By LAWRENCE P. GRAYSON
Our nation was established by people who desired freedom — freedom in both their private and public lives, freedom in their homes, churches, enterprises, and associations. They wanted a person’s conscience to be held inviolable so that individuals could freely express themselves on political and social matters and worship the Almighty as they choose. The genius of the Founders lies in the basis they pronounced for that freedom.
In the England they had left, liberties and rights were granted by the king and a parliament. In the France they knew so well, liberties and rights were rooted in the will of the majority of the populace and set forth in a constitution. But views can change and constitutions altered. If a king or a parliament or a majority of the people can grant rights, they can also take them away.
In America, the Founders recognized that certain rights are inherent in the very nature of man, in the sacredness of the human psyche, independent of any state, government, or dictator. These rights are God-given and not subject to any human power. They may be infringed upon by a state, abused by a government, encroached upon by a tyrant, but they cannot be taken away.
It was made explicit in the Declaration of Independence that “all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” On this basis, the Founders created a distinctly unique government, one valuing pre-existing rights granted by a transcendental power.
This is the core of the original Americanism, that man as a creature of God is free to be his own master, free in his conscience, free to pursue his ultimate end. As the Declaration of Independence further states: “to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.” Thus, government’s primary purpose is to protect pre-existing rights, not to create or dispense them. Its authority to act resides in the will of the people.
A government of, by, and for the people, as in the United States, requires public goodness, an ethic among the citizenry that they will govern themselves by virtuous norms so that public office will not be used for personal gain and views of the minority will be respected.
Religion plays a large role in nurturing public virtue. George Washington expressed this clearly in his Farewell Address, when he warned that “reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
That essence of Americanism is also found in Catholic social teaching: that man is made in the image and likeness of God, and as such has an innate dignity worthy of respect. As that dignity comes from God, the person has certain intrinsic rights to personal liberty, freedom of conscience, and basic economic well-being. Indeed, this understanding is common to the beliefs of all of Christianity. Americanism, as understood above, may be considered a political expression of Christian doctrine regarding man.
As such, the church and the state have distinct, but complementary functions in promoting public virtue.
The church through its teachings develops the moral character of the people, while the state is to create an environment within which religion can flourish and carry out its teaching mission.
If religion is so important to self-government, why is our nation today more anti-religious than at any time in its history? To a significant extent, it is because too many Christians — and Catholics in particular — have distanced themselves from the teachings of their faith. They have been secularized and have diluted their religious beliefs in pursuit of worldly prosperity, acclaim, and social acceptability.
When one professes to be Catholic, the person states that he adheres to a body of dogma dating back two thousand years and lives his life by it. The Church’s teachings, including those on societally controversial matters such as abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage, must influence a Catholic’s public posture and decisions. Without adhering to the unchanging beliefs about God, man’s purpose in the world, how he should live his life, and his ultimate end, a claim to be Catholic is hollow and may indicate a cultural or social affiliation and not communion with the Church.
The lack of adherence to — or lack of knowledge of — the tenets of Christianity is so widespread that we may be approaching an unexplored, perilous social condition. Pope Benedict XVI described the challenge in today’s secular world, writing: “[O]ur century has been characterized by an entirely new phenomenon: the appearance of a people incapable of relating to God…our distance from God — the obscurity and dubiousness surrounding Him today — is greater than ever before.”
If left unaddressed, the ignorance of the faith among the laity will continue to grow, and lead to an increasing exclusion of Catholic truths from public affairs and to a decline in the values that underlie this nation. If human dignity and liberty come from God, then the loss of faith in God will lead to a loss of belief in the unalienable nature of those liberties and rights which derive from Him.
There must be a resurgence of the faith among Catholics in America. There must be a new evangelization, an education about what it means to be Catholic. This requires an effort at every level of responsibility. The bishops as stewards of the faith, and priests as leaders of the local parishes, must ensure that the laity are appropriately educated and form proper consciences, so that they can lead lives in conformity with the faith.
Parents must improve their own knowledge and behavior so they can pass the faith to their children. And it is the duty of all of us to take action in our public and private lives to change society for the better. A Catholic population, stoutly embracing the teachings of their faith, could have a serious leavening effect on American life.
+ + +
(The author is a visiting scholar in The School of Philosophy, The Catholic University of America.)
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress