Charles J. Chaput: The Homicides Involved in Abortion Are 'Little Murders'
People who claim that supporting an outspoken defender of legal abortion is somehow "prolife" are just wrong.
PrintDENVER, Colorado (Witherspoon Institute) - In an address delivered on October 17, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput stated that ''Prof. Douglas Kmiec has a strong record of service to the Church and the nation in his past. But I think his activism for Senator Barack Obama, and the work of Democratic-friendly groups like Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, have done a disservice to the Church, confused the natural priorities of Catholic social teaching, undermined the progress pro-lifers have made, and provided an excuse for some Catholics to abandon the abortion issue instead of fighting within their parties and at the ballot box to protect the unborn.''
The following is condensed and adapted from an address Charles J. Chaput delivered at an ENDOW (''Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women'') dinner, October 17.
***
"Before I begin, I need to say what a friend of mine calls my ''Litany to the IRS.'' Here it is. I'm not here to tell you how to vote. I don't want to do that, I won't do that, and I don't use code language - so you don't need to spend any time looking for secret political endorsements.I plan to speak candidly, but I can only do that if you remember that I'm here as an author and private citizen. I'm not speaking for the Holy See, or the American bishops, or any other bishop, or even officially for the Archdiocese of Denver. So the things I say are my personal views, nothing more. I think they're pretty solidly grounded in Catholic teaching and the heart of the Church, but it's your task as Catholics and citizens to listen, evaluate and then act as you judge best.
As adults, each of us needs to form a strong Catholic conscience. Then we need to follow that conscience when we vote. And then we need to take responsibility for the consequences of the vote we cast. Nobody can do that for us. That's why really knowing and living our Catholic faith is so important. It's the only reliable guide we have for acting in the public square as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Render Unto Caesar
So let's talk for a few minutes about my recent book Render Unto Caesar. When people ask me about the book, the questions usually fall into three categories. Why did I write it? What does the book say? And what does the book mean for each of us as individual Catholics? Why did I write this book, now? One answer is simple. A friend asked me to do it. Back in 2004, a young attorney I know ran for public office as a prolife Democrat. He nearly won in a heavily Republican district. But he also discovered how hard it can be to raise money, run a campaign and stay true to your Catholic convictions, all at the same time. After the election he asked me to put my thoughts about faith and politics into a form that other young Catholics could use who were thinking about a political vocation - and it really is a ''vocation.''
That's where the idea started. But I also had another reason for doing the book. Frankly, I just got tired of hearing outsiders and insiders tell Catholics to keep quiet about our religious and moral views in the big public debates that involve all of us as a society. That's a kind of bullying, and I don't think Catholics should accept it.Another reason for writing the book is that when I looked around for a single source that explains the Catholic political vocation in an easy, authentic and engaging way, it just didn't exist. So I thought I might as well try to write it, because a friend told me it would ''practically write itself.''
So what does the book say? I think the message of Render Unto Caesar can be condensed into a few basic points.
Here's the first point. For many years, studies have shown that Americans have a very poor sense of history, and that's very dangerous, because as Thucydides and Machiavelli and Thomas Jefferson have all said, history matters. It matters because the past shapes the present, and the present shapes the future. If American Catholics don't know history, and especially their own history as Catholics, then somebody else - and usually somebody not very friendly - will create their history for them.
Here's the second point. America is not a secular state. As historian Paul Johnson once said, America was ''born Protestant.'' It has uniquely and deeply religious roots. Obviously it has no established Church, and it has non-sectarian public institutions. It also has plenty of room for both believers and non-believers. But the United States was never intended to be a ''secular'' country in the radical modern sense. Nearly all the Founders were either Christian or at least religion-friendly. And all of our public institutions and all of our ideas about the human person are based in a religiously shaped vocabulary. So if we cut God out of our public life, we cut the foundation out from under our national ideals.
Here's the ...
The following is condensed and adapted from an address Charles J. Chaput delivered at an ENDOW (''Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women'') dinner, October 17.
