by Shaun Kenney

Let’s face it.  It’s tough being a Catholic in today’s political climate.

While traditionally in the parliamentary West there have been outlets for a Catholic polity, the American system of governance gives the Catholic voter a one-two punch.

Not only do Catholic ideas struggle in a predominantly Protestant and now virtually laicized culture, the major parties — and their respective ideologies — command such loyalty that often party affiliation meets the caricature religious affiliation used to require.  Secondly, the requirements for regimentation within party structures are so rigid, that room for distinction or nuance bleeds away quickly.

How, then, can a Catholic remain true to their faith?  Republicans such as Glenn Beck attack the very nature of social justice.  Democrats fare no better, forgetting that all social justice begins with the right to exist.  No third party in America represents the Catholic voter.  Is a Catholic left to compromise their faith for the sake of an ideological fanaticism?

The concept of “political religions” isn’t a new one, and as author Michael Burleigh has pointed out, this a problem which has dramatically affected the West since the French Revolution.

Rattle off the political -isms that have commanded both loyalties and armies over the last 200 years.  At first, it was the nebulous idea of “revolution” swiftly followed by nationalism, militarism, and monarchism.  Parliamentarism attempted to mitigate these effects, but in turn was swallowed up by secularism, colonialism, liberalism, Whiggism, romanticism, toryism, modernism, terrorism, distributism, anarchism, socialism, conservatism, corporatism, libertarianism, progressivism, fascism, and National Socialism.

In turn these -isms were beaten back, sometimes individually, sometimes collectively.  In the end, the Cold War offered two true alternatives — democracy or communism, with the latter dissolving as a serious threat in the later 20th century.

The race for political religions is appalling at best.  Imagine all the hatred modern historians heap upon the religious conflicts such as the Thirty Years’ War or the Crusades.  Where is such disdain reserved for the First World War, which consumed 20 million lives?  Or the Second World War, which consumed 50 million?  The Napoleonic Wars with a death total of 6 million?  What of the race for colonial empire, which left ghastly untold millions to be exploited and crushed?

Worse, what has been left in the wake of these wars?  How many bush wars, guerilla uprisings, separatist movements, terrorist acts, and so forth have been left in the wake of these empty political religions?

Is there a single one that has delivered on any promise but pain, hunger, disease, and disaster?

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Corrupting Your Faith (The Easy Way)

Religion in the public square gets a bum rap.  Believe in any other -ism you please, just don’t make that -ism Catholicism!  Right?

This isn’t to say that Catholics should boil down their faith to place it on par with political ideologies.  Catholics should be very keen to remember that we live a faith, profess a faith, and defend a faith.

Such a distinction is something our adversaries cannot claim, but constantly try to corrupt.  You hear of ‘progressive’ Catholics, or ‘conservative’ Catholics, or ‘traditional’ Catholics.  Note the emphasis even when it’s read — once again the -ism attempts to suffocate the very identity of Catholic.

It was not always this way.  For years, the Democratic Party was not only a natural home for the Catholic immigrants pouring into the United States, critics routinely attacked it for being the breeding ground for “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.”

When the traditional toast of “God bless the two greatest institutions on earth: the Democratic Party and the Roman Catholic Church!” was offered, the usual retort (and I’d like to think it was from the more Irish participants) was “And what is the second one?!”

Those days where the Catholic polity was a bloc not to be ignored long since disappeared.  Abortion and the commitment to social justice, as well as the increasing size and sophistication of government in the middle to late 20th century, forced Catholics to ask tougher questions about what they truly believed.

Naturally, a split was bound to occur — and did.

Unfortunately, it has been very difficult for Catholics to excise themselves from modern American life.  Politics is blazed through our television sets 24 hours a day, the Internet bleeds politics, our news is soaked in it, and constantly we are asked to choose sides.  Liberal or conservative?  Democrat or Republican?  Pro-life or pro-choice?  Welfare or free market?

Worse, modern American education doesn’t place values next to any of these decisions.  Choosing life is about as momentous a decision as putting on a pair of socks.  One’s position on government entitlement programs can be all over the map.  In fact, one doesn’t really have to be solid on any position at all — even your faith — provided you choose between Democrat or Republican.

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‘Do Not Be Afraid to Live the Gospel Directly’

The late Pope John Paul II gives Catholics a very simple answer.  Ignorance.

No, no.  I’m not talking about shutting your eyes to the world and living in bliss.  Instead, the Pope doesn’t give political religion even a whiff of oxygen to breathe.  Political parties and ideologies might as well be colors of the rainbow — in fact, for historians who recognize the comparison, no different than the Blues and the Greens.

But to ignore the mummery and din of politics is a difficult task, provided one is rooted elsewhere.  For a practicing Catholic, this is a simpler task than one realizes.  Why, for instance, must we choose between being pro-life and adhering to social justice?

Why must one forfeit their conservative credentials if — as a Catholic — we stand fast to the Catechism and fight to end the death penalty, give preferential treatment to the poor, and to support a just immigration policy?

Why must one forfeit their liberal credentials if — as a Catholic — we stand fast to the Magisterium and support marriage, stand firm on the principle of subsidiarity, and yes — unapologetically demand an end to abortion.

The answer?

Stop being a conservative.  Stop being a liberal…and start being a Catholic.

Moreover, don’t be afraid to take a stand against the political religions of the day.  There is not a single secular ideology that should hold sway or preference.  As a Catholic, question the success of political religions.  Ask why your faith should be restricted from the public square.  Critically assess whether or not policies are actively working for the common good.

It is only when we are willing to shed the worldly ideologies that have torn the world apart for the last 200 years that we can truly begin the work of the Catholic Restoration.  The idea of the Catholic Restoration is not new, nor is it entirely old given the history of the Church.  But to “restore all things to Christ” as St. Paul exhorted us to do is a constant process — not of renewal — but of restoring and repairing what inevitably decays or grows wild.

So the solution is simple:  Ignore the noise.  Confront injustices.  Uncompromisingly defend life in the womb.  Suffer infiltration lightly.  Do not give up on a single aspect of your faith.  Defend the Catholic Restoration.

Only when we fight back against political religion and seize the promise of the Catholic Faith will we ever begin to truly establish God’s Kingdom here on earth.  Our opportunities are around us, the mission great.  As Pope John Paul II reminded the World Youth Day in 2000, “do not be afraid to live the Gospel directly.”

That is your charge.  Go live it.