May 19, 2004
SEPARATING CHURCH AND STATE? GOOD LUCK!
There's no surer way to start an argument then to talk about religion AND politics, and in the America we live in today, the two are never all that far apart. As most have already heard, same-sex marriages began this week in Massachusetts. But what you probably haven't heard much about is the fact that during the first week of May, Colorado Springs' Roman Catholic Bishop, Michael Sheridan, sent a letter to Catholic voters stating that candidates running for public office, and voters too, who support positions contrary to Catholic teachingónamely, same-sex marriage, abortion, euthanasia, and stem cell researchómay not receive Communion until they've recanted their positions.
Forty-four years ago, John Kennedy's Catholicism was a campaign issue. The fear on the part of some voters was that he would somehow be a puppet of the Vatican. Now, decades later, some in the Catholic community are saying that John Kerry cannot receive Communion because he favors abortion rights... the criticism being, of course, that he's not Catholic enough.
The separation of church and state may be a legal issue, but for many voters there is no such separation. Itís almost taken as a given, isnít it, that the evangelical communityówith itís broad agreement with the President on social and faith-related issuesóunanimously favors the Republican Party. (This is not, by the way, a new occurrence, nor is it exclusively a Republican characteristic. Jimmy Carter, you may recall, was quite open about his religious beliefs, which seemed to sooth the hearts and minds of the many millions of voters who put him into office back in 1977, and Carter was a Democrat.)
On the legal/state side of things, with the State of Massachusetts now issuing licenses to allow same-sex couples to marry, there appear to be huge church- AND state-related issues lying in wait. What happens if couples move out of state, or if a state constitutional amendment is passed in a couple of years, banning same-sex marriages? What about employees of companies based outside of Massachusetts, and all the complications involved there. It's going to be very complicated once all of the hoopla of the first couple of months dies down. But this is also a political issue. President Bush and candidate Kerry do not necessarily disagree all that much on the issue of same-sex marriages, but the Republican Party will surely use this issue to paint Kerry, and Massachusetts, as being too liberal and out of sync with the rest of the country.
And on the church side of things, you've got this highly respected figure out in Colorado declaring that any voter who votes for a politician who supports abortion rights or same-sex marriage should not be allowed to take communion. This, quite frankly, may be one of the most aggressive forays into the political world by a religious figure in a very long time. Will this dissuade voters, and will it affect the election? Singularly, probably not, but what if other respected pious leaders from across the country choose to take the same position in the months leading up to the election? Is it appropriate for a religious figure to, in essence, endorse the positions of one politician over another, or of one party over the other? Will voters, and churchgoers, pay attention? Iím hoping not. In what promises to be a very tight race for the presidency, gays and evangelicals alike are certain to play an increasingly important and vocal role in the process, as they should; but the media attention, I fear, is going to be ridiculously overboard.
Posted by Mikal at May 19, 2004 4:58 AM
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This is a very interesting argument with the Catholic Church. I myself being Catholic, and of the younger generation (20 somethings), I want to express an opinion that comes from my age group. Coincidently I am getting married this year. My fiancÈ comes from a "cradle Catholic" family and I on the other hand converted to Catholicism several years ago. After several phone calls and Church visits with priests, my fiancÈ and I decided to not marry in the Catholic Church. This was a very difficult decision due to his family background. Each call we made, the priest interrogated us of our faith... never once saying congratulations or showing any interest that we wanted to marry in the Church. Our reasons were very obvious: the Catholic Church does not care about the younger generation. They do not cater in any form to the younger generation nor do they care to try. Have you been to mass lately? Look around and listen to the format... they do not grab our attention or even get involved with their younger society. It seems they have no interest in their younger parishioners whom will eventually carry their own family and (money) into the Church. Instead they focus on the older community who still carries very strong "Traditional Catholic" values. Todayís generation are not Traditional. They wonder why the younger generations are not choosing to be priests and nuns...because they do NOTHING to create an atmosphere to "recruit" younger parishioners or possible candidates for priesthood. They show no interest in us and our experiences. It doesn't help them this day in age with an ever changing society for the Church to begin threatening our faith in terms of our freedom to vote, and how we will make our day to day choices. Unfortunately I believe the Catholic Church is headed for a downward spiral because unfortunately the younger generation is their bread and butter of today. In my conversations with my fiancÈ and other younger Catholic's, the overall feeling of the Church has not been pleasant. We are beginning to feel disconnected from the Church due to the numerous scandals: priests having sex/molesting children, yet able to continue on in the Church, their strong involvement with politics, lack of involvement with their younger parishioners, are only some.
This makes it difficult for a person considering the Catholic faith, whether it be as a follower or as a priest/nun to really want to make that commitment. Who is the Catholic Church, after EVERYTHING, to pass judgment on to their followers?
