I have slowly worked my way back into using social networking. I have used it as an observational tool with occasionally adding to the overall din. I find Twitter to be overwhelmingly divided and at times filled with anger and vitriol. I have found the same with Facebook, but must admit that I miss saying "hi" to the few people I want to see updates about. I actually went on Facebook yesterday to catch up and post a few pictures of my daughter. As I looked around after a three month hiatus, I realized that I did not miss it much. It does not change. A lot of my friends bicker and argue politics and religion and the rest share funny, inspiring, or family oriented updates. I am about the latter right now when I go on Facebook.
There can be no question that our country is deeply divided by its understanding of nationalistic pursuits. We have been on a collision course since the Sexual Revolution and beyond. The 1960s and subsequent Roe decision in 1973 deeply divided and wounded our country. Wars, unemployment, shifting social norms, and terrorism have only further divided a country that seems to have lost its identity. The religion of secularism has set us adrift and somewhere on the horizon is an iceberg that will either sink us or help us to change course. Do not misunderstand me, I am not supporting a theocracy. The Church needs to be protected from the state and the state needs to remain pluralistic.
This sounds bleak and quite frankly, right now, it is. As I watch the anger escalate on both sides, I see that this cannot possibly end well, especially knowing about the Fallen nature of humanity. The Civil Rights movement did not go peacefully, and I suspect, the abortion and conscience issues, which I believe to be the Civil Rights issues of our day, will also come to a head. It would not be the first time that sex led to a war. I, myself, have been having a change of heart about the war on terror. I am starting to see how our reaction and subsequent military endeavors have deeply wounded the Body of Christ, Christianity, our country, and the world.
I think the mistake that people are making is in thinking that this war is about Christianity versus Islam. It isn't. The U.S. does not look like a Christian nation from the outside. We are a deeply secular country. In fact, we have abandoned Christianity, for secularism. While our country had Christian ideals at the founding, rugged individualism, freedom is about me, is not in line with Christ's teaching. Freedom is the ability to do what we ought to as Blessed John Paul II reiterated. The ability to practice the virtues and rise up above our Fallen inclinations.
Let's take a moment and ponder what we look like to the rest of the world within the construct of our two party system. I have spent the majority of my political life as a conservative and the intrinsic evil of abortion forbids me for voting for a pro-choice candidate i.e. Democrat and the rare Republican. However, I would not consider myself a hardcore conservative anymore. In fact, I am just a Catholic living in this country. I am deeply grateful to live in this nation, but I do not have a deep seated party affiliation.
How does the world see Republicans? Unfortunately, I believe that they are seen as war-mongering, capitalist, gun-clinging, and fundamentalist Christian. While I think that Obama's description of conservatives in the last election was spiteful, I do believe that is how the Republican party is seen in many parts of the world. Like Islamic fundamentalists, many Christians are touting the banner of the Crusades in the war on terror. A very ignorant understanding of the Crusades pervades our culture on both sides: Christian and non-Christian. They are using their version of Christ to beat over the head another faith, and Islamists is doing the same thing with their version of Islam.
I think that it is time we as Christians come to terms with our violent past. Secularists in this country use it against us constantly and by claiming that we are fighting for God is blatantly arrogant and un-Christian. Christianity has murdered thousands upon thousands in the name of religion. While I think that the Crusades are largely misunderstood in this country, there was Muslim aggression involved and defense of country, it is ridiculous to claim violence as morally superior ground, especially in light of Christ's radical call to non-violence. That does not mean that war is never justified. There are times when war is the only option. That is why the Church believes in just war, it just happens that both popes in the last decade have condemned the war on terror. It also does not mean that we should abandon our military. It is an obligation and duty to defend our country. Our military must modernize and remain in a position to secure our country. I am proud to have served in our military. The same is true for guns. We have a right to defend ourselves, our families, and to hunt. My husband hunts to put food on our table just like so many families in this country and abroad.
That leads me to my next point about the conservative position. We have a tendency to place nationalism before our Christian faith. We try to fit our Christianity into the confines of our patriotism. Love and loyalty of country are fine, as long as they fit into Christ's message. Many, including myself (I was in the Navy at the time), largely ignored John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI's condemnation of the war on terror. It is an area that we are allowed to disagree with the Pope on since it neither spoke in an infallible capacity (unlike contraception, abortion, divorce, gay "marriage" which so many Catholics miss). But here is a thought, what does the Holy Father realize that I do not? Why would both popes in the last decade condemn the war? Am I really so much more aware of Christ in our midst than the Holy Father that I know better than him? Talk about a moment of humility for me when I started to think about it. It is time that we Christians put Christ first and then our politics.
I think that Republicans are also represented as the dog eat dog Capitalists. This is categorically false because Democrats are just as involved in our economy and worship at the altars of consumerism and materialism. I am a big fan of the free market. I do not think the government should be meddling in economic affairs as much as they do. However, I am against the idea of ultimate capitalism, and here's a little secret, so is the Catholic Church. The Church believes that an economy that promotes economic security, individual growth and achievement, and competition is a good thing, but it does not support a system that uses people as pawns and removes their humanity and dignity for profit. The Church does not support ultimate capitalism anymore than it supports socialism.
This leads me to the Democrats. The fact is that everything that I said about Republicans can be applied to Democrats as well. The obvious issue that much of the world has with the Democrats is their nihilistic approach to social issues. While people are always bashing the Catholic Church for being against gay "marriage", they forget that the majority of the world's religions are against it. The majority also support traditional marriage and are opposed to divorce and our version of marriage in this country. This is not to judge, it is to merely point out what a lot of people see when they look at our country, broken homes and violence. I have posted earlier that the Democratic Party's overpopulation foreign aid is damaging other countries as well. Instead of giving them the food and medicine they really need we are handing them condoms. We are not being altruistic in our foreign aid and to a certain extent, we use it to make sure that people do not rise above us.
It also should come as no surprise that Democrats use our military might just as much as Republicans. The war on terror has expanded to many more nations under the current Administration and he has found Guantanamo Bay to be just as useful as the Bush era. Quite frankly, people who see the Democrats as the party of peace are just deluding themselves. Neither party is interested in peace in the truest sense. Both parties want to preserve American dominance through force, but do it in different ways. Bush was blunt about his plans while Obama says one thing to their faces and wages war in the background, which is reminiscent of Clinton.
This war is not about Christianity and Islam. This war is about secularism. I think that some Islamic extremists see the rotting of secularism and our understanding of freedom and are afraid that it will come to their nations. What is the number one way that people learn about our culture around the world? The television. What kind of garbage are we sending out to the world? The Real Housewives of Orange County, Glee, CSI, and Jersey Shore. If I was living in another country I would seriously question what this country stands for and that is what other cultures are doing. It looks like an obsession with dysfunction, voyeurism, violence, and sex. I find it very unfortunate and evil that violence was the chosen method for questioning all that we apparently hold dear. I also find it unfortunate that we are now in what feels like a never-ending cycle of violence.
This change in me and my understanding has been a long time coming. As a 9-11 relief worker my immediate response was retaliation; vengeance if you will. St. Thomas Aquinas said that "anger is the immoderate desire for vengeance." How did we respond to 9-11? In a desire for justice and to right a wrong or out of vengeance? I am starting to see that it is the latter. I saw that when Osama bin Laden was killed. It is time we are honest with ourselves and ask the hard questions. What really would cause another group of people to carry out such an heinous act? What kind of wound results in a violent response? How do we appear to the rest of the world? That does not mean that we deserved the attack, never. It means that it is time for us to consider how and why people hate us so much. We are not perfect and we are not the moral beacon that we convince ourselves we are in all things. The why matters, especially as Christians.
The honest truth is that there is not much difference between your average Republican and Democrat. The reality of the situation necessitates a lot of nose plugging when we go to the ballot box. As Catholics, it is abortion, not the war on terror, healthcare, welfare etc. that are the supreme issues. It is the murder of 53 million and counting innocent children that supersedes all. Another way we are represented to the world. As the harbingers of infanticide. Abortion is the ultimate issue of our day and that is what the Church teaches whether we want to hear it or not. We must also remember that Jesus Christ is not a liberal or conservative. He is not a Republican or Democrat. I have seen books invoking both and they make me shake my head. God is not me and he is not you. That means that he is not our political philosophy either. He is so much bigger. So it is time to stop invoking God as our supporter in the realm of politics and to limit Him. Do we have moral obligations when we vote? Absolutely. Do we have a duty to vote? Yes!
Civic organizations, political affiliation, causes, and charitable groups are a great thing to be a part of and support. We should be involved in those groups. They bind us together as humans, help us to serve others, and keep our country going. Let's just not delude ourselves into thinking that those groups are without sin and that God supports everything that we do in those organizations. God is not represented by our civic organizations. We cannot make Him that small. God is present in each member, whether they believe in God or not. We must focus on seeing the Christ in one another.
Where does that leave us? I believe in what Alexis de Toqcueville said, "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." It is time to repair those faults.
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