Thursday 28th March 2024

Home » Frontpage » Currently Reading:

Identity Politics And Religious Liberties

January 31, 2019 Frontpage No Comments

By MIKE MANNO

For many orthodox Catholics, like myself, and a good number of sincere followers of other faiths, the issue of religious liberty and conscience rights are the bedrock principles upon which we build our political ideology. Other issues, while important, we look at with varying degrees of interest. But for those of us who feel as I do, religious liberty and rights of conscience are the sine qua non of liberty itself.
Thus, much of my public expression has focused on protecting and defending those rights, and in many cases, warning about infringements on them. My earliest contributions to The Wanderer in the early 2000s, as well as numerous freelance articles and op-eds, and now a weekly column have mostly centered on those issues. Six years ago, on Iowa Catholic Radio, I began a weekly radio program, Faith on Trial, which was dedicated to these same concerns. That program ran for four years and there was talk of syndication, when the bishop pulled the plug on it.
On the show we had guests from all faiths, clergy and lay, as well as some of the most nationally prominent attorneys who were in the courts every day defending freedom of conscience and religious liberty across the land.
Of course we discussed other issues, such as abortion, assisted suicide, free speech on campus, and the like, but in the final analysis almost every one boiled down to an issue with someone’s religious freedom or right of conscience.
When that program started, the station manager asked if there was enough material for a half-hour program. I assured him there was, and by the time the station was told to terminate the program, it had been expanded to an hour and was given a prime slot every Tuesday morning (and replayed that night), making it one of the station’s most popular local programs.
But in all that time I have dealt with these issues, I have struggled to find a reason — a logical reason — why these core freedoms have come under such public disdain that they almost seem to be teetering like a baby trying to maintain its balance while taking its first few steps.
I did, however, run across an explanation, one that had me wondering why I had not thought of it. It was given by Notre Dame Law Professor Gerard V. Bradley in remarks to The Heritage Foundation last November, and published this month by Heritage.
Professor Bradley noted that religious liberty in America, while originally rooted in a Protestant culture, was elastic enough to eventually embrace Catholicism as well as Judaism to become what he termed a “tri-faith” into what is now called the “Judeo-Christian” tradition which represented a melding of biblical religions.
There were, of course, many religious outliers who either distrusted mainstream religion or rejected a concept of a Supreme Being altogether. Yet these outliers, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who believed in no human government, were still accorded the religious and conscience protection when their children refused to take part in the Pledge of Allegiance often in violation of state laws.
Additionally, this religious freedom was extended to people who belonged to no particular religion. The Supreme Court ruled that conscientious objector status (United States v. Seeger) did not require that the objector have any religious affiliation, but only that he sincerely held his opinion; it also ruled (Illinois v. Frazee) that an objection to working on Sunday could be held has a legitimate religious belief in an unemployment context, even though the claimant did not attend church.
These religious freedoms were thus given broad protection by the courts and society in general. “Each of these encounters left its mark,” writes the professor. “Religious liberty changed and grew stronger and more inclusive, even as America experienced, in addition to all the challenges just described, profound secularization through the whole twentieth century. Religious liberty weathered that challenge, too, providing itself a most resilient ‘first freedom’.”
So what changed? According to Professor Bradley it was identity politics. “For the first time in American history, it recently became respectable to publicly oppose religious liberty and its supreme value in our policy. This unprecedented turn is ominous. It will not only diminish our constitutional law. It will remap our common life, for religious liberty has always been a strategic linchpin of our political culture.”
While Americans in the past have opposed particular religious claims, such as Mormon belief in polygamy, most opposition has dealt with opposition to a specific activity, or prejudice against a religious minority. But what is happening now is a wholesale hostility to religion.
The reason, the professor opines, is the rise of identity politics, of which the sexual revolution plays no small part. In defense of his assertion, he lists three examples:
The first he labels “self-understanding”; in it, the claim against religious freedom is made by a person self-identifying as a member of a supposedly vulnerable group. Thus, as in the cases of bakers refusing to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony, the baker’s refusal is cited as discrimination against a homosexual customer because of his sexual orientation, not because the baker has an objection to celebrating a same-sex wedding.
The same is claimed against the teenager who refuses to disrobe in a locker room in the presence of a member of the opposite sex; or the religious entity, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, who refuse to distribute contraceptives. They are all accused of demeaning the other person’s self-understanding.
He cited, as a glaring judicial adoption of this, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, wherein she noted that the baker’s decision not to make a cake was not due to an offensive message, but because of the sexual orientation of the customers, opining that if the complaints’ were not gay, the baker would have baked the cake.
The second reason he labels “imprimatur,” which simply is the belief that where a court or public agency recognizes the religious liberty of the baker, it must follow that the government has placed its imprimatur on the “unjust discrimination.” Of course, as he suggests, “No one ever suggested that, when the Jehovah’s Witnesses won the right not to salute the flag, the Court was endorsing their denial. . . . Lawmakers who recognize Amish claims about limited schooling do not thereby ratify Old Order Anabaptist beliefs.”
He continues, “This claim about ‘imprimaturs’ is jerry-rigged to make the facts of these cases fit an identity politics morality tale.”
His third reason is styled “dignitary harm.” “The idea seems to be that when one is refused a service due to the provider’s moral qualms about activities of yours that you are inviting him to participate in or assist, one’s person or identity is ‘demeaned,’ and ones ‘dignity’ is attacked.”
The concept here is one we’ve discussed before that we’ve identified as micro-aggression, where an individual perceives an insult to his character which he claims humiliates or demeans him without regard to the actual motivation of the other. “We are securely in the realm of identity politics, where self-esteem — at least for those who happen to be in favor — rules the day,” he writes.
He concludes, “The appeals of aggrieved sexual minorities are, to be sure, very powerful these days. But even they could not threaten religious liberty if identity politics had not already infiltrated, and hollowed out, religious liberty itself. Before sexual identity could emerge as the colossus it is, religion had to be reduced from a set of beliefs and truth-claims about the way the cosmos really is, to nothing more than one’s singular expression of ineffable spiritual experiences and/or of the collective identity of one’s religious tribe….
“Indeed, only after the public realm was secularized and religion thus privatized and in the private sphere treated as just one of many possible sources of personal ‘identity’ could American religious liberty be so threatened by rival claims — in fact, demands — of others to define themselves sexually, and to do so without having to endure moral criticism by others.”
In short, what I think the professor is pointing out, is that the societal secularization we have been seeing in our culture has inflated the concept of selfness equal to or even more sacred than the concepts of religious freedom and conscience rights.
A review of the latest conflicts in this area, I think, will confirm this observation. In the case of the bakers, for example, the initial reaction omits any reference to the baker’s conscience rights, but only about the complaining party’s identity as a gay person. The long and the short of this is that if the customer was not gay, but trying to purchase a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding, the order would still have been refused.
The same could be said about the high school sophomore who doesn’t want to use the same locker room as her male classmate. He claims he is being disrespected and demeaned by her attitude while she only wants privacy.
Our last administration, and some courts, however, had taken the side of the gender-confused boy. His rights, unfortunately, must be considered superior to her modesty, which is often considered not only inferior, but sometimes illegitimate.
Professor Bradley has drawn a pretty clear line in the sand. There is more to be put on the other side if it, but this was an insightful presentation.
(Mike can be reached at: DeaconMike@q.com.)

