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7 May 2025

 

To Bear Witness

The election of a new Pope in the Catholic Church has raised a host of memories, some painful, some hopeful. I share a few.

When I was a child in the 1930s, Saturday matinee newsreels were our nation’s window on dramatic, often painful world events. We learned of Europe’s woes and Asia’s agonies from 30-second film clips. At that time, most of us - adults and children - were oblivious to the dangers of Naziism, and we’d never heard of Communism. American superiority nurtured the smug belief that “it couldn’t happen here” … until December 7, 1941, when we came aware that brutality thrived as our nation slept.

In those days, Catholics were often suspect in America, a distrusted minority, struggling for recognition by the Protestant majority. Catholics were sometimes laughed at (still are, come to think of it), often held in open contempt for our fealty to a “foreign power” (the Vatican supposedly dug a tunnel from Rome to the White House), our belief in the Eucharist, our devotion to the Blessed Mother, our reverence for saints … to name a few beliefs central to Catholic identity then - and now.

So, as a moral necessity and as an intellectual buffer for children, Catholics built a top-notch school system run by stern, no-nonsense nuns, whose contributions to students and to the nation are profound and lasting.

Under the strict regimen of these dedicated women, we began each day with the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America, as we stood and saluted our nation’s flag which hung in every classroom. The nuns taught us to honor our country and to value patriotism, to think critically, to revere truth, to say our prayers, to hold to our Faith, to practice silent virtue, even when ridiculed by our non-Catholic peers as they chanted “Fish-eaters” at us.

The Cost

America’s “pluralistic” society often blinded punitive bigots to their self-righteous cruelty toward minority citizens. It was sometimes costly to be a good Catholic but murderous hatred was directed against Jewish and Black citizens, which still occurs: Global Antisemitism Incidents Rise 107.7% in 2024, Fueled by Far-Left Surge, CAM Annual Data Study Reveals | Combat Antisemitism Movement

It was clear - even to us children - that slanderous prejudice and pejorative language and occasional violence against Jews and Blacks were as “American” as (excuse the cliché, but not the reality) apple pie.

The salient meaning of the Declaration of Independence had yet to penetrate hate-filled citizens who disdained the ideals of our Founders: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Five decades later, I visited the Nazi slaughterhouse at Auschwitz. There, at least one-and-a-half million innocent Jewish persons (including small children, called “enemies of the State”) were systematically murdered. The memories linger still…

To Remember

To this day, these memories are soul-wrenching reminders of the degree to which cruelty and brutality, self-righteous evil and intentional hatred betake our human spirit and corrupt our souls.

Our world so often forgets the dignity due to human beings, especially unborn children. We forget that brutality (even in small matters) begins:

• when we justify our bloated self-righteousness and alibi our arrogant discourtesies,


• when kindness and empathy cease,


• when we deny responsibility for what we say and do,


• when we act as if our accountability to God and one another does not exist,


• when we appoint ourselves judges of Good and Evil.

Modernism’s Excesses

Abandoning Truth and Virtue is as old as Eden. Over centuries of renewal and enlightenment, human reason and scientific inquiry have gained especial credence. Humanity finally seems able not only to control Nature, but to conquer it. Yet, the desire to elevate “Self” is a persistent and abiding human failing.

Glorification of “Self” ofttimes replaces our innate awe of God and regard for Creation’s Mysteries. Secular humanists bestow upon human reason the sole and absolute power to shape the meaning to life. Too often do we celebrate human reason with organized conceit - to the exclusion of Faith and traditional moral beliefs.

Secular humanism spawned Modernist ideology which infiltrates every aspect of today’s society - at great cost. Modernism severs us from (1) America’s historic acknowledgement of Divine Guidance in the formation of our nation, (2) the Judeo-Christian wisdom of Scripture and Tradition, and (3) respect for the limits and dictates of our shared humanity … among other fundamental realities.

This adoration of “Self” creates chaotic beliefs and cultural extremes. Examples: Modernists believe Truth is relative, that traditional morality is archaic, that “feelings” rule and impulses are our best moral guides. Some physicians deviate drastically from Common Sense (and their Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm”) in their furtherance of the transgender craze.

Modernists say we are free to satisfy our feelings, wants and desires as we please. We alone decide what’s moral, right and good (such as aborting a living child for any reason).

