Time to Build a Tower: Obama Reelection Requires a Movement for Life, Family, Freedom and Solidarity

By Keith A Fournier
11/8/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

We must lay out the parts. We must build a movement

What the results of this Presidential election require is a new movement dedicated to authentic social justice, rightly understood - and not some counterfeit. We need a true human rights movement which is authentically ecumenical and unapologetically dedicated to life, family, freedom and solidarity.

'Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish' (Lk. 14).

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CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - I stayed up as late as I could - as late as I had to - to confirm what I had suspected for some time - President Barack Obama was reelected to another four year term of office.

I slept surprisingly well. Not because I am not worried about the future of Nation and the freedom of the Church under the coming second Obama term. I am deeply worried. But because I knew I had done everything that I could to ensure a different result and that the future is in the hands of a loving God.

I awakened this morning to see the results. I found these words from the Gospel of Wednesday's Liturgy to be quite apropos:

"Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish" (Lk. 14).

We have a tower to build. We have work to do. We must calculate the cost and begin.

Those who read my regular commentaries know that I began the 2012 Presidential campaign season doing what I could to assist my friend and a great American Catholic hero, former Senator Rick Santorum. He sacrificed greatly in his campaign for the Presidency.

He did so because of his deep love for this Nation and his sincere Catholic faith. Rick Santorum is a modern day Thomas More. His insistence on the recognition of the Right to Life and Defense of Marriage and family never receded in his public positioning.

His untiring defense of authentic human freedom, and most especially the first freedom, Religious Freedom, were the hallmarks of his campaign. Yes, he addressed the other important policy matters, political, economic and international issues, but never by downplaying those foundational concerns.

When the Senator withdrew from the Presidential campaign I stepped up in support of the nominee of the Republican Party, Mitt Romney. I was buoyed in a particular way by the choice of his running mate, Paul Ryan, another dynamic and unapologetic Catholic candidate whose future, like the Senators, still stretches ahead in American politics.

I did so, not because they were Republicans, but because I determined, through the exercise of my informed conscience, that they would best ensure that life, marriage, family, and religious freedom were protected.

The Romney/Ryan ticket lost the election. I am disappointed but not dejected. There is too much work to be done to waste any time. Governor Romney was gracious in defeat. He is a good man and will continue to serve our Nation with distinction.

I began to get a sense for where this was going a few days ago. Yesterday morning, as I considered the possibility of this result, I was struck with a football analogy. I remember thinking to myself, "whichever ticket wins, it only determines your position on the field". This morning, the analogy rings truly hollow.

There are serious consequences which will follow this election result. It requires a serious response.

The Obama administration is hostile to our first neighbor, the child in the womb. They fail to hear the cry of those whom Blessed Teresa rightly called the "poorest of the poor" - while purporting to be a friend of the poor.

The fundamental Human Right to Life revealed by the Natural Law, confirmed by medical science, and affirmed in the Birth Certificate of the Nation, the Declaration of Independence, is now at an even greater risk of being replaced by an evil counterfeit "right" to take their life, based on little but convenience. That is the effect of legal abortion on demand.

This administration refuses to defend true marriage - and the family and society founded upon it. It seems "hell bent" on doing the bidding of the social and cultural engineers who want to write into the positive law of the Nation a legal equivalency between homosexual partnerships and marriages. That would also place the police power of the State behind enforcing a dangerous social experiment. The entire social order is placed in jeopardy if that occurs.

This administration has revealed its disrespect for the robust vision of religious liberty enshrined in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. This is made most clear in the HHS Mandate. The Free Exercise of Religion, so integral to the American experiment in ordered liberty, is placed in jeopardy in the Presidents second term.

In its place the administration seeks to substitute a notion of a freedom to worship which relegates our mission as a Christian Church to the four corners of our Church buildings. The "religious exception" offered will not allow us to ...

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1 - 10 of 47 Comments

umutwana
6 months ago
This sounds very pleasant, but boy! don't be deceived. Only for those who chose to close their eyes, but for us we know this battle is about worship. You might not see the link now, yes! they have to take you that way so that they can deceive you better. Know that we are going back to the time of the dark ages. You should never forget that the war in heaven between Christ and the then Lucifer, now Satan, was about worship and it is still about worship. This has got nothing to do with human rights and what ever you've got, boy! this is about worship. Open your eyes and see before it is too late. You might say that you are not deceived, but the problem with deceived people is that is exactly how they think. Just pray hard that God should show the way.This is about the New World Order, this about worship. Remember the Master's words in Mathew 24;4 - Take heed that no one deceives you.
Daniel
6 months ago
Okay, I'm in so now where do we go???
Rob
6 months ago
Judy, O'Riely's comment that folks just want free stuff is part of the reason that I believe Mitt lost. So long as one party views the people they are supposed to be serving in that manner, they will never win again. There is absolutely nothing wrong with supporting entitlements, especially those you are taxed to pay for. There is nothing wrong with supporting a safety net for the poor without being labeled as a marxist. But so long as that remains the tone of the GOP, well they have done as good as they are going to do.
judy claar
6 months ago
Deacon Keith: Wonderful article! Wonderful analogies! I Totally agree. And even though I disagree with Rob, I agree with him to a point. My take is: Yes, we Must lay the foundation for the Tower. Then begin to build. And as this happens, we also educate, and/or (Rob's evangelizing).

