Religion and Politics

 

or YouTube

 

They are calling it a “revival.” In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, there has been a veritable explosion of both interest in faith and his political movement, Turning Point, USA. As such, Christianity in America and even Canada is being conflated with conservative or “right-wing” political parties, as if the two are the same.

 

A Confused Identity

Perhaps part of the confusion goes back to Kirk’s own ideas, as enunciated in a debate with another Christian. While Kirk has done a masterful job in defending most foundational Christian tenets — and died doing so — he held a rather novel interpretation of Matthew 16:18:

Kirk: Christ Our Lord said, “On this rock” — build My what?

Student: Church

Kirk: Wrong. Ekklesia — it’s not the word “church”… the original Greek terms says, “On this rock, build my “government structure.” Ekklesia was a secular word used in that time, which was all about the advancement of freedom and liberty… —cf. YouTube

It is true that the term ekklesia in the first century referred to a secular gathering or assembly, often for civil proceedings among the people. However, the term was also used earlier in the Old Testament to refer to the congregation of the people of Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus designates this assembly as that of believers, built upon the rock of Peter. Kirk, however, maintains that Jesus was evoking a quasi-secular kingdom — a “government structure,” he says, that would espouse and spread the Gospel as “salt and light” to the nations. 

The problem with this viewpoint is that it directly contradicts Our Lord:

My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here. (John 18:36)

The Church and the State are clearly two separate entities: the head of Christ’s Kingdom is Jesus himself, with Peter as His “prime minister” or “vicar” on earth (possessing the keys of the kingdom); he reigns alongside the other eleven Apostles who share in the power to “bind and loose” in the temporal affairs of the Church. ^[1]cf. Matthew 16:18 This ecclesiastical structure directly mirrors the Old Testament Davidic kingdom, whereby the king appointed a “prime minister” (Isaiah 22:22) and cabinet of ministers to carry out the mandates of the kingdom (1 Kings 4:1-6; 2 Kings 18:37). That is the divine order of the ekklesia or “assembly” of the Church.

However, St. Paul is clear that God has also established a secular authority to order human affairs.

Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God… This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. (Romans 13:1, 6-7)

Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. (Mark 12:17)

Summarizing the above, St. Augustine spoke of “two cities” to which the People of God belong, one earthly and the other heavenly.

The earthly city, which does not live by faith, seeks an earthly peace, and the end it proposes, in the well-ordered concord of civic obedience and rule, is the combination of men’s wills to attain the things which are helpful to this life. The heavenly city, or rather the part of it which sojourns on earth and lives by faith, makes use of this peace only because it must, until this mortal condition which necessitates it shall pass away. —City of God, Book XIX, Ch. 17

 

The Role of Church and State

The role of the State then is…

…to defend and promote the common good of civil society, its citizens, and intermediate bodies… 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.” —Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), n. 1920, 1906

But what is “good” and who defines it? St. John Paul II warned:

…if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism. —Centesimus Annus, n. 46

Is that not our present situation in many Western nations, living under what Benedict XVI called a “dictatorship of relativism”? ^[2]Cardinal Ratzinger, pre-conclave Homily, April 18th, 2005

The divinely revealed “ultimate truth” of man’s origin and destiny in God, our Creator and Redeemer, is found in the Catholic Church, which Christ founded and promised to “lead into all truth.”^[3]John 16:13 Thus, the role of the Church is to…

…invite political authorities to measure their judgments and decisions against this inspired truth about God and man… the Church, because of her commission and competence, is not to be confused in any way with the political community. She is both the sign and the safeguard of the transcendent character of the human person. —CCC, 2244-45

 

On Separation of Church and State

There is much insistence these days about “separation of Church and State,” but frankly, the phrase is abused. Most really mean that the Church and her moral guidance are to have no place in the public square.

