Relationship of church and state

Relationship of Church and State

Previously, onThe Catholic Faith

Explained…

Exhibit A:The HHS Mandate

Requires the health plans of all institutions to pay for contraceptive services:

SterilizationsContraceptives

○ Including “emergency contraception” that, in some cases, causes early abortions

Exhibit B

When and on what basis should the

State intervene in matters of Religion and Conscience?

The Burning Question

Historical Models

1) The State abolishing the Church

2) The Church overseeing Everything

3) The State dictating to the Church

4) The Church dictating to the State

5) A unified Christian Society

6) “Separation of Church and State”

The State abolishing the Church

The Church overseeing Everything

The State dictating to the Church



The Church dictating to the State

Innocent III

“Christ left to Peter not only the universal Church, but the whole world to govern”

“As the moon derives its light from the sun…”

A Unified Christian Society(i.e., “Christendom”)

“…To the medieval mind the distinction was not between Church and State as two perfect and independent societies, but rather between two different authorities and hierarchies which respectively administered the spiritual and temporal affairs of this one society …”

--Christopher Dawson,

Medieval Essays, p. 68

A Unified Christian Society(i.e., “Christendom”)

“The struggle between the Papacy and the Empire was not a struggle between the Church and the secular State as we know today. It was conflict between two parallel forms of the same ideal, between the ideal of a theocratic empire and that of a theocratic church, each of which was inspired by the same vision of an all-embracing Christian society – the City of God on earth” (Dawson p. 78)

“Separation of Church and State”

Version #1: Laïcité

“Separation of Church and State”

Version #1: Laïcité

Version #2

2 Possible Approaches Today

1) A Secular State--Church and State staying out of each other’s way

2) An Officially (Judeo-) Christian State--With full respect for Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience

In Favor of a Secular State

In Favor of a Secular State

“I am firmly convinced that a new reflection on the true meaning and importance of a secular state (laïcité) is now necessary. In fact, it is fundamental, on the one hand, to insist on the distinction between the political realm and that of religion in order to preserve both the religious freedom of citizens and the responsibility of the State towards them; and, on the other hand, to become more aware of the irreplaceable role of religion for the formation of consciences and the contribution which it can bring to – among other things – the creation of a basic ethical consensus in society.”

--Pope Benedict XVI on his 2008 visit to France

A Secular State

A “Separation” of Church and State?Better described as the autonomy of Church

and State

[it is never a total separation, but each has its proper sphere of influence]

An Officially Christian State?

“If Europe is to have any future as a peaceful community, the first thing it needs is a faith in common, believed by the great majority if not by all, forcibly imposed on nobody but embodied in its public institutions and serving as the basis of its law and policy”

--Christopher Derrick,

The Rule of Peace, p. 128

An Officially Christian State?

“If America is to have any future as a peaceful community, the first thing it needs is a faith in common, believed by the great majority if not by all, forcibly imposed on nobody but embodied in its public institutions and serving as the basis of its law and policy”

--True of False?

Question #1:Which Alternative is Better?

A Secular State?

A Judeo-Christian State?

When and on what basis should the

State intervene in matters of Religion and Conscience?

Question #2

Background Document #1

“This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.” (Dignitatis Humanae, n. 2)

Background Document #2

Case #1

Jebediah and Ruth

Case #1

Jebediah and Ruth are an Amish couple in Monroe County. These particular Amish consider any vaccinations to be a sin. Can the government force them to vaccinate their children?

Case #2

Same as #1, only there is a new virus epidemic, and doctors determine that, without total vaccination, at least ¼ of the population will die in three months. Still, some religious groups refuse to allow their members to be vaccinated. Can the government force vaccinations on those who refuse them in conscience?

Case #3

Case #3

Due to large numbers of Saudi immigrants in the D.C. area, Ahmed Abdul Massat has started a Sunni Muslim Academy in the Virginia suburbs. They wear traditional Saudi dress, teach the classes in Arabic, form the children in Saudi culture, and pass on Sunni beliefs. Local citizens are outraged, and demand the school to be closed. But Massat points out that they are exceeding all of the national standards, and that they recite the pledge of allegiance and teach loyal U.S. Citizenship better than the local public schools. Who is correct?

Case #4

The Call to Prayer

Case #4

A Muslim mosque in Dearborn, Michigan, begins doing the Muslim call to prayer from the loudspeakers in their minaret five times each day (including one in the middle of the night). Neighbors are deeply disturbed, and try to pass an ordinence to silence these public displays.

Case #5

A few of the U.S. Army chaplains identify themselves as Wiccans. They point out that, in U.S. military burials, Christian soldiers get a cross on their tomb, and Jewish soldiers get a Star of David. They want a few Wiccan soldiers to get a Pentacle on their tombs, but the VA refuses. How should the court rule?

Case #6

Freddie Filkerson is a Satanic priest, and wants to enlist as a Navy Chaplain. He claims that several members of the U.S. Marine Corps are Satanists and want to be able to do their Satanic rituals in the chapel on their base. Sergeant Jonas Goodman refuses, stating that Satanism isn’t a legitimate religion. Filkerson sues the U.S. Navy, demanding equal freedom of religion under the law. Who has the “right of way” here?

Case #7

Now that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been repealed, same-sex couples in the military begin demanding to be married on base. At Fort Swampy, none of the Catholic or Protestant chaplains are willing to perform these ceremonies. The Department of Defense orders them that they must do so, regardless of their qualms of conscience.

Case #8

For years federal prisons have had libraries with all kinds of books available for inmates to check out – including religious books. In recent years, Jihadist Muslim clerics have pushed for converts in the prison system, and have planted inflammatory tracts that have caused great concern. In response, the federal Bureau of Prisons has ordered a purging of all federal prisons. Only books on the approved list are allowed, and many religious books have been quietly removed. A few outraged chaplains have been protesting this order. They point out that they have had certain Christian and Jewish books in their libraries for years, without remotely being a threat. What should be done?

Case #9

A new group of Latter Day Saints in Utah wants to return to an earlier practice of polygamy, and demands legal recognition of all of these unions – at least in the cases where all the wives concerned are willing to sign the legal contract. They emphasize that they understand their polygamy as a matter of religious duty. Should legal status be granted?

Case #10

Jane is a Catholic pharmacist. She has just finished reading John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, and has decided that she cannot in good conscience distribute contraceptives – especially those that cause early abortions. Meanwhile, the State of New Jersey passes a law requiring all pharmacies to provide so-called “emergency contraception.” Jane refuses, and faces prosecution.

Indispensable Principles

Dignity of each Human PersonReligious FreedomFreedom of Conscience

The Common Good The Truth

Ethics / Natural LawScientifically provable facts

Freedom of Religion/Conscience

“This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.” (Second Vatican Council, Dignitatis Humanae n. 2)

What is the Common Good?

“By common good is to be understood ‘the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.’ The common good concerns the life of all” (CCC n. 1906)


3 Characteristics: (cf. CCC 1907-1909)

1) Respect for the Human Person

2) Development of the whole community

3) Safeguarding of stable, just, and peaceful social order

[If one of these is threatened, the common good is threatened…]


In an officially Judeo-Christian State?

--Easy to define…

In a Secular State?

--Getting harder and harder…

What is Natural Law?

(in the Christian view): God’s law written into our hearts and thus knowable even without revelation“Ever since the creation of the world, [God’s]

invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse” (Romans 1:20)

(a more secular view): Basic moral truths knowable to all

Kinds of Truth Knowable to Us

Knowable Through Reason

Knowable Through Revelation

Truths proposed by Revelation(but knowable by Reason)

Possible Examples of “Natural Law”?The existence of a higher being / first causeMany of the 10 Commandments

○ Prohibitions against murder, theft, adultery, rape, incest, perjury, etc

Inviolable Dignity of Each Human Person○ Cf. Slavery, Abortion, Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, etc

Nuptial Meaning of the Body○ Love & Sexuality as free, total, faithful, and fruitful○ Based on this, a definition of marriage as a social

institution that exists, not for its own sake, but for the sake of family (the basic cell of society)

The HHS Mandate – Revisited

A Violation of Religious Freedom?

Or a legitimate intervention for the common good?

Problems with the HHS Mandate

1) Against the First Amendment


(a point recently reinforced by SCOTUS)

Supreme Court Case: Hosanna-Tabor Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Jan 11, 2012)○ A unanimous 9-0 decision!


2. The Mandate can not reasonably appeal to the Common Good in revoking religious freedomThat is to say, HHS cannot claim that the

common good will be seriously threatened if these institutions refuse to pay for sterilizations and emergency contraception.


3) HHS can not claim that the Catholic (or other) conscientious objections to emergency contraception violates Natural Law or scientific facts.

The Importance of Science & Objective Truth:○ When does pregnancy begin?○ How does “emergency contraception” work?

When does Pregnancy Begin?

At Implantation? At Fertilization?

The REAL Question:

--When does human life begin?○ Moving backwards from this moment to my first moment of existence as

a human person – when did my life begin?(unique case of identical twins)

The Birth Control Pill

3 Phases1) Prevents Ovulation

2) Prevents Fertilization

3) Prevents Implantation○ i.e., kills a newly fertilized human being

“Emergency Contraception”

3 Possibilities:A) Doesn’t “work”

B) “Works” by preventing fertilization

C) “Works” by preventing implantation (i.e., causing the death of a newly fertilized human being)

Against the Hippocratic Oath

Conclusions

HHS Mandate forces Catholic institutions (and many others) to violate their consciences…In blatant violation of the 1st AmendmentWithout any legitimate appeal to the

common goodWithout any legitimate appeal to natural law

or scientific facts

Which Alternative is Better?

A Secular State?

A Judeo-Christian State?

An Officially (Judeo-) Christian State?

Apparent advantages:Much easier to identify the Common Good and

Natural LawAsks less of the State (thus limiting power)Includes a more complete understanding of the

human person (spiritual, moral, and religious dimensions)

Challenges:How could it ever work unless Catholicism is the

overwhelming majority?○ How would we ever arrive at that point?○ And what happens if that ceases to be the case?

(from history) Clashes of Church and State even more likely to happen

A Secular and Autonomous State?

Apparent advantages:Greater Religious Freedom / Church AutonomySeems the best way of allowing religious diversity while

maintaining civic order Challenges:

How to identify the Common Good & Natural Law?○ Seems to be easy enough when most citizens share a

Judeo-Christian worldview, but once that ceases to be the case, it proves more difficult

And without a clear sense of these two principles, how to handle…Clashes between the State & Religious Freedom (cf. our

10 case studies)?Civic claims to Same-sex Marriage? Polygamy? Multi-

Party Marriage? Marriage with minors? Etc…

How to meet these Challenges?

Benedict XVI – a positive dialogue between autonomous Church & autonomous StateAllowing the Church to be a “corrective” voice in

public discourse○ Proposing certain truths as self-evident (but forgotten)○ Condemning violations of human rights and dignity

Recognizing the proper expertise of the State in setting the specifics of foreign policy, domestic policy, national security, etc.

Evangelization (of others and of the culture) with full respect for religious freedom

Questions?

Go to our website:www.thecatholicfaithexplained.com

Next Presentation:

Wednesday, Nov. 14th

Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven

Documents

Relationship of church and state