This past Sunday on This Week, George Will said of the HHS mandate: “This is what liberalism looks like. This is what the progressive state does. It tries to break all the institutions of civil society, all the institutions that mediate between the individual and the state. They have to break them to the saddle of the state.” He went on to say: “The Catholic bishops, it serves them right. They’re the ones who were really hot for Obamacare, with few exceptions. But they were all in favor of this.”
This was a few days ago now, but I keep hearing it . . .
Second thing first. The Catholic bishops were a thorn in the side of the Obama administration and congressmen who were looking for an excuse to fold and vote for it. It did not adequately protect life and conscience, and so they opposed its passage.
And America’s Catholic bishops includes some real leaders, who George Will might appreciate knowing are not rubes when it comes to the dangers of the progressive state. Take Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, who wrote the other day:
America’s founders understood that human life is more than politics or economics. They created structures of government and an economic system intended to promote individual liberty. They also created a space of freedom in which a rich “civil society” could grow — all sorts of independent churches and religions, neighborhood groups, clubs, volunteer organizations, trade unions, leagues, charities, foundations and more.
In the founders’ vision of civil society, churches and religious agencies held a special place. They believed religion was essential for democracy to flourish because religion instills the values and virtues people need for self-government.
That’s why the First Amendment protects churches and individuals from the government meddling in what they believe, or in how they express and live out those beliefs. That’s also why the government has always felt comfortable providing funding for Church charities and ministries that serve the common good of all Americans.
What’s been happening in recent decades is that government at all levels has been exerting greater influence in almost every area of American life.
In the process, non-governmental institutions are being crowded out of our public life. Civil society is shrinking and the influence of civic associations in our lives is getting weaker. The rights and freedoms of churches are increasingly restricted by court orders and government policies. Religious freedom is now reduced to the freedom to pray and to go to church.
And more and more, Church agencies are now treated as if they are arms of the government. Increasingly, these agencies are expected to serve and submit to the government’s agendas and priorities.
None of this is good for our democracy or our individual liberties.
America’s founders knew that a strong civil society and flourishing faith communities are our last best protection against tyranny — against the government becoming too big and all-powerful and all-controlling in our lives.
That is why I think this new mandate has struck such a nerve — not only with Catholics and other believers, but also with millions of our fellow citizens.
People are realizing that if the government denies our fundamental freedom to hold religious beliefs and to order our lives according to these beliefs, then there is no real freedom for anyone.
This new mandate moves us closer to what Pope Benedict XVI warned against in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (“God is Love”): “The state which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself … a state which regulates and controls everything.”
These things are worth noting for the sake of truth and justice.
And, sometimes you have more allies than you realize.
The American Catholic Church has, by it own admission, been asking for universal healthcare since the 1920s. Did they really think that would come with no strings?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEven now, The Bishops speaking out against it do not seem as concerned about the moral hazzard it causes ordinary us Catholics as much as they do the problems it will cause their organizations. What about the Catholic employer who has to provide health insurance, with these conditions, for his employees? ....Crickets.
The American Catholic Church has been sleeping in big government's bed for decades. Now, they are shocked, Shocked.
I am a devout Catholic, but come on. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, outside its opposition to so-called gay marriage and abortion, are enablers of the left's agenda. From illegal immigration, universal health care, right on up to "social justice." And now they are shocked, shocked that the beast they feed has come back to bite them. Serves them right. I would like to think this would awaken them. But I doubt it. Although the Archbishop sounds like a conservative in the excerpt above, I doubt his "conversion" will extend past the HHS mandate scuffle.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have to say my recollection is more in line with George Will's. Perhaps it was "under-reported", but where exactly was the outcry from the Catholic Bishops on Obamacare before it passed?
Yes, they are providing good leadership -- now, and on the specific mandate. That's good. But this leadership did not to my knowledge reveal itself in objecting to the Obamacare act that quite obviously was written with this very power to mandate vested in the HHS Secretary.
