Blind Religious Motivation vs. Religious Idealism

Fr. DONNELL KIRCHNER, CSsR

BATON ROUGE, LA. — Does Jerusalem have anything to say to Athens? asked an early Christian thinker, meaning does Jerusalem, symbol of divine direction and wisdom, have a message that Athens, center of secular and human learning, needs to hear?

As an American Catholic, there are examples from each side of my identity that went astray and stand out when Blind Religious Motivation took over. The word Crusades has become synonymous with fanatical violence promoted in the name of God. Also the Inquisition tried to purify right reasoning by the rack. Manifest Destiny may have conquered vast areas for the fledgling USA, but wiped out native Americans because white Anglos somehow thought they were superior beings. Prohibition was inspired by Christian do gooders but that did not stop drinking. It did create organized crime lords and lots of other evils.

Yet I am proud that many religious-minded people were involved in the Civil Rights movement, like Dr. Martin Luther King, who appealed to higher principles to stop veiled slavery and discrimination. The Anti-War movement had many people who also were inspired by the Gospel that killing and destruction were against God’s commandments.

It is natural then that a good and well-intentioned person can feel tension between being a Disciple and a Citizen. Although relatively late in human history, the Catholic Church did say at Vatican II in 1965 that there is a “rightful independence of Earthly affairs” to be respected. Meaning civil democratic governments were to be respected, echoing what St. Paul had tried to say 2000 years ago. We will always need to be on guard against organized religion playing an overwhelming role in government, like we see in Iran today, yet having it totally banished, leaving no restraints on civil leaders, creates bad conditions in so many countries.

When all religious insights and caveats are removed from centers of power, human nature far too often practices all kinds of depravity and degeneracy. Right now, in Louisiana, there are people who want to debate and vote on what age can a person get married. Records show that currently girls as young as 12 years old were able to be married off (don’t think there was any type of free consent here). With so many prominent politicians and business leaders being accused and prosecuted for sexual crimes and infidelities every other day, starting with our beloved chief executive, wouldn’t it be smart to consult clergy who deal with family struggles on a daily basis and ask those groups who promote good family life (who know a thing or two about marriage), what is best for getting prepared to marry?

While churches and clergy do not have specific or practical political positions which necessarily guarantee better solutions, Pope Paul VI did say that the Church is an expert in Humanity, meaning that listening to the collective wisdom of many years can help to avoid stupid, regretful mistakes. Believe it or not, there is a something called original sin, whose greed, pride and corruption invades all human activities. There is a need to purify, restrain and correct the aberrations which spring up. That is why Athens needs Jerusalem to remind her of what needs to be done.

Ever since Adam and Eve did not want to listen to those divine restrictions, we have been distasteful of anyone telling us what to do, of what we should avoid. How many young lives, however, were wasted in stupid wars because someone’s ambition and ego got in the way? How many people lived in slavery because others had a mindset which was at ease over moral issues involving human dignity? Why are women still protesting sexual abuse, saying that they exist for more than simply giving pleasure?

Who is to decide when Athens should listen? And how much? Not always an easy answer in a complex world filled with knotty issues. Seems that every decision benefits someone and hurts another. Price of progress? For that reason we have a wonderful mechanism called Conscience which tries to tell us what is right and what is wrong. Conscience will not solve the immigration crisis, but will teach us every human life matters. Do we give tax breaks to billionaires who already have so much? Just so long as we do not cut back on basic services to the needy, weak and fragile members of society. Should we allow oil companies to drill in national parks or off coastal regions? Let’s not forget that we do not own the Garden, but are the gardeners responsible to care for it.

Jerusalem does not have all the concrete answers to our multiple problems and options. Having a theocracy ruling does not necessarily mean better decisions will be made. Churches do not need to create policy to rule. No more popes as generals, nor as rulers. Yet George W. Bush probably regrets not heeding the warnings from John Paul II about not invading Iraq. It is said that the last six presidents all invited Billy Graham to the White House for advice or counsel. Good idea? Probably. Just so long as the president does not convert the preacher.

So Jerusalem can help us with insights into complicated issues which should not be decided simply on how much money or advantages certain groups can gain. Father Tom Massaro sums it up well when he says that Church activity must always include social action to make life on earth more humane, but never become so politicized that it loses sight of her transcendent purpose.

Father Donnell Kirchner, CSsR, received a degree in moral theology in Rome and taught for 39 years as a Redemptorist priest in Brazil, teaching at a regional pastoral institute in Manaus. He is currently ministering in Baton Rouge, La.

From The Progressive Populist, May 15, 2018

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