PrintApril 4, 2010
A Catholic Doctor's Hope for America
"A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope."
- Pope John Paul II
It is sadly fitting that in preparation for Holy Week, our country has passed a bill which funds the persecution of innocent life. President Obama strategically used 104 Catholic congressmen to give me, a physician, expanded government resources to legally kill patients in order to provide better health care.
"Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger ..., and not minister to your needs?" He will answer them, "Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me." And these will go off to eternal punishment ... (Matthew 25:44-46)
Not the only Judas, but clearly the most visible traitor to the unborn, Bart Stupak exhibited a deceptive determination to protect "these least ones." Yet in the final hour, he betrayed humanity for a few silver-tongued words from a president with an inhuman view of the unborn. Stupak is one of a steadily increasing number of politicians who since Ted Kennedy have been allowed to proclaim Catholicism yet promote faithfulness only at politically convenient times. Seventeen Catholic senators and 87 Catholic representatives voted yes to federal funding for abortion with their vote on health reform. These congressmen, along with many other high-profile Catholics from both inside and outside the government, mock the Church and endanger their souls by choosing to increase persecution of innocent life.
Our American Catholic bishops are devout men. However, like Saint Peter, who denied knowing Christ on Good Friday, they have similarly denied Christ by failing to do what is required for the unborn. Many bishops strongly voiced their dissatisfaction with Barack Obama's anti-life views, but a rationalization on abortion was allowed to blossom among Catholic voters without strong guidance to the contrary from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). This in turn allowed Obama's election. Realizing that a strong Catholic Church could derail his agenda, Obama empowered many unfaithful Catholics, including the vice president, House speaker, and HHS secretary, in an attempt to make his agenda appear pro-Catholic while at the same time overpowering orthodox teaching.
The best-known Catholics in the United States are now Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, people who invoke God and saints to increase access to abortion. Their example generates more and more "believe what you want, do what you want" Catholics while also creating an impression among all Americans that the Catholic Church is just another hypocritical organization. The priest sex scandal has been strategically reanimated to support these ideas. Dealing with issues that happened years ago, the timing of this story is designed to limit the Church's moral authority at a critical time as the government works rapidly to defend an expanded anti-life agenda.
Life begins at conception, all innocent life has equal value, and the deliberate destruction of innocent human life constitutes grave sin. These are infallible Church teachings, clearly enumerated in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). Unfortunately, the bishops have failed to teach these concepts or the true meaning of conscience. They have similarly failed to promote conscience as the key to proper voting. Imagine if a politician championed a solution to illegal immigration that mirrored our country's legal solution to unwanted pregnancies -- i.e., the annual extermination of one million illegal immigrants. No Catholic bishop would suggest that there could be proportionate reason to vote for that candidate. Pro-lifers for illegals would never be accused of being too confrontational. That candidate would not be allowed within a mile of any Catholic university. A vastly different attitude is shown toward the unborn simply because for many Catholics including clergy, the idea that all innocent life has equal value is unacceptable. The election of President Obama indicates that we have changed from a country based on principle and truth to one guided by emotion and selfishness, a transformation in which Catholics fully participate. (Does anyone really care about an embryo?)
Over time, Satan has worked insidiously to split our Catholic bishops into factions and weaken their vital pastoral influence. For the most part, the USCCB promotes non-controversial issues, for which any disagreement is over approach, at the expense of championing fundamental moral truths. There is nearly universal agreement that war is tragic and aid for the poor mandatory, but there is little understanding why contraceptive use, very widespread among Catholics, is sinful. Thus the disjointed condemnation of abortion should not be surprising. For close to forty years, the USCCB has worked quietly to evangelize pro-abortion Catholic politicians, occasionally commenting that such politicians are privately and automatically self-excommunicated for their acts. Unfortunately, the number of unfaithful Catholics in prominent positions strongly indicates that isolated words and private excommunication have had little effect. After the deaths of close to fifty million innocent Americans and probable eternal punishment for many Catholic politicians, I sincerely pray that our bishops will change course and unify in their pastoral guidance, making it abundantly clear to all that political support for abortion is unacceptable and carries with it serious consequences, both in this life and the next.
If an adult child living at home blatantly and continually disregards house rules despite receiving thoughtful parental help, the father must lovingly tell the child to leave, both to benefit the rest of the family and the child himself. The bishops of America need the courage to be loving fathers and publicly excommunicate those members of their flock that bring scandal to the Church. St. Peter denied Christ for the justifiable fear of losing things of earthly importance -- mainly his life. We are no different. That is why unwavering defense of the unborn is so difficult; it would result in divisive, painful, and alienating actions against the faithful. Jesus's death on the cross on Good Friday testifies to this fact. Yet in the end, if our bishops take up their cross, I strongly believe that our faith will strengthen, our country will regain its power for good, and ultimately, the lives of the unborn will be saved. Good will conquer evil; this is the positive redeeming truth of Jesus's resurrection on Easter.
Catholicism is truth, and it will never die despite the sinfulness of its people. The same cannot be written of our government. As a twenty-year Navy veteran, I have served the country I love, one in which I want my five small children to prosper. For over two hundred years, this country has been uniquely blessed by God, and in return, we have been a beacon for truth and justice and positive innovation throughout the world. This will continue to be possible only if we follow Christ's guidance, an ideal our forefathers clearly understood. "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."
Since 1973, as a nation, we have destroyed the unalienable rights of close to fifty million Americans. I pray fervently that our bishops will use their unique position to help America regain its moral character; otherwise, we truly are a nation without hope.
Peter M. Bleyer, M.D. is LCDR USN ret.