***
"Before I begin, I need to say what a friend of mine calls my ''Litany to the IRS.'' Here it is. I'm not here to tell you how to vote. I don't want to do that, I won't do that, and I don't use code language - so you don't need to spend any time looking for secret political endorsements.I plan to speak candidly, but I can only do that if you remember that I'm here as an author and private citizen. I'm not speaking for the Holy See, or the American bishops, or any other bishop, or even officially for the Archdiocese of Denver. So the things I say are my personal views, nothing more. I think they're pretty solidly grounded in Catholic teaching and the heart of the Church, but it's your task as Catholics and citizens to listen, evaluate and then act as you judge best.
As adults, each of us needs to form a strong Catholic conscience. Then we need to follow that conscience when we vote. And then we need to take responsibility for the consequences of the vote we cast. Nobody can do that for us. That's why really knowing and living our Catholic faith is so important. It's the only reliable guide we have for acting in the public square as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Render Unto Caesar
So let's talk for a few minutes about my recent book Render Unto Caesar. When people ask me about the book, the questions usually fall into three categories. Why did I write it? What does the book say? And what does the book mean for each of us as individual Catholics? Why did I write this book, now? One answer is simple. A friend asked me to do it. Back in 2004, a young attorney I know ran for public office as a prolife Democrat. He nearly won in a heavily Republican district. But he also discovered how hard it can be to raise money, run a campaign and stay true to your Catholic convictions, all at the same time. After the election he asked me to put my thoughts about faith and politics into a form that other young Catholics could use who were thinking about a political vocation - and it really is a ''vocation.''
That's where the idea started. But I also had another reason for doing the book. Frankly, I just got tired of hearing outsiders and insiders tell Catholics to keep quiet about our religious and moral views in the big public debates that involve all of us as a society. That's a kind of bullying, and I don't think Catholics should accept it.Another reason for writing the book is that when I looked around for a single source that explains the Catholic political vocation in an easy, authentic and engaging way, it just didn't exist. So I thought I might as well try to write it, because a friend told me it would ''practically write itself.''
So what does the book say? I think the message of Render Unto Caesar can be condensed into a few basic points.
Here's the first point. For many years, studies have shown that Americans have a very poor sense of history, and that's very dangerous, because as Thucydides and Machiavelli and Thomas Jefferson have all said, history matters. It matters because the past shapes the present, and the present shapes the future. If American Catholics don't know history, and especially their own history as Catholics, then somebody else - and usually somebody not very friendly - will create their history for them.
Here's the second point. America is not a secular state. As historian Paul Johnson once said, America was ''born Protestant.'' It has uniquely and deeply religious roots. Obviously it has no established Church, and it has non-sectarian public institutions. It also has plenty of room for both believers and non-believers. But the United States was never intended to be a ''secular'' country in the radical modern sense. Nearly all the Founders were either Christian or at least religion-friendly. And all of our public institutions and all of our ideas about the human person are based in a religiously shaped vocabulary. So if we cut God out of our public life, we cut the foundation out from under our national ideals.
Here's the ...
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Thanks!! Very interesting article.
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Pro-abortionists will tell you that abortion is not killing. See what their reaction is when you say to them, "Your mother should have had an abortion." The odds are that if they verbalize their response they will accuse you of threatening their life. If they do not verbalize their response, look at their facial expression. You'll most likely read that very same response in their face. They know it's killing!
Paul Bradford: Shame we couldn't get the pro-abortionist to adopt your changing hearts tactic pre Roe.
In 1971 Judith Blake was the chairman of the department of Demography at UC Berkeley, an enclave for population control freaks.
After studying public opinion against legalized abortion, she concluded that a Supreme Court decision striking down state laws would be "the only road to rapid change."
Right before Roe, Bella Abzug’s legislation to nullify state anti-abortion laws had languished in Congress for eleven months, attracting no more than 20 sponsors.
Changing hearts is indeed an important job in the pro-life effort but as Gov. Robert Casey stated, the law is the great teacher.
In the end tactics aside. Abortion is unjust and children deserve the full protection of our society including its laws.
