Christ the King and Unveiling the Truth

Today is the feast of Christ the King and the last Sunday of the liturgical year.  Today’s gospel has Jesus standing before Pilot, revealing that He is a king, but not of this world.  Importantly, He also reveals the reason why He came into the world, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."   If there is one thing we and our world need badly, it’s Truth.   It’s nearly impossible to know what is true, and what is hype these days, depending on your source of information and the agenda of the author.   Jesus came into the world to testify to the Truth of God’s love.  Several times in the gospels Jesus points out that there are times when people do not see with their eyes or hear with their ears.  Apparently He was referring to the fact that at times, we just don’t want to hear the truth, even the truth of God’s love as revealed by Jesus Himself.

Daily scripture readings these last few weeks before Advent, have been from The Book of Revelation, also called “Apocalypse.”  The word “apocalypse” means “unveiling,” and is derived from the same word used during Jewish wedding ceremonies when the groom unveils his bride.  This cryptic last book of the bible is often misunderstood and taken out of context, but it contains numerous references to the truth of God’s plan for our salvation.  Although steeped in exaggerated images and metaphors, it reveals the role of Jesus as the Lamb of God, and attests to the importance and Truth of God’s word as revealed in scripture.  For example, it describes Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega, our beginning (our creator) and our end (our destiny in eternity). 

All of us could benefit from facing the truth, especially when it comes to acknowledging the mistakes we have made and the problems we face in our lives and relationships.  The same goes for our legislators who are all too likely to ignore, deny, or distort the truth of the problems we face as a nation.  Perhaps the new congress will be willing to openly and honestly address (“unveil”) the serious issues we face as a nation.  For starters, it would be nice if everyone could agree that we need to curb the spending binge we’ve been on.  Last year our federal government took in $2.45 trillion in revenue but spent $3.54 trillion – adding $1.1 trillion to our national debt.  In fact, we’ve added $1 trillion in debt each of the last four years, the equivalent of $17,000 for every man, woman and child in the country.  The interest alone on our $16+ trillion debt amounts to $258 billion a year, more than the annual budget of the departments of  Energy, Education, State, Interior, Justice, Commerce, and Homeland Security, combined.  And this is with interest rates at historic lows.  Of course, the biggest expenses we face are Medicare and Social Security which carry unfunded liabilities in excess of $128 trillion.

The sad fact is that these problems are fixable if the two political parties could agree on common sense solutions which have already been posed but ignored due to partisan rivalry.   The thorniest of our fiscal problems is Medicare and there is a viable solution that was vilified during the election cycle, accusing Romney and Ryan of destroying Medicare, when in fact, their proposed solution was a bipartisan proposal co-authored by Paul Ryan and the liberal democrat from Oregon, Ron Wyden.  The name of the bill is actually the “Wyden-Ryan Plan” which has been endorsed by the liberal Brookings Institution and the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force, headed up by the former chief of the Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton administration. 

For those of you not familiar with the Wyden-Ryan plan, it proposes to let seniors choose between staying in their existing Medicare plans, or, if they can get a better plan, purchase one in the free market with the assistance of federally funded vouchers.  This would be very similar to the current Medicare Advantage program in which seniors choose among insurers who compete on the basis of cost, quality and access to providers and drug lists.  The Medicare Advantage insurers are paid by Medicare to assume the insurance risk of their Medicare-eligible customers.   Now that Rose and I are eligible for Medicare, I shopped around and found that there are dozens of Medicare Advantage plans available to us, many at no additional cost, other than the federal Medicare premium we pay for Parts B and D.  The coverage is so comprehensive, that unlike the standard Medicare plans that require seniors to purchase supplementary coverage at their own expense, no additional coverage is needed, so we save quite a bit of money.   This is the plan that the Obama campaign referred to as “destroying Medicare.”   This plan would move Medicare in the direction of fiscal viability by transferring some of the risk to private insurers who would have strong incentives to operate efficiently while offering competitively priced, attractive plans with excellent service.   It is a responsible, viable plan that has already been accepted by those who understand health care on both sides of the aisle, but during the election cycle it was demonized ad nauseam.  

Similarly, Social Security will run out of money in less than 20 years unless minor changes are made in eligibility age for younger Americans.  I still like the idea of making at least a portion of Social Security a defined contribution program, rather than a defined benefit.   When Bush 43 proposed this, he was ridiculed, but I’d feel a lot more secure about my social security benefit if at least a portion of it was actually in an account with my name on it, rather than sitting in a trust fund that is easily raided when the government needs money.

