Monday, March 18, AD 2024 10:31pm

The Coming Persecution?

robert-bork

Hattip to Jay Anderson at Pro Ecclesia, who has an unerring ability to snag stories that pass underneath my radar.

One of the keenest legal minds this country has ever produced, and a convert to Catholicism, Robert Bork,  predicts in this interview  that the culture war is going to increase in severity in the near future:

“Bork:  Oh, it’s up for debate. Everything is up for debate these days. I can’t think of anything that isn’t. But I think it’s true that that would be an infringement of the child’s best interests, which I suppose translates as his natural right. But we are going to see in the near future a terrible conflict between claimed rights of homosexuals and religious freedom. You are going to get Catholic hospitals that are going to be required as a matter of law to perform abortions.  You are going to get Catholic or other groups’ relief services that are going to be required to allow adoption of a child by homosexual couples.  We are going to have a real conflict that goes right to the heart of the society.”

Link to video of the interview.

The Civil War has often been called the Irrepressible Conflict.  In our country for over four decades we have been having a battle over right and wrong in the moral sphere.  The forces currently in the ascendancy in Washington believe that on many important social issues traditional morality is simply wrong:  abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, stem cell research, chastity before marriage, the primary role of the family as moral teacher, etc.  They also have an unlimited faith in government to solve problems.  Is it too much of a stretch to believe that government will be used by them to achieve what they perceive as victory in the culture war?

Already we have seen Catholic Charities in Massachusetts end its work in regard to the adoption of children rather than bow to the mandate of the state  that Catholic Charities allow homosexuals to adopt children.  Catholic Charities in California has been required by state law to provide contraceptive coverage in its health insurance package for employees.  Conscious clauses regarding the rights of physicians not to participate in abortions have come under  attack in many states.  These few examples are but the tip of an iceberg of such actions.

Canada, and its freedom chilling hate speech laws, may be a tempting example for elected officials in this country to embrace when deciding to deal with Churches that do not endorse morality 2.0.  Our first amendment will protect us?  One would hope so.  However in my experience at the bar I have reached the conclusion that the text of a statute or a constitution is infinitely malleable if a court is determined to reach a desired result, as amply demonstrated in Roe.

I have always been one who has pooh poohed the idea that the Church in the US could face officially sanctioned persecution.  I still think it unlikely, but the storm clouds are gathering and the signs of the time are alarming.

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Gerard E.
Gerard E.
Tuesday, February 3, AD 2009 7:47am

The astute Mr. Bork raises these likely issues. But consider how wounded the administration has already become. Last week, GOP Congresspersons voted to a person against the Porkapalooza Bill. Mitch McConnell promises similar thumping in Senate. Now howling about HHS Secretary Designate Tom Daschle who failed to pay income taxes on limo travel. Well what’s a guy supposed to do take the Metro like the office drones and military non-coms? Now GOP certainly on watch to make sure that FOCA, Fairness Doctrine, other horrors not baked into future Porkapalooza cakes. Then again, there are some of our esteemed bishops who are bound and determined to close Catholic medical facilities in their sees rather than open them for abortions. The number of those facilities closed, along with the willingness for these shepherds to be cuffed and booked, and repeated showings of videos for these acts, will determine survival of this administration. Unlike Mr. Bork, I am always in faith that when our lib brethren achieve too much power, they will find ways to f—- it up big time. As bishops said before Benedict, we always have hope.

Gabriel Austin
Gabriel Austin
Tuesday, February 3, AD 2009 1:21pm

It would help keep matters clear were we to put “government” in quotation marks. There is no thing or person out there which is the “government”. It is officials, and officials who must be kept conscious of their actions.

Is there a difficulty in referring to Mr. Obama, and Mrs. Pelosi, and Mr. Biden, et hoc genus omne as baby-killers?

Michael Iafrate
Tuesday, February 3, AD 2009 1:37pm

What happened to Bork’s righteous beard?

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