Some thoughts today, as a postscript to yesterday’s post...
Anyone who supports, or even tolerates, abortion will support or tolerate any evil.
I’ve believed this for years, ever since the U. S. Supreme Court permitted abortion in 1973. Abortion is the linchpin, the key that provides us with a clear understanding of the true motivation behind all the policies of the left. Without it, these motivations would be muddied. But because the left, including almost the entire Democrat Party, supports and encourages the unlimited slaughter of innocent unborn children, we can confidently identify why they do what they do. Because they support abortion, we know that human life means absolutely nothing to them. How could it? Their only concern, their one, overriding motivation is power. They will do whatever is necessary to gain and maintain political power.
Many bishops have long praised the Democrats for their seeming support of refugees, immigrants, minorities, the poor. But they fail to understand that these Democrat policies do not stem from an altruistic concern for these unfortunates. The left doesn’t give a damn about the lives of others. Remember, if they support the murder of innocent children in the womb, they will support anything. To the left, refugees, immigrants, minorities, and the poor represent only one thing: votes, the means to power. Just consider the many programs of the "war on poverty." They did little to eliminate poverty, but did much to ensure a perpetual underclass dependent on the government. And for whom do they vote? Guess.
Once the left gains power and controls the instruments needed to wield it — the courts, the mass of federal agencies, the military, the police, etc. — the voters become meaningless, as does the Constitution, a mere scrap of paper. One recalls when President Obama said the Constitution mostly "says what the states can't do to you...what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn't say what the federal government or sate government must do on your behalf." Uh, Mr. President, that's because the Constitution is all about liberty, about the freedom to conduct one's own life without government interference.
If one wants to see what unconstitutional governments decide they "must do," look at the former Soviet Union, Communist China, Cambodia, Cuba, North Korea, and every other “socialist paradise” in which leftist leaders, once they gained power, focused on the elimination of those among their own people who opposed them. It’s all about power, folks.
Sadly, few politicians are immune. Too many Republicans, folks like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham, who have been in Washington forever, are just as guilty. They might not be leftist ideologues, but they thrive on the power and the perks that come with the territory.
If yesterday’s elections in Georgia turn out as expected and hand the Democrats both congressional and executive power, and if history is any guide, the party’s leadership will move quickly to consolidate that power. We can expect moves to neutralize the power of the Supreme Court, to eliminate the filibuster and other legislative obstacles, to disarm the people through prohibitive “gun control,” to assign new, supportive civilian and military leadership in the Department of Defense, and to create a quick path to citizenship (and voting rights) for immigrants who have entered the country illegally, and so much more. Will a “moderate” President Joe Biden resist these power moves? That remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t count on it. How does the old saw go? He who hesitates is lost. Gained power means little if it is not retained.
To consolidate their power the left must confront and overcome many obstacles, among them Christianity, specifically the Catholic Church. Because it is so fragmented, Protestantism is likely seen as a less serious threat. The belief is that it can be dealt with piecemeal, one denomination at a time. That, of course, might not be so easy. After all, the Holy Spirit moves where He wills. But the Catholic Church is big. It's worldwide. It has a hierarchy and an authoritative center. Of course, in the past the left never really took the Church all that seriously. How did Stalin put it when told of the Pope’s concerns? “The Pope? How many divisions has he?” Yes, indeed, it was all about power, the application of pure physical power. But things changed in the 1980s, as shown by the personal alliance between Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II. The communists learned that political and military power, when united with spiritual power, could be a formidable enemy, one that almost put them out of business.
Admittedly, because of the abuse scandals, abetted by the weakness of so many bishops, the Church has lost much of its influence, even among Catholics. Not too many years ago, when a bishop spoke, people listened. Today too few listen and many don’t even know he has spoken. To this we can add decades of weak catechesis in which the Truth was hidden from the faithful, buried beneath layers of psychobabble and secular argot. And so, today, we encounter a Church almost as divided as the nation.
What the Church and the world need today are courageous bishops willing to set an example for the faithful, bishops willing to sacrifice position and reputation, even their lives, to uphold the Truth. We need bishops willing to take meaningful action against Catholic politicians who publicly embrace evil. We need bishops willing to be faithful witnesses to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whatever the opposition.
Recall those of the last century who did just that and confronted the evils of both fascism and communism. Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary, Blessed Aloysius Stepinac of Yugoslavia, Blessed Vasile Aftenie of Romania, and so many others, including thousands of priests, religious, and faithful laypeople, who sacrificed their freedom and their lives for the Catholic Faith. They knew that on their own they could do nothing, but with God all things are possible.
As Diane recently reminded me, maybe it will be the faithful, the Body of Christ, that will do the leading and shame the bishops into doing what Christ asks of them.