So as the liturgical year and the 112^th  Congress both wind down, lets’ look forward to the Light of Truth coming into the world, and a bit more willingness to be truthful among our politicians so that we can move toward the “unveiling” of solutions for a change.

Thanksgiving, Lincoln and Civil Rights

Most of us associate Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims, but it wasn’t until 1863 that Abraham Lincoln established it as a national holiday.  Here’s an excerpt from his Thanksgiving Proclamation:

“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens …to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwells in the heavens.   And I fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.”  

Motivated by his religious and moral beliefs, Lincoln wrote this in the midst of the Civil War when he was the most hated man in America.  Yes, hated.  He was reviled by the South for abolishing slavery, and deplored by many in the north for waging the bloody civil war which had already taken over 100,000 lives   100 years later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be jailed for his non-violent protest against the violation of civil rights imposed on minorities.  Both men were motivated by their religious belief that freedom is God’s gift to all humanity. 

Lincoln’s plea for peace is apropos once again, as our country has just come out of a contentious election cycle that has divided the nation along ideologies.  From my perspective, the issues today are similar to those faced by African Americans 50 and 150 years ago.   The Obama administration insists on violating the civil rights of our most vulnerable citizens, the unborn.  Many at the Democratic National Convention (perhaps a majority) wanted to remove all references to God from their platform.  The Obama administration is violating the religious freedom of people who belief that abortion is intrinsically evil, by using federal tax dollars to fund abortions.  Planned Parenthood receives about $1 million every day.   Every employer is now required to pay for contraceptives, abortifacient medication, and surgical sterilization, even though many Christians believe this violates their moral convictions and religious belief.  

All of the great advances in civil rights took place because of the religious convictions of people like Lincoln, King, and their followers.   But rather than celebrate faith in God, our nation has moved in the direction of criticizing Christians for speaking and acting on their religious beliefs.  The government has made itself the arbiter of which religious beliefs are to be tolerated, and which are not.  Christians who object to gay marriage, or the use of their tax dollars to fund abortions, are now labeled as intolerant and accused of waging a war on women.  Employers whose religious convictions preclude them from funding abortifacient mediation and sterilization, will be severely fined unless they are officially deemed to be religious organizations according to the narrow definition of the government.   Let’s hope that the 33 lawsuits brought by more than 100 large employers, challenging this violation of religious liberty, make their way to the Supreme Court before next August when the grace period for imposing fines expires. 

Sustainability and the “Tsunami of Secularism”

The term sustainability has become commonplace of late.   It is used to convey the notion that everyone has a stake in maintaining our environment.  The business world has adopted it as a mantra for identifying a myriad of issues necessary to compete and thrive in a world of increasing energy costs and heightened consumer demand for the products that are ecologically safe.  Companies are not only expected to manage their carbon footprint and produce “green” products, but to develop strategies for attracting and retaining talent and customers on the basis of being sufficiently “green.”   Failure to accomplish this threatens the sustainability of the business. 

Whether you believe in global warming, climate change, or the effect of human activity on the weather, there seems to be a consensus that “sustainability” is important to our culture and our economy.  And yet, no one seems to notice that the greatest threat to the world is secularism and its broad array of consequences.  At the opening of the recent synod of bishops, Cardinal Wuerl called upon the Catholic Church to “roll back the tsunami of secularism that has swept over modern society in recent decades.”   He said, “The secular world does not see a role for faith, for the belief that we are created in the image of and likeness of God, that there is a moral order that is objective and that we cannot change.” 

What, you may ask, does this have to do with “sustainability?”   The answer lies in recognizing that as the world has become more secular, culture has eroded, families and marriage are in decline, and international demographics have begun to cause economic failure in country after country.  Secularism has redefined the common good and what it means to be a just society.  George Weigel points out that, “­Secularism seeks to drive out of the public square, any consideration of what God or the moral law might require of a just society.”   Our secular educational systems teach that the only moral absolute is that there are no moral absolutes.  Individualism is now taught to be the foundation of society.  Individuals are set free of any moral duties and their only goal is self-preservation and self-interest.  In this context schools teach a new definition of marriage and sexual mores. This stands in opposition to the millennia-old concept of natural law in which the natural family (father, mother and children) was the foundation of society and the root of moral order.