In response to Paul Bradford, by the logic in your comment then perhaps Lincoln shouldn't have signed the Emancipation Proclamation until everyone's hearts and minds were changed. Or maybe Kennedy shouldn't have sent troops to enforce integration at the University of Alabama until he changed the hearts of those who were against it. Had they not done those things, they would have betrayed the values that is given to us all by our Creator, values which we are required to defend as children of God. It doesn't matter how lousy the Republicans are, most of them will not enact laws or appoint judges that will protect and defend the killing of our unborn. You certainly can't say that about Obama or most of the Democrats. Our right to life is primary and MUST be protected by law. If we as a society refuse to do that, then we will fall, that much is certain. I pray you have a change of heart.
Thankyou for this wonderful commentary. I thankyou for making the point "our job as believers is to figure out what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God" is what I believe is the bottom line. People need to remember they belong to God and to have eternity with God means to put our hearts and mind on the things of God. Faith and understanding and living the word of God are vital for life. Human lives all belong to God whether or not they can defend themselves. If we don't defend all life including the unborn, we are denying God what is His. If we yield to the myth that separation of church and state is what we need, then we deny God. We deny ourselves as Christians and allow ourselves to be told what to think. Separation of Church and State is genecide of all human life. Abortion is infanticide of human life, morality, the teachings of Jesus Christ and the very foundation of the truth of God. And the church of God will be destroyed. Our first priorities in life need to be all that belongs to God, life and God's word. Without attention to what matters to God for eternity, we are doomed if we surrender to Caesar.
Wow! A speech like that makes me want to get his book! I don't say that very often.
Of course, these are simply my personal views as an author and private citizen. But I'm grateful to Prof. Kmiec for quoting me in his book and giving me the reason to speak so clearly about our differences. I think his activism for Senator Obama, and the work of Democratic-friendly groups like Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, have done a disservice to the Church, confused the natural priorities of Catholic social teaching, undermined the progress prolifers have made, and provided an excuse for some Catholics to abandon the abortion issue instead of fighting within their parties and at the ballot box to protect the unborn.
As Bishop Chaput readily admitted, these are his personal views as an author and private citizen. I would like to share my personal views in the same spirit.
Since the late 'seventies, conservative Republicans have taken an interest in the Pro-Life movement, not with a desire to end abortion but with the thought of gaining allies for a political agenda that has nothing to do with advancing Catholic Social Teaching.
The plan that has been outlined for Pro-Lifers to follow has been as convoluted as a Rube Goldberg project. The idea has been to elect Republican presidents who will nominate conservative Supreme Court justices who may, if the time ever becomes right, overturn Roe v Wade so that the states will be free to make their own regulations regarding abortion. Somehow, Pro-Lifers have convinced themselves that this scheme will (eventually) protect the unborn. It has only had the effect of increasing the power of the GOP (and, as an unhappy side-effect, put Pro-Life Democrats at odds with the leaders of their own party. Republicans have co-opted the Pro-Life movement even as abortion rights advocates have co-opted the progressive wing of the Democratic Party).
The rate of abortion has been steadily decreasing since 1981 -- not because of legal restrictions, but because the Pro-Life witness has changed the minds and hearts of young women. The young woman of 2008 is much more likely to respect the life of her unborn child than the women of her mother's generation was in 1978. This improvement in this respect for life, this movement toward building a Culture of Life has advanced steadily under Democratic and Republican administrations and during both good and bad economic times.
Barack Obama has no authentic interest in lowering the abortion rate (although he does seem to be sincerely interested in lowering the rate of unintended pregnancy). John McCain, on the other hand, has nothing new to offer in the way of Pro-Life strategy. Our choice is between a candidate who has only an indirect interest in reducing abortion and a candidate who is committed to following the same discredited strategy we've been using for thirty years.
We haven't overturned Roe v Wade. I expect that if we ever do overturn it, the long term effects will ultimately be bad for the Pro-Life movement.
The non-governmental strategy of changing hearts and minds has had a positive result. There is still a lot of work to do. Laws can only reflect the values of a society -- they can't shape them. Pro-Lifers should direct their efforts to strategies that actually have some hope of working.
I read Render "Unto Caesar..." and learned more about my Catholic faith. We'll never know how much we care until we care enough to know. Our faith is what we should be willing to die for, if necessary. We cannot, we should not put it aside when we vote.
Pray for 30-pieces-of-silver Doug Kmiec.