What the hell dont you understand about the term separation of Church and State. Keep your evil hands off of our Health Care Bill. Mind your own business. We dont care about your beliefs, and if you want to meddle in our affairs, we will be coming for you. If thats how you want to play, we will come for your pedophile priests, your ill-gotten money you stole for decades. The Catholic church is just another organized crime syndicate that should be put out of business. Get the fk away from Congress, or you will regret it .
Thats a real e-mail from a real person. The man who sent it last week was either very candid or very foolish about his anger: he added his real name and e-mail address. Ive withheld them here because I like to hope that most people, or at least many of them, are better than the poisonous things they sometimes write. But this e-mail does teach a useful lesson, because its not just a case of a random bigot getting in touch with his inner bully. Instead, its a snapshot of the anti-Catholic bitterness that drives some of the loudest voices in the current health-care debate.
Lets remember that the Founders encouraged an active role for religion in the nations public life. Lets recall that freedom of speech for Catholics, their leaders and their Church is constitutionally protected, just as it is for all citizens. Lets also finally remember that Catholic-baiting is one of Americas oldest and most favored forms of hatred. The irony is that some of todays ugliest bigots posture themselves as socially progressive and work in politics or the mass media, or both.
Catholics entered this years national health-care discussion with good will and a long track record of public service. Catholic medical care is a national network. Most Catholics, as part of their Christian faith, see decent health care for all persons as a social obligation. Theyre eager for some form of good health-industry reform. But reform isnt a magic word. It isnt an end in itself. The content of the reform matters vitally.
For months Catholic leaders have worked vigorously with congressional and White House staff to craft sound health-care reform legislation. Service to the poor, the sick and the suffering is part of the Churchs Gospel vocation. The bill passed by the House on Nov. 7 was a step toward a goal that is shared, in principle, by most Catholics. Like most bills, it was a mixed success. Critics argue that it lacks adequate conscience protections; that its penalties are extreme and largely unknown to the public; that its too complex; that it violates the Catholic principle of subsidiarity; and that its financially damaging and unsustainable.
These concerns are serious; they demand our reflection. There is nothing mandatory for faithful Catholics about supporting or opposing this legislation in its current form. Thats a matter for personal decision. But the House bill does seek to address the health-care crisis in a comprehensive manner; and it does at least, so farmeet a minimum moral standard that makes Catholic support possible.
Those two words, so far, bring us back to the point of this column. The House health-care billthe Senate will now develop its own versionmeets the minimum threshold for Catholic support for one simple reason: Catholic pressure forced abortion and abortion funding out of the legislation. Abortion has nothing to do with advancing human health. Abortion and public funding for abortion, no matter how discreetly its hidden, have no place in any genuine health-care reform. This has been a key moral principle for Catholics every step of the way in the health-care discussion. With Roe v. Wade likely to be secure under this president, excluding abortion and its funding from reform legislation would be a modest, sensible compromise for pro-choicers. It might prove that something like common ground on abortion policy really is achievable in a Washington that describes itself as post-partisan.
Instead, the opposite has happened. The abortion-driven anger dumped on Catholic beliefs, leaders and the Church at large since Nov. 7 would make the Know-Nothing bigots of the last century proud. Weve seen it from members of Congress, the news media, the abortion industry, and sad, deluded people stuck in their rage like the man quoted at the beginning of these remarks.
Heres the moral of the story: Catholic witness has a cost. When were willing to pay it, we prove who we are as disciplesand the nation benefits. When were not, lifes a lot more comfortable. But that was never the point of the Gospel.