usually goes).
At first, as Archbishop Chaput notes, the "Kennedy compromise" seemed to work alright, on a certain level anyway. However, with the rise in 1973 of the historic decision by the Supreme Court to "legalize" abortion in this country, the error of Kennedy's compromising way became clear. Suddenly, direct murder was being made "legal" and the supposedly "Catholic" politicians hid behind Kennedy's words, as they furthered the cause of the pro-abortion groups. What began as an innocous and superficially correct "compromise" quickly changed from "compromise" to "surrender". By accepting the notion of Kennedy's separation between church and state, without questioning the extent to which it could be morally applied, those politicians are raising themselves above all moral authority, including that of the Catholic Church to which they profess to be in communion with.
The Archbishop warns, "that's a deal with the devil, and it has a balloon payment no nation, no public servant, and no voter can afford."
Follow the link to read Archbishop Chaput's article -- http://www.archden.org/dcr/news.php?e=97&s=2&a=2293
While the root cause comes from much further back in history, President John F. Kennedy, who spoke the infamous words that comforted a "wary Protestant audience" that he would not "let the pope" tell him what to do in office, can be seen as the primary motivator behind the modern idea of religion's relation to politics. He effectively "severed his Catholic identity from his public service," as Archbishop Chaput writes.
Since Kennedy's day, many "Catholic" political figures have since followed in his footsteps, claiming his words are an argument from authority and assuming its validity outright -- "welll of course I can't let my religion dictate how I make political decisions! We do have a separation of church and state you know" (or so the line usually goes).
At first, as Archbishop Chaput notes, the "Kennedy compromise" seemed to work alright, on a certain level anyway. However, with the rise in 1973 of the historic decision by the Supreme Court to "legalize" abortion in this country, the error of Kennedy's compromising way became clear. Suddenly, direct murder was being made "legal" and the supposedly "Catholic" politicians hid behind Kennedy's words, as they furthered the cause of the pro-abortion groups. What began as an innocous and superficially correct "compromise" quickly changed from "compromise" to "surrender". By accepting the notion of Kennedy's separation between church and state, without questioning the extent to which it could be morally applied, those politicians are raising themselves above all moral authority, including that of the Catholic Church to which they profess to be in communion with.
The Archbishop warns, "that's a deal with the devil, and it has a balloon payment no nation, no public servant, and no voter can afford."
Follow the link to read Archbishop Chaput's article -- http://www.archden.org/dcr/news.php?e=97&s=2&a=2293
posted by Maria Neva | 3:57:00 PM
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