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Abortion Advocates No Longer Consider It “A Necessary Evil,” They Celebrate Killing Babies

Last week, Kamala Harris became the first vice president in U.S. history to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Though the Democratic party’s support for abortion is nothing new, Harris’ Planned Parenthood appearance does illustrate how that support has become a flagrant celebration of abortion as a public and personal good, essential to both “freedom” and to “healthcare.” At the appearance, Harris proclaimed,  It is only right and fair that people have access…Continue Reading

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

Walgreens and CVS Will Start Selling Abortion Pills That Kill Babies

The two largest pharmacies in America will start selling abortion pills this month that end the lives of unborn children by starting them to death. Walgreens and CVS will both sell the abortion pills despite the fact that they kill a developing human being and have killed at least dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more. They plan to initially roll out abortion drug sales in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California…Continue Reading

Cardinal Burke announces novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Raymond Cardinal Burke has announced the start of a global, nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, calling on Catholics to beseech Mary’s intercession on the Church and the world in the face of the “crises of our age.” In a new endeavour published online over the weekend, Cardinal Burke announced a novena beginning in March, and culminating on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

Texas attorney general targets Catholic nonprofit, alleges it facilitates illegal immigration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 21:15 pm Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down a Catholic nonprofit organization in El Paso based on allegations that the group may be facilitating illegal immigration, harboring immigrants who entered the country illegally, and engaging in human smuggling.  Paxton filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Annunciation House, which has operated in the state for nearly 50 years. The lawsuit asks the District Court of El Paso…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)