Do any women actually believe the Catholic Church’s teaching on “reproductive health,” as contraception and abortion are euphemistically referred to? How could such things even be healthy? Teresa Tomeo, the author of Extreme Makeover: Women Transformed by Christ, Not Conformed to the Culture, shares some thoughts on these matters with National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez.
KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: How does a “former women’s libber and secular journalist” come to write a book against conformity to culture?
TERESA TOMEO: Through the grace of God, frankly. I had bought into most of the lies the culture was selling, and suffered greatly as a result of my bad choices. I had to hit rock bottom in my professional and personal life before being able to see that I couldn’t really do anything entirely on my own. My favorite Scripture verse is John 15:5, where Jesus tells us he is the vine, and we are the branches. If we break away from him we can’t do anything. I had totally accepted the tenets of radical feminism, putting myself first. I almost lost my marriage and, more importantly, my soul. I had to be fired from a prominent media position and be stripped of almost everything in order for me to take a good look at myself. It was the most painful time in my life but also one of the most fruitful.
Advertisement
LOPEZ: You seek “to tell as many people as [you] can — especially women — that [you were] wrong and that the Church was — and is — right!” When the White House is moving against the legality of practicing some of the stuff Catholicism teaches, why the heck would anyone be receptive to such a message?
TOMEO: Because, as Glenn Beck recently said, “We are all Catholics now.” In other words, the HHS-mandate issue is about religious liberty and the right of conscience, which affects everyone of any faith — not just Catholics. The government does not have the right to tell any religion what it can and cannot teach — and that is basically what this administration is trying to do. They are trying to define their version of “religion.”
LOPEZ: What does the new “free birth control for all” policy of the United States mean to you?
TOMEO: That according to those in the current administration, there is only one acceptable ideology in this country — pro-contraception and pro-abortion. It’s their way or the highway, as the old saying goes; and it is very eye-opening as the lines are becoming much clearer. I see this, though, as a great opportunity for all people of faith — particularly in the Church — to lead the way in the fight for our basic constitutional rights.
LOPEZ: What do you think when you hear Catholic conscience protests dismissed because so many Catholics don’t practice what priests don’t even preach?
TOMEO: Most people go at least ten miles over the speed limit; that doesn’t make their actions correct. There is a very high percentage of young people who engage in underage drinking. That doesn’t mean we should lower the legal age limit to 14 just because “everyone” is supposedly doing this or that. To me, this is such an immature response. Just as with particular laws we have established in society, the Church has also established her own set of teachings for our benefit. It seems that this type of argument is only brought up when we are dealing with issues below the belt. I also question some of the statistics that the anti-Catholic pundits are using when it comes to the number of Catholics using contraception.
This is a religious issue, not a political one - in America there is a unique cross-over.
That the politics of this Nation have changed since it's founding is not surprising, nor that, in essence, THAT America no longer exists. It should also be no surprise that God's Church has remained intact. After all, Jesus Himself proclaimed that He would build His Church and that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it", and To "remember that I am with you always to the end of the age."
Persecution of the Church is as old a Jesus Himself. This changing of the landscape we American Catholics worship in, is not really that startling either. It has been eroding over time, as God has been pigeonholed in this Nation.
Should God Will it so, America can be restored politically. His Church, however, was never in danger. Though it may come as a shock to many of us, that as we now cry "Lord, Lord" we are not known to Him.
According to a recent CBS/NYT poll, 66% of the folks polled - including many who previously cared about individual rights - are in favor of Big Brother forcing private companies to provide certain healthcare services and products to certain people for free, while other people pay for their healthcare services and products. Apparently, elective contraceptives are a must-have in the public's view, while non-elective, life-saving medications and treatments are not. And low and middle income Americans don't seem to care about the economic inequality of wealthy Americans receiving free contraceptives that all income levels pay for.
The most frightening revelation of this poll is that it’s no longer the usual suspects who favor transforming America from a country of hard-working people who are motivated to succeed and admire personal responsibility into a nanny-state entitlement utopia. There are millions of moderate and conservative Americans who are willing to move to the dark side - and sacrifice individual freedom in the process - if it means they’ll receive “free” stuff from the all-knowing, all-powerful government.
Sixty-six percent of those polled have apparently forgotten that the government doesn’t have any money. All the free stuff it gives away is paid for by us. Rather than focusing on the short-term benefits of "free" contraceptives, the American people should be considering the long-term consequences of a government-run healthcare system - which is what liberal Democrats want - in which politicians and bureaucrats decide what services and products we get, when we get them, who provides them to us, who pays for them and how much they pay.
God bless you Teresa, well put. You are so correct about the ineffectiveness of reaching out with truth to unchurched people. That is where the Church is behind the times. But so too, I believe, is the poor record the church has in dealing with so many of the social/ secular issues of the time. From healthcare to illegal immigration, often the Church is its own worst enemy. I do believe that the faith and the truth we hold therein is too important and has too big of an impact on our lives, on our children's, and our communities to leave this solely to the clergy to deal with. They must and should deal with the spiritual, that is there vocation. It has become incumbent on us, the Catholic lay community to organize and lead in this sector, enlisting the clergy, relying on them for scripture, spiritual guidance - but we must make the battle or it will be lost.
I am buying your book right now. May buy 6 copies for may wife and daughters as well.
Katheryn and Teresa, thank you for this very important and informative interview. I'm forwarding to all those who I personally know and think that religion in this once great country is dead.