On the contrary, the concept of proper separation was to protect the Church from the State. Roger Williams, a Baptist minister, was the first public official to explicitly call for a “wall or hedge of separation” between the “wilderness of the world” and “the garden of the church.” The expression “separation of church and state” can be traced to a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802, stating that religion was “a matter which lies solely between Man & his God,” and that government should not have any influence over opinions.^[4]teachinghistory.org

This doesn’t mean that the laity ^[5]deacons may run for office, but not clergy, according to Canon Law 285 §3 cannot participate in the political sphere. In fact, the Church strongly urges us to do so:

As far as possible, citizens should take an active part in public life…. Those who exercise authority should do so as a service… —CCC, n. 1915, 2235

Love of neighbour and service are the heart of Christ’s message — public service is a direct way to be at the service of one’s community. The role of the Catholic politician, then, is to help order the “earthly city” toward the heavenly through creating or maintaining laws and rules that respect the dignity of the human person and the common good.

Still, the earthly city is passing away, which is why the Church has condemned as heresy those who try to ‘realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment… especially the “intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism.'^[6]CCC, 676 Yes, those politicians (usually dictators) who try to create a utopia on earth, which will only be realized in eternity. 

 

The Present Dangers

Civilization is in an apocalyptic tug-of-war. The intrinsically perverse ideologies of Socialism/Communism are, incredibly, gaining attraction again with the youth on the “left.”^[7]cf. politico.com; “Thus, the Communist ideal wins over many of the better-minded members of the community. These, in turn, become the apostles of the movement among the younger intelligentsia who are still too immature to recognize the intrinsic errors of the system.” —POPE PIUS XI, Divini Redemptoris, n. 15 On the other hand, populist movements on the “right”, such as Turning Point, are also drawing the youth.^[8]cf. The Two Camps

The danger is not that Christians get involved in politics but that Christianity is confused with a political party, especially when said party does not reflect the fullness of the Gospel. Case in point: the Conservative Party in Canada continues to bow to political correctness by suppressing debate on issues such as abortion. In America, there is a heated debate on how the government is dealing with illegal immigrants, and a political leader who openly states that he “hates” his opponent.^[9]Trump in his speech at Kirk Memorial: Youtube

Clearly then, the Church, who safeguards unchangeable moral truths, cannot be conflated with the party of Conservatives, Liberals, Democrats, Republicans or whatever political persuasion. Put another way, before Christians wave the flag of their nation or political party, the very first flag we must wave without compromise is the banner of Christ. And that means sometimes rejecting ideas or behaviour from the political party we support. 

In that regard, there is another danger, and this one is sadly too common: politicians who are duplicitous if not scandalous in their public positions and behaviour. Perhaps the most obvious example is Catholic politicians who say, “I am personally against abortion, but I defend the right for a woman to choose.” Say what? You believe that abortion is the extermination of a human life, but as a civic leader, you won’t defend that life? This is intellectual dishonesty and moral schizophrenia. 

False dichotomies are not unknown within the Christian community itself. They are particularly damaging when Christian civic leaders sacrifice the unity of faith and sanction the disintegration of reason and the principles of natural ethics, by yielding to ephemeral social trends and the spurious demands of opinion polls. Democracy succeeds only to the extent that it is based on truth and a correct understanding of the human person… In your discussions with politicians and civic leaders I encourage you to demonstrate that our Christian faith, far from being an impediment to dialogue, is a bridge, precisely because it brings together reason and culture. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Address to Bishops of Ontario, Canada, “Ad Limina” Visit, September 8th, Vatican City

This is the opportunity that lies before us as Catholics during this seeming spiritual awakening in recent days: to bridge the earthly and heavenly cities with faith and reason while respecting the distinct roles and authority of each entity. But may we all belong to the Party of Truth. 

The Church… intends to continue to raise her voice in defense of mankind, even when policies of States and the majority of public opinion moves in the opposite direction. Truth, indeed, draws strength from itself and not from the amount of consent it arouses. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Vatican, March 20, 2006

 

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Watch: Church and State?

 

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When the State Sanctions Child Abuse

 

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