In the news, it was stated that women, blacks, Hispanics and Catholics have now risen to a state to be recognized with in voting. About 70% of Hispanics voted Obama. Why? Are not Most Hispanics Catholic? What happened? They do not know their Faith? They certainly did not vote their Faith first. This is an area that needs evangelized from within as well as without. And blacks, are not a large majority Christian? Do they not believe in Life? Women. I think that there is a big difference between married women and single women, especially the young, as to how they vote. The single women today are quite different, than my era. I see Good and Bad. Obama Catholics. They appear to be "Stuck Old Democrats" that can't find their way out of the cave. Although, they think no such thing. I also think they lack education of Faith, or "are too educated' as Mom says. Though, I think that is their Ego's excuse. I am educated. I know some that are and some not. It is sometimes harder for the educated in my experience. They will be, and are, a tough nut to crack. Then, I entertain the thought that O'Riely stated the night of the election. "That demographics have changed, and people just want "Free Stuff". That's, 50% of America! It blows the mind!

Taking ALL of the Above into consideration, my conclusion is: We have a lot of Work to do!
Especially on our own! Prayerful Blessings...
Paula
6 months ago
Yes all Catholics who voted for Obama voted for abortion on demand and gay marriage. The reason the Church does not have the influence to accomplish a vote against church policy goes very deep.
Just a recent article which was linked on this site, too many Catholics are schooled in the Catechism but not the Bible. For too many Catholics their religion is just something that is there not a purpose of life. The Church needs to have less rigid rote religion and more passion. Who among us is prepared to die rather than have your Bible taken from you? Who among us is prepared to suffer torture for Christ? That is reality for many Christians in todays world.
When our pope is calling for a UN with more power you can be sure he is not reading Revelations.
Study your Bibles, learn from God's Word.
Rob
6 months ago
Guys, we are leaving a big part of the equation out. We are right to be angry when a catholic politician distorts catholic teachings. We get angry because these people confuse poor catechized catholics (I sure with the bishops would spend some serious time on that issue). But make no mistake that the failure of the "party of life" to do anything tangible on this issue for so long has created a scandal all it own.

I know many of you differ with me on this point, but you cannot tell voters that life has to be their top priority and then not have that EQUALLY matched by the pursuit of policy. When those two are not equal, that by it's very action will result in what we have today, abortion. I am not convinced that the attacks on planned parenthood has anything to do with life. I think it has more to do with just be opposed to what the other team spends money on, in other words, just power.

Besides, when Ryan waffled on this issue accepting Romney's position, that pretty much summed up what they were going to do....nothing. How can they? If you support any excpeptions for abortion, then someone has to do them when the "exceptions" arise.

I think we have an opportunity to shake all this political non-sense off and get to work evangelizing to our own. When we witness life to the world...when we witness Christ, we will turn this tide. But until we do we will stay divided and basically cancel out our vote. A house divided will fall. Church can't fall, but we can reap the whirlwind for our failure to respond accordingly.
Vin
6 months ago
For those who want answers to what is going on today, listen to a 1965 video on line of Paul Harvey's "if I were the devil". A perfect picture of what we have become 47 years later. If it doesn't make you stop and think, you aren't really in touch with what is going on. It will only get worse, not better. People who think they can ignore the past are bound to relive it and we are certainly doing that.
Spudnik
6 months ago
Deacon Keith, when I saw the title and hadn't yet read the article, my first thought was that of Irish round towers, because I had the same thought myself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_round_tower

"Pray for the President, that he may undergo a genuine conversion on the matters which we know are vital to our future as a truly free people. It can happen!"

To my shame this had not truly occurred to me, but you are right. We all should!
Will ButtarazziAmybuttarazzi
6 months ago
Thank you Keith for you thoughtful article. Sign me up! My great uncle, Fr. John Nacca, who was a wonderful and faith filled priest, used to share that a homily always has two parts: what we believe and what we do. You just shared such. Our faith is what we believe. Our politics is what we do. Catholics should be encouraged and emboldened in our faith and have a distinctly positive and life giving influence on our communities. Win or lose we will have been faithful to our selfless Savior. Any other path is a decent into the moral abyss. If The Obama Campaign teaches us anything is that there are three parts to winning: organization, organization, organization. Let's get started. Let's take those steps to organize our voice consistently, not just the weeks before the election....
rafaelmarie
6 months ago
MILLIONS OF CATHOLICS HAVE COMMITTED MORTAL SIN BY VOTING FOR OBAMA.

THOSE SAME MILLIONS ARE COMMITTING A WORSE MORTAL SIN OF SACRILEGE, BY GOING TO COMMUNION IN THAT STATE.

I HOPE CLERGY DOES NOT KNOWINGLY ALLOW THIS, BECAUSE THEY THEMSELVES WILL EVEN BE GUILTIER THAN THE CATHOLICS THAT GO TO COMMUNION IN A STATE OF MORTAL SIN?

CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED!!!

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