God Bless America
At St. Mary’s Seminary, while going through the Diaconate Program, a professor told us that the United States was not a Christian nation. I bristled and wanted to tell him how wrong he was, but he was right, in that, the Constitution prohibits a person from having to declare a religious belief of any kind in order to be a citizen. However, there is no doubt our nation was founded and flourished under Christian principles. Colonies, later states, required a Christian profession of faith in order to vote or hold office. Over time, those requirements evaporated until the idea of “separation of church and state” became the mantra of those who wanted nothing to do with religious beliefs. Unfortunately, many people have been swayed by this misinterpretation. The separation of church and state does not mean that one cannot hold religious values or that worship of God has to be done behind closed doors. It means the state cannot impose its brand of religion on its citizens. This is what many of the founding colonists had left behind for religious freedom and why they valued freedom so much.
Today, there is a huge debate about religion and politics that was not present 20 or 30 years ago. It was sure not present when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s. Back then, religion was a part of everyday life. We were used to so called “blue laws” which prohibited the sale of certain products on Sunday. Stores were closed on Sundays, and schools were closed on religious holidays. Not saying Merry Christmas was unheard of. A politician who advocated for the proclaiming of “Happy Holidays” to the exclusion of “Merry Christmas” would have been primaried out of office with a vote of 90 to 10.
Unfortunately, we have seen a change. At our own parish, we have had parishioners question priests and deacons about homilies that seemed “political” in nature, even though the only thing that was done was a quote of the Catechism of the Catholic Church - the official teaching textbook of the church.
At the national level, the religious view of certain politicians has come under scrutiny. Pete Hegseth has been designated by President Elect Trump to become the Secretary of Defense. His religious views are in question. It seems he is a member of a church in Tennessee that is very conservative both in its liturgical expression of worship and in its views on education. It has been reported that it advocates for a return to having a Christian component in classes, such as history and economics. I am struggling to understand the controversy. I grew up with religion being a solid part of everyday life. I believe it should be so. It is my belief that our society is much better when we keep the will of God in the forefront.
An article, Populist Conservatism and Constitutional Order, was published in Imprimis (October 2024 - Volume 53, Number 10) It was written by Kevin D. Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation. Imprimis is a publication of Hillsdale College. In the article, Mr. Robert’s writes, “The top-down, elitist brand of politics that has dominated the United States since the end of the Cold War - under Republican and Democratic administrations alike - has failed. Yes, we are materially richer than we were in 1991, and our largest corporations are more profitable. But we are militarily and strategically weaker, financially endangered and spiritually enervated.” My eye caught “spiritually enervated.” First, I had to look up the word enervated. I had no idea what it meant. Enervated means drained of energy or vitality.
I have to agree. We have seen a decline in spiritual values that has made us less organized and mentally stable. With respect for God and Christian religious tenets comes a sense of direction that cannot be otherwise achieved.
But, I believe we are seeing a revival in religion. I think that we have seen so many failures, we intuitively know that something is wrong and we long to return to a time when love of God and love of neighbor really mattered. We have seen stories of celebrities who publicly enbrace religion, e.g. Mark Wahberg, Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in the series, The Chosen, who converted to Catholicism, and Gwen Stefani - all of whom are associated with Hallow. Many of our young people are returning to Church to find direction and joy. I believe we are headed back in the right direction. People may come along kicking and screaming, but 20 years from now, we will be in much better shape.