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“Culture of Life” vs Social Justice: …Why?
Once united, we Roman Catholics are now divided by political party platforms. Why does one party have ownership of the pro “culture of life” cause and the other that of social justice? Why are we forced to choose which cause is more urgent when both causes are important to us? And even more critically, how does social justice come to be at odds with the pro-life cause, when they should logically extend from the same truth-that we are all equal in the Heart of God?
Aahh, perhaps here is where the disconnect begins , and it is a big one: It centers around our belief in God and our faith. Where is God and do we need Him to achieve social justice?
For the culture-of-life crowd, the answer is an absolute “YES”. These are your regular church-going catholics who occassionally bangle rosary beads to the wonderment of others not so inclined. They believe in Christ, the Risen Lamb of God, and His Real Presence in the Eucharist. They believe in the existence of evil-yes, the devil- on this earth, and its seductive and deceptive power over fallen man. They look forward to the Second Coming of Christ to when humanity will be made whole again and return to Heaven from its exile on Earth. They have little faith in the concept of man making a better world for himself. Still, out of a passionate personal love and fear for Christ, they seek the wellbeing of all of His precious creatures—-ideally. But they are still fallen man.
For those that define their cause in terms of social justice, the answer is more complex. There is definitely a God who in the Second Person of Jesus taught us how to love our neighbor. This is the example with which they model the ideal political structure where the poor are exalted and the mighty are thrown down. They have a passionate desire to see no more suffering and they look to civil institutions, especially government, to slowly but surely bring justice. Then will they be able to victoriously face their Redeemer and show Him their fruits. He has shown man the path to justice, man must be responsible and follow it.
So, if our life on earth was like learning to ride a bike, the culture-of-lifers believe that Christ is on their shoulder to provide balance, direction and to point out immediate unseen dangers on the path. While the social justicians believe that, having watched Him ride, they can now try it on their own. Both believe they will reach the destination.
But there is a problem.
Christ is the Word of God and He speaks words of Love. Love before faith, hope, justice. knowledge, courage, humility, because Love fuels it all. And this love is not just a brotherly love that puts one in mind of warm hearths, Christmas hymns and rice bowls overflowing. This love is the intense, blood throbbing, sweaty, breathtaking love of a lover–only multiplied exponentially!!! There is no warm fuzzy here.
With this sort of love there is no compromise. An injustice burns the heart of the Lover. A grave injustice ravages His Heart. There can be no rest for lovers of Christ while evils are perpetrated before us, before Him. Yet because true believers adore Him as King of Kings and the Most High, they realize that He is allowing the evil to exist. He is not stopping it. He knows that the graver issue is not the suffering and death of the body (which is so difficult to witness), but the withering of the soul (which must be hideous to behold). Often, it is through those who suffer, that the souls of sinners are reinvigorated, are saved. These sinners are the very people who work for the weak and unfortunate, and who by their actions may never improve the plight of the poor,weak and, disadvantaged, but whose fruits are something they never expected: the delivery of their very own souls.
So to imagine that we can obliterate suffering on earth may be vainglorious and futile while to neglect those who suffer is dangerous for our souls.
Specifically, the attempt to obliterate suffering by promoting abortion, stem cell research and all research utilizing body parts acquired from murdered preborn babies is, following this logic, horrific and it mocks the Lord and His great mercy. This hideous crime begs for the Wrath of Christ, having every evidence of being the work of the evil one who-as Christ warned-would crush our bones into dust if he could. Similarly euthanasia, also championed by some “social justicians” as a merciful act that ends suffering, robs humanity of an opportunity to practice love, service and sacrifice in Christ’s name.
Why we believers are divided is directly related to the intimacy of our relationship with the Living God. Those who long for, sense and devoutly receive often the Real Presence of Christ realize that there is no looking Him in the face while justifiying this hideous extermination of the new generations. How could we explain to Him that (as the Obama platform indicates) we know abortion isn’t right but it is a necessary evil while we have unwanted pregnancies in our society. ”Who calls them unwanted?” He might say, “Not I.”