Think I’m exaggerating?  Consider the fact that religion has been under attack throughout Europe and more recently in the USA.  A new law in France will now ban the use of the terms “father” and “mother” with regard to marriage.  When this new law goes into effect, all references to father and mother will be erased from civil code and replaced with the term “parent.”  This is being done to correspond with the new definition of marriage which states: “Marriage is the union of two persons of different or same gender.”  Closer to home, the Obama administration has declared its intent to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act; attempted force a church to retain a gay minister (but lost their case in a 9-0 Supreme Court decision); has defined religious organizations so narrowly that any organization that serves or hires people of a different faith, will be denied exemption from the new HHS mandate.  This latter issue is now the subject of 33 federal lawsuits with more than 100 plaintiffs, including the largest 14 dioceses in the country, numerous Catholic hospital systems and Catholic social service agencies, and a number of employers including Chik-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby.  The HHS mandate is a clear violation of the First Amendment.  The federal government is now dictating that employers, including Catholic hospitals and social service agencies, must provide services, even if they violate their religious convictions.  This same government is attempting to redefine marriage and if that becomes the law of the land, as it is now in France, the Church will be accused of intolerance and discrimination.  Several large Catholic social service agencies have already been forced to close because of their refusal to offer adoptions to gay couples.  The US Catholic Bishops have already declared that if necessary, they will close down Catholic hospitals and social service agencies if necessary, rather than comply with the HHS mandate.  By the way, there are approximately 1600 Catholic hospitals which comprise more than 20% of all hospital beds in the country, and many of these are in urban areas abandoned by for-profit hospitals.

All of this represents an aggressive move toward secularism, and inevitably to the moral decline of our nation.   This threatens our sustainability for several reasons which should be obvious to anyone who looks seriously at what happened in the communist countries where religion was denigrated.  As marriages decline, so do families and the civilizing influence of the moral responsibilities of marriage and family.  Crime increases, as does poverty, and more people look to the government for support of unsustainable social welfare systems.  Rather than fix broken social systems, socialist governments (the more genteel heirs of communism) attempt to sustain society by spending more and more on social welfare and bigger government (70% of all jobs in Greece are government jobs).  But in an era of declining birthrates, the number of workers is not growing fast enough to keep up with the burgeoning elderly population and the increasing number of people expecting government assistance. 

Common sense dictates that the federal government cannot continue to spend $1.40 for every $1.00 of revenue it takes in.  In addition to the $16 trillion national debt, the US faces more than $128 Trillion in unfunded liabilities.  The solution does not lie in simply raising taxes, nor can it be solved by drastic cuts in spending.  True sustainability depends on returning to the moral values that formed the basis for founding our country and made our nation great in the first place, that is, belief in “the laws of nature and nature’s God.”  We violate nature when we deny the truth of our bodies and the nature of marriage and family as the basis of civil society.  No nation can sustain itself when it kills its children.  Fifty-five million Americans have died at the hands of abortionists over the past 38 years.  Imagine how much creativity, productivity, and genius, not to mention earning power and tax dollars, these Americans would be contributing if alive today.  The culture of death is simply not sustainable. 

In the face this worldwide “tsunami of secularism,” the Catholic Church offers a solution, albeit one not well-marketed as yet.  The New Evangelization called for by Pope John Paul II over twenty years ago, is now revving up.  It offers hope amidst the despair of everything going to hell in a hand basket.  The bishops’ primary role is to teach or “catechize,” and they hope to make a concerted effort to do so in the coming year.  They are devastated by the fact that half of all Catholics voted for President Obama, despite the bishops’ efforts to explain the ramifications of participating in the intrinsic evil of abortion by voting for pro-choice politicians.  Pope Benedict XVI has declared this coming year to be a “Year of Faith” and the US Catholic bishops will attempt to reconnect with all Catholics by instructing them in the primacy of the culture of life, the importance of marriage and family and the implications of losing our freedom of religion.   If successful, more Catholics will come to realize that freedom of conscience is not merely doing what we “feel” is right, but rather, discover the hope and beauty of the moral truths as revealed by Jesus Christ.  By establishing a well-formed moral conscience, Catholics will embrace the culture of life and assume their natural roles as fathers and mothers, taking responsibility for educating their children in the moral truths which are so ridiculed and maligned by secularism.  This is the hope of America.  This is what made us the envy of the world.  This is what our children need from us, rather than the deceit of individualism and the mountain of debt our government seems determined to heap on them.  I urge you to learn more about The New Evangelization.  It is not only the path to sustainability, it offers hope in the face of secularism, and it will benefit our children and grandchildren immensely for generations to come.

Post-Election Meditation

Two thoughts occupy my mind as I contemplate the results of this week’s election.  The first is, “What will become of our country over the next four years?”  The second is, “It’s hard to be hateful when you’re grateful.”   Let me explain each separately. 