To the Modernist, the moral restrictions of Truth and Creation, of Nature and Common Sense are intrusive. Indeed, God does not exist. “God” is the product of some neurotic zealot’s superego, and objective morality is fiction. “Truth” is relative to feelings, trends and opinions. Natural Law is manipulated as we see fit.

The Outcomes

This abandonment of our Traditions has produced truly worrisome outcomes. Dr. George Barna reports several critical trends which now have significant impact on America’s future:

• Christian affiliation is shrinking. In just five years, about 15 million adults no longer call themselves “Christians.”


• Non-Christians and people who say they have "no-faith" (Nones) are increasing. Nones now outnumber Catholics.


• Moral relativism dominates. Two-thirds of Americans (including a majority of “Christians”) deny the existence of absolute moral truth.


• Feelings are now the leading guide to moral decisions. Three-quarters of Americans (74%) rely primarily on their emotions to determine right and wrong.


• The Bible is no longer the default source of truth. Less than one in five adults (18%) consistently turn to Scripture for moral and spiritual guidance.

Dr. Barna adds that most Americans do not any longer share a common understanding of Truth. Personal feelings and shifting cultural norms now largely define right and wrong. We witness the demise of rightly-formed conscience on a vast scale.

Americans who choose personal preference over biblical Truths ignore the lessons of History, reject centuries of Tradition and their own Common Sense. And, as they weaken our spiritual and intellectual foundations, they hasten America’s decline.

Six decades ago, General Omar Bradley insightfully wrote: "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount... The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants." 

Coming Of Age …

One (of many) persuasive Catholic insights is the clear realization that human beings are born to learn but … we are unaccountably resistant to the lessons of History and the guidance of Scripture.

In Catholic doctrine, our inherited propensity toward arrogant self-deification is called Original Sin. This includes our disregard of both (1) objective moral Truths which bind everybody, and (2) humility and obedience to God which reason and logic impose.

• History tells us repeatedly what’s in store when we ignore moral laws and Creation’s limits.


• We know the harm which results when we reject Traditional standards of right and wrong, goodness and evil.


• We know the chaos which comes when we deny individual and cultural conscience, and act against our Creator’s moral commands (He did, after all, invent conscience).


• In other words, we know better ….. or should…

How Long ?

Is it possible for society to survive without the guidance of History or the moral dictates of a rightly-educated conscience?

Those who deny our need for Divine intervention or ignore History thereby disregard the fact that life bestows upon us privileges and responsibilities.

• We inherit limited freedom.


• Our limited freedom is a gift, not a right.


• Freedom is always-and-everywhere conditioned by the rules and limits (implicit and explicit) which God reveals.


• Nevertheless, some people still deny their obligations to others – and to themselves.


• But the rules remain unchanged and God’s judgments hover.

Even those who preach radical freedom without rules still cannot change its limits. Freedom is always a finite gift, always limited by the situation.

We do have choices - but our choices are always limited by Creation’s transcendent realities, beginning with the dignity of all people, including unborn children.

The radical “freedoms” of Western secularism (including abortion, euthanasia, pornography, transgender ideology) are clearly eroding our Judeo-Christian foundations of Western civilization.

Finally . . .

Human dignity and the informed freedom to choose are defining factors in Catholic belief. Catholicism is (in the words of Philosopher Jacques Maritain) an Integral Humanism which holds the primacy of God in all human affairs. Freedom exercised with (1) knowledge of limits established by our Creator, (2) understanding human nature’s propensities and strengths, (3) trusting both the moral pathway set for us and the wisdom of History, and (4) studying the facts of our life’s situations with acceptance of our vulnerabilities … these are the bases of the Catholic view of personal, political, economic and cultural issues.

Given all this (and so much more) Catholicism offers what human nature yearns for:

• the benefits of Faith and a grasp of infinity in accord with the Universe all around us,


• a worldview whereby Creation is seen through eyes of the Spirit and emotions of the soul;


• various Virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance) which guide us to moral action and psychological health;


• a comprehension of Reality as both human and Divine;


• the means to unite my life with God – here and now!

Thus does the Catholic Faith reaffirm its allegiance to the dignity of human life and its Divine concern for human need.

In brief, then, Faith is a real bargain … a real gift, indeed…