Again - it's just my recollection, but I thought the general take on it (by the Catholic Church) was support for the Act, and some expectation that waivers and accommodations would of COURSE exempt Catholic institutions and laity from the most egregious requirements while the rest of us would be on our own.
I would very much like to be proved wrong here. Citations to reports in evidence strong leadership prior to this specific contraception mandate (i.e. before August 2011 when I understand it was first published for comments/review) would be nice to have.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHow many Bishops were anguished because they could not get a fig leaf on the life issues that would had permitted them to support Obamacare, the principle of subsidiarity be damned? I'll bet my Bishop was one of them.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCatholicism is not conservatism. I'd be willing to bet that the huge majority of National Review's readers couldn't care less about yet another defense against a perceived slur against the One True Church.
(Where's Tyrrell and his "Find the Fattest Bishop" contest when you need him?)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm a devout Catholic and an apologist for the Faith in matters of the Church's teachings. Nevertheless, I sympathize with Will's point overall. I remember bishops voicing concern for the protection of life in the final version of Obamacare, however, I found them to be myopic in their support of the scheme overall. Any government plan that would be as imposing as Obamacare will, by necessity, entail a larger and more powerful leviathan, capable of doing exactly what is being mandated now. In fact, this is the tip of the iceberg of mandates possible under Obamacare. I completely understand the compassion for the poor, etc. that motivated their desire to see universal health coverage, but given who was seeking this expanded authority (who have a long track record of antipathy towards the Church's life teaching) and the fact that the overall culture isn't universally in agreement with where the Church would like it on life, it was silly to support this plan.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhile I am supportive of the Catholic Church; as well as The Episcopalian Church of the USA, both do not represent their real teachings when it comes to governmental intervention. The hierarchies of both organizations seem to promote the forced charity of governmental intervention.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt would seem that religious organizations that believe in charity, tithing and service to God should be against a government imposed program at least in the USA. As the government has been given more power by us (voting for politicians that promise to take care of us is our fault, as we the people, have given up our power with these actions), religious organizations have seen their donations reduced. While we may see membership increased, we are not seeing a rise in the percentage of gifting to Churches overall. In fact, many Christian denominations are losing membership.
The Church is generally losing influence over parishioners, and the government is gaining. Quite simply, the government is demanding more of our time and resources. So when the Church is supportive of a government run initiative like healthcare, welfare expansion, etc. The Church is ceding it’s role and it’s ability to have influence. WE will become more and more secular.
I'm a Catholic, and I also support Will's point. The bishops have been pushing for "universal health care" for decades, and it didn't occur to them that 1) the folks who will be deciding what "health care" is think that a right to free abortions (to say nothing of contraception) is in the Constitution somewhere; 2) these folks would prefer to send the bill for such things to employers and insurance companies as opposed to the federal government; and 3) they tend to think that organized religion is a a quaint anachronism at best, pernicious nonsense at worst.
The bishops are on the right side of the life issue, but if repealing ObamaCare root and branch is ever on the table, expect them to revert to tearful pleas on behalf of the "poor and marginalized in our society." Easier to advocate that the government take care of them than to do it yourself.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI am a chief defender of the faith, so to speak, but not of the bishops. Their naivety has been appalling. Anyone with half a brain and a little bit of savvy should have seen that supporters of conscience protections would be double crossed. The flock saw it coming, but why didn't the shepherds? Sorry, K-Lo, you are the best, but Will was spot on.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThere are a lot of US bishops, but Will is 100 percent right on this. The overwhelming majority of American bishops, including the most influential, would be delighted to back universal healthcare provided it gave them the desired exemption.
But the flabbiness of the bishops -- and most of the clergy -- on social issues goes far beyond this. They mostly want to go along and get along with powerful politicians, including those who are nominally "Catholic" but support abortion, gay marriage, etc. A half dozen New York bishops could have stopped the recent gay marriage legislation if they worked at it -- but instead, they sent a letter to put themselves on record.