Several years ago a book entitled The Tipping Point ,by Malcolm Gladwell, was a best seller for quite a while. It’s about sociological change, what causes it, and how it can happen so quickly.  Gladwell described trends that seem to come out of nowhere and sweep the nation, changing styles, behavior and even language and beliefs. In his exploration of this phenomenon, he describes a small subset of people who can have a huge influence in changing our styles, trends and culture.   He categorizes them as Connectors (masters of social media), Mavens (intellectuals) and Salesmen (charismatic persuaders), each playing a specific but crucial role in effecting changes that spread rapidly, almost like a virus, changing styles, attitudes and beliefs.  It’s a fascinating book and I won’t elaborate on it here, but I believe our nation is close to a “tipping point” brought about by a small group of people whose ability to shape thinking, spread ideas, and sell them to the public has moved our country “forward” in a new direction.

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I believe our country is headed in a new direction.  The Democrats and President Obama are transforming America from the country that has become to the most prosperous in the world, to one in which the redistribution of wealth and economic equality are the highest priorities, even if it means racking up mountains of debt while inhibiting the creation of new jobs.  They have redefined the pursuit of happiness as the right to do whatever we please, as long as it makes us happy, rather than the opportunity to succeed through ambition and hard work.  According to the Democratic platform, civil liberty is granted by the state which now funds contraception, abortion, and eventually, euthanasia, to ensure that no one is inconvenienced by unwanted children or illness in old age.  Religious liberty has been redefined as the right to worship in private, but not the right to act according to our beliefs, if those beliefs are contrary to the wisdom of the government. Those who disagree with government decrees and mandates will be fined or prosecuted for intolerance and refusal to act according to government dictates.  Freedom is no longer an inalienable right, but one granted by government, subject to the state’s definition of marriage, morality and fairness.

On election day we learned that a majority of Americans agree with this new direction.  We seem to have forgotten that America’s amazing prosperity has been the result of the freedom to succeed on the basis of ambition and hard work, not the redistribution of wealth in pursuit of economic equality.  Entrepreneurs who make sacrifices, take risks, and succeed in creating jobs, are now categorized as selfishly refusing to pay their “fair share,” despite the fact that the top 10% of income earners pay 71% of all taxes, while 47% pay no tax at all.   People of deep religious conviction are now considered bigots for their intolerance of this new social doctrine which has redefined marriage, morality, and even the right to life, which has been superseded by the right to privacy.  This is the liberal ideology that people voted to continue, defining it as moving “forward.”

Conservatives on the other hand, believe that a robust economy is not only an economic imperative, it is a moral and cultural imperative as well.  What made America the economic powerhouse it has become, is the belief that prosperity is linked to creativity, responsibility and generosity, not the redistribution of wealth.  According to Catholic social doctrine, as described by Pope John Paul II in his 1983 and 1991 encyclicals, empowerment of the underprivileged depends on a robust economy which gives everyone access to honorable work which makes it possible for them to be responsible for their own lives and the lives of their loved ones.  In those same encyclicals, the pope warned about the creation of a nanny state in which social welfare discouraged the virtues of self-reliance and hard work.  The pope also explained that in the post-industrial world, wealth resides not so much in natural resources as in human creativity, skills, work habits, and entrepreneurial instincts. 

Have we abandoned these beliefs in favor of social equity, as enforced by the state who has declared itself the arbiter of the new morality?  Have the mavens of liberal doctrine succeeded in discarding the traditions and principals that resulted in America becoming the most free and most prosperous nation in the world?  President Obama has promised a “fundamental transformation of America.”  It seems he is succeeding in this promise, and perhaps we are a tipping point in this new direction.  Or not.

My second thought on all this is that despite the angst of the election, and all the disappointment among the slight minority of voters who opposed the president, all is not lost.  America is still the most free nation in the world.  Secularism, while on the rise, has not yet won the battle for hearts and minds. If we dwell on the negative aspects of the election, it would be easy to adopt a cynical point of view which only contributes to the polarization of our nation.  The old adage, “It’s hard to be hateful when you’re grateful” is worth remembering, especially now.  We have much to be grateful for, and must never take our freedom and prosperity for granted.  Although liberals would have us move in the direction of Europe, where the combination of secularism and socialism have destroyed economies, we are still far better off than any other nation in the world.   As recent census data shows, demographic trend favors conservatism.  Liberals have fewer children, and over time the conservative population will grow faster.  Moreover, the effects of liberalism will soon become evident as our economy heads into the fiscal cliff.  It’s only a matter of time before we come to our senses with respect to deficit spending which cannot go on forever.  I’m confident the pendulum will swing back to the right as the effects of liberalism become more evident.  In the meanwhile, let’s all give thanks for our free nation and redouble our efforts to pray for a return to the virtues and values that have made America the envy of the world.