Thinking Catholic
by Leon J. Suprenant, Jr.

Dear Mr. Suprenant,

I think your organization is an embarrassment to all thinking Catholics. . . .

I received this letter in response to a recent mailing in which I sought to garner support for CUF and make our apostolic services available to more people. This letter, sadly enough, is by no means unique.

What do I make of such letters? I’m not a “thinking Catholic” on the order of a James Hitchcock or Scott Hahn, but after many years of education and formation I think I can competently explain the Church’s teachings. Surely my mailing did not espouse crossing a busy street without first looking both ways or some other unreasonable proposition.

Rather, the term “thinking Catholic” is a code word to identify Catholics who consider themselves sophisticated and educated enough to choose for themselves what Church teachings they accept. As the above letter suggests, anyone who accepts all the Church’s teachings, even on issues such as contraception, abortion, homosexual activity, and women’s ordination, is, in their estimation, simply not thinking.

Anti-Catholic Roots

There are many causes and manifestations of dissent within the contemporary Church. Such divisions lead to a breakdown of the bonds of unity among Christians and impair our ability to be a “light to the nations,” as Christ commands us.

But the Church’s opposition is far from limited to internal dissent. Today, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, anti-Catholicism is being exposed in the secular and Christian media as one of the last socially acceptable prejudices. This prejudice has come to the forefront through incidents such as Governor Bush’s speech at Bob Jones University, the flap over the appointment of the House chaplain, the revelation of the FBI’s monitoring of the U.S. bishops, the blasphemous exhibit “Sensation” at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and various entertainment offerings and media comments that relentlessly cast the Church in a negative light.

Contemporary attacks against human life often go hand in hand with discrimination against Catholics. A good case in point can be seen in the current presidential campaign. Vice President Gore gave a talk during which he noted the presence of the president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights League, and he publicly assured her that his presidential appointees as judges would be pro-choice (in other words, a pro-abortion litmus test). With this televised pledge, the Vice President cut off thousands of faithful, qualified Catholic jurists from serving their country as federal judges. Such discrimination is scary and, yes, anti-Catholic.

While the “Bob Jones” strain of anti-Catholicism still exists, ecumenical efforts have lessened the historical, theologically based prejudices that date back to the time of Martin Luther and King Henry VIII. Without minimizing the gravity of Fundamentalist attacks, it’s nonetheless true that no Bob Jones graduates sit on the Supreme Court or, to my knowledge, have positions of authority in the media and entertainment industries. As many Catholic commentators have pointed out in recent months, the far more virulent strain of anti-Catholicism, rooted in the 18th-century Enlightenment and 19th-century American nativism, is secular, not religious, in nature. The cultural elite see the Church as standing for everything they oppose and opposing everything they stand for.

A recent Gallop Poll supports this assessment. The poll reveals that the best predictor of an “unfavorable” attitude toward Catholicism is an overall lack of personal religious faith or practice, not an intense belief in a different religion.

The findings of this poll should be an encouragement and a challenge to all of us. We need to take personal responsibility and initiative when it comes to bringing others into relationship with Christ and creating what our Holy Father calls a “civilization of love.”

In our system of government, candidates do what they can to reflect the values of the majority of their constituents. If they can’t do that, they simply can’t get elected. Similarly, media executives take notice of ratings and advertising revenue. If more people wanted to watch wholesome programming then sleaze, that’s what the networks would provide.

Our Catholic faith reminds us of our constant need for inner conversion. It also reminds us that real solutions to our society’s ills cannot be divorced from the Gospel. Our cooperation with God’s grace not only allows us to grow in holiness, but also enables us to transform our society in keeping with the common good and the God-given dignity and rights of every human person.

Pope John Paul II surely has been setting the tone both by word and example this Jubilee Year, emphasizing personal forgiveness and reconciliation as an integral part of renewing the temporal order and summoning all peoples to salvation.

Setting the Agenda

The one who sets the agenda has already begun to influence the result. That’s why it’s so important that we as Christians influence the agenda in matters affecting the good of society. Secularist forces—especially a large segment of the media—are well aware of this principle and try to keep Christians out of the public square. When this doesn’t work, they at least try to skew the discussion. As John Leo recently commented in the U.S. News and World Report, pro-lifers are perhaps the only group that is not identified in the media by its preferred name. The general media policy to let every group call itself whatever it wants to (e.g., gays, Native Americans, African-Americans) is suspended for pro-life activists. Imagine the furor if newspapers and networks started to regularly refer to Planned Parenthood as “anti-life,” or even “pro-abortion.”

Despite this sort of unfavorable treatment, we must continually look for ways to build communion rather than close ranks. We must choose to see those who disagree with us as potential allies, not as enemies. We must develop coalitions and friendships whenever possible, building upon points of agreement and common interest. This approach creates an atmosphere conducive to truth, justice, and love.

As Christians, it is imperative that we build communion within the Church (cf. Jn. 17:20-23). But we also need to build communion within society. This is not merely a matter of political expediency, but our duty as citizens to cooperate with all people of good will in promoting the common good. We do not compromise our Christian beliefs or fundamental principles, but our approach, particularly in light of Vatican II, is one of prudent engagement, not retreat.

Full Participation

In the current issue of Lay Witness, we have attempted to provide articles and resources that will assist us in responsibly exercising our right, duty, and privilege to vote. Yet, reducing our participation in social interchange to voting once every couple years—important as voting is—makes about as much sense as reducing our Christian life to our Sunday obligation or our role as parents to the decision as to where to send our children for their education. Rather, our role as citizens—like our roles as Christians and parents—requires an ongoing, proactive commitment.

The Church teaches that our primary means of social participation is taking personal responsibility for matters within our own direct sphere of influence, such as family concerns and one’s work. In addition, as far as possible, we are called to take an active part in public life, in a spirit of generosity, solidarity, and solicitude for the poor and marginalized, including the unborn.

The Church calls all the faithful to let their light shine through their participation in public life (cf. Mt. 5:16). The Lord challenges us to reveal in our own lives of virtue how obedience to lawful authority—both secular and ecclesial—can be reconciled with true freedom and, especially when authority oversteps its limits, legitimate expression and defense of individual rights. With God’s grace, we are able to discern the path of charity—“the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives in to evil, and the violence which under the illusion of fighting evil only makes it worse” (Catechism, no. 1889).

Every vote matters because every person matters. This fact alone should give us plenty to think about this election season.

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