We will know they are serious when they publicly denounce a few of these purported "Catholics" and excommunicate a couple. A good place to start would be with Andrew Cuomo. Soon to be Cardinal Dolan dodges this by the phony device of pretending that
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAndrew is subject to the authority of the Bishop of Albany, who does not have a high media profile, to say the least. But Andrew lives in Westchester -- with his mistress.
KJL wrong, George Will right. KJL, you missed all the Social Justice literature and sermons at mass? Did you miss the annual campaign to raise money for Catholic Campaign for Human Development which is in bed with big government leftists? As a disclaimer I am a regular Sunday mass attending Catholic and yes I hope the Bishops and others who played footsie with the Left for the sake of "Social Justice" has learned a lesson although I doubt that.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMichael K,
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI agree! While attending my parish's 30 week course "JustFaith" I wrestled with the reading assignments as they reminded me of the social justice curriculum I experienced at Notre Dame. It was liberation theology all over again. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development continued to support ACORN until they were exposed as a scam. It took close to 2 years before the Church withdrew its funding. The bishops seem slow to learn these lessons regarding getting in bed with government.
George Will was demonstrably correct in stating that the bishops (in the main) suported "health care reform" and supported it vigorously. A very brief search on Bing revealed the following link: External Link
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFirst full sentence: "The Catholic bishops support health care reform."
Et seq.
Sorry, but George Will is demonstrably correct in stating that the bishops, in the main, were vigorous supporters of "health care reform." A brief search via Bing reveals the following webpage blast from the past: External Link
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseKathryn, you have got to be kidding me!!! Are you even listening at Mass, particularly on Sundays? Parishioners are CONSTANTLY bombarded with liberal based worldviews on nearly EVERY issue of the day from the pulpit, not just this!!! We are also regularly scolded for our conservative beliefs!!
It's finally gotten to the point that I think I'm going to try to create a group of conservative Catholic laity (i.e., the majority of Catholics) to finally call the church for losing its way on this. Apparently you (and all the radio personalities on Relevant Radio) are willfully blinding yourself to reality. Pull your head out of the sand and hear the call. The church isn't perfect, and it has clearly lost its way here!! It is time for the laity to straighten the church out, just like it has had to do so many times in the past.
It is indisputable that the Catholic Church has sided with Democrats on nearly every government expanding issue, aside from abortion and gay marriage, since the New Deal. Read the excellent article Dr. Paul Rahe just wrote this week about this very issue.
External Link
Cliff notes version: Ever since the New Deal, the church has bought into the Progressive's notion that government mandated redistribution of wealth at the point of a gun is akin to charity (clearly it is really tyranny).
I'm getting tired of non-thinking Catholics just blindly following the Marxism polluted current worldview tacitly espoused by the US Catholic Church. Yes, I know that various Pope's have said various things condemning Marxism, Socialism, etc., but I'm talking about how things actually operate day-to-day within the Church here in the USA. God didn't give us brains just so we'd accept everything we're spoon fed -even from the Church. We are called to use our gifts, to think, and to challenge our own beliefs and assumptions about life and the world. And, Kathryn, you need to think a little more deeply about this issue if you believe the Church has no culpability for what is now happening. I've seen this coming for years and frankly, I have to think that the highest leaders of our Church in the US must be completely stupid to have not known that the socialists they love so much, never really liked them at all, and were always eventually going to turn on them like they ALWAYS do. Wake up and use the faculties God has given you to discern the truth and speak out when the Church goes wrong. It may not go astray often, but it clearly has here.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"It's finally gotten to the point that I think I'm going to try to create a group of conservative Catholic laity (i.e., the majority of Catholics) to finally call the church for losing its way on this.'
Count me in!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe danger of the State can be summed up simply:
Government is run by politicians. So to trust big Government, you need to trust politicians.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse