| God Bless
America
The idea of Divine Chastisement is out of fashion, to
put it mildly. Along with secularists, even many Christians have
disowned it.
Contrary to the impression left by some clergymen in
these days when "God bless America" has become a national
slogan, God does not bless us unconditionally.
Consider chapter 1 of the prophet Isaiah. The kingdom
of Judah, around 735 B.C., had just been attacked, and the people prayed
to God for relief. (Sound familiar?) But…
"When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from
you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands
are full of blood." — Isaiah 1:15
Their blood-guilt made their prayers unacceptable
to God! After forty million+ surgical abortions, is it an
exaggeration to say that America has come before God with blood on its
hands? Moreover, the bloodletting continues largely unabated across the
country. In New York, Planned Parenthood offered free abortions
for the week or two following September 11!
God could inquire of us as He did of Judah:
"Why will you still be smitten, that you continue to rebel?
Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; in your
very presence aliens devour your land;" —
Isaiah 1:5,7.
God’s prescription for what ailed Judah was very
straightforward:
"Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
learn to do good;" — Isaiah 1:15-17.
Or else!
"If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of
the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the
sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." —
Isaiah 1:19-20.
Those who reject the idea of divine chastisement bear
the burden of proof. History and Scripture testify to the contrary.
America evidently is still in an hour of mercy in the midst of
chastisement—most of our nation is intact, which should spur us to
humble supplication, and not presumption.
On the hopeful side: September 11 manifested numerous
examples of heroism and hope. To take one: Fr. George Rutler, of EWTN
fame, went to the scene of the attack in New York on September 11. Many
firemen approached Fr. Rutler and other priests present for sacramental
confession—after which they gave their lives in the burning tower. A
reporter on the scene interviewed Father Rutler about his work there. At
the conclusion of the interview, he asked for instruction to enable his
entry into the Church.
Ultimatums and anathemas
Recall President Bush’s stirring speech to the
nation in September announcing the war on terrorism, and giving other
nations an ultimatum: either you are with us or you are with the
terrorists—in which case, you’re in our crosshairs.
Try to imagine an analogous speech about abortion:
"join us against the abortionists—or else!" That such a
speech is hardly thinkable is testimony to how badly pro-lifers have
been defeated, despite reassurances that we are "winning."
Imagine the year 2027: how ludicrous would the President of the United
States sound if he dared to announce: "We are winning the war
against terrorism. This past year the number of Americans killed by
terrorists declined to 1.3 million"?
Instead of confronting abortion supporters with
ultimatums and anathemas—analogous to sponsors of terrorism—the
usual course is to either ignore, or, too often, to appease and honor
those who have betrayed the pro-life cause. Even clergymen who
should know better fall prey to this.
Case in point: Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki—two
traitororous Catholic politicians—occupied the front pew at a
September 16 Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, where they were
praised from the pulpit and then hugged by New York’s Cardinal Egan
for their truly laudable civic leadership following September 11. At
another post-Sept. 11 Mass in another New York City parish, Hillary
Clinton was in the pulpit! It was not necessary for the cardinal to
denounce them at that time, of course. But he could have avoided giving
them a forum in the Church, and said nothing about them.
If their allegiances on these two issues were
reversed, it is self-evident that they would not be publicly honored for
opposing abortion while supporting terrorism. Implication: in the face
of real evil, decent men put aside the small issues, like
abortion.
A Bad idea?
The appeasement mentality was evident in the
September 7 issue of The Pilot, the Boston archdiocesan weekly,
which printed an editorial entitled "Excommunicate pro-abortion
pols? It’s a bad idea." The column was reprinted from the August
3 issue of The Catholic Exponent of Youngstown, Ohio. It is a
critique of the petition begun by New York pro-lifer Tim Chichester and
signed by Judie Brown of American Life League, myself, and other
Catholic public figures.
The column does lament the fact that many Catholic
public figures conspicuously and obstinately oppose the Church on its
various life teachings. But in the Youngstown editor’s mind the sin of
scandal is apparently of little weight: "we doubt that their
collective stance has ‘confused and undermined the authentic teachings
of the Church.’ Few Americans of any denomination can have any
uncertainty about where the Catholic Church stands on this issue;
indeed, we are constantly vilified in the press for holding fast to a
view not widely popular in America."
Perhaps the Church’s stand is widely known,
but the question is, do Church leaders really communicate how important
it is? Or, do they in fact undermine the teaching, by omitting the
necessary governance of the Church?
"The whole idea of excommunicating public
officials who do not agree with Church teaching is an outmoded,
heavy-handed, almost medieval approach to changing hearts and
minds," said the Youngstown editor. Furthermore, the petition is
"embarrassing"; the Vatican should put the petitions in a
drawer and "forget they ever existed": as too many clergymen
have done with abortion, we would add.
Nevertheless, we are encouraged by this editorial,
for it indicates that our efforts regarding the petition have at least
not been ignored, and are causing distress in wrong-minded people.
— Bill Cotter |
