The Call of Christian Conscience

by Fr. Roger Landry - December 4, 2009

Later in this edition, we print in full a remarkable declaration of American Christians — clergy and lay, Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical — that is a brilliant analysis of the ongoing series of attacks on the foundational principles of justice and the common good in our country as well as a courageous, inspiring public pledge to come together in conscience vigorously to oppose them.

Called the "Manhattan Declaration" because it was originally conceived in a meeting in New York City, it is a concise and compelling presentation of the authentically Christian positions on the dignity of human life, marriage and religious freedom and a direct response to recent political developments with respect to health care reform, referenda on marriage and multiple incursions against freedom of conscience.

It is a document that every conscientious Christian citizen ought to read, co-sign, and help implement.

We would like to underline seven important points made in the declaration.

First, while the history of Christian institutions clearly includes "imperfections and shortcomings," Christians have a two-millennium track-record of being the salt, light and leaven in their societies. From rescuing abandoned babies in the Roman empire, to caring for the sick and suffering during plagues, to leading the fight to eliminate slavery and racism, and to battling against human trafficking and sexual slavery, Christians have not shirked from helping their societies to recognize human dignity and protect and promote it. Today's Christians are called to do the same.

Second, Christians have a right — and, in fact, an obligation — to speak and act in defense of the dignity of human beings created in the divine image. Like Martin Luther King, William Wilberforce, so many martyrs, and countless Christian heroes before us, we can and must act. The signers of the declaration state that "no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence," They pledge to proclaim the Gospel "in season and out of season," and explicitly call on God's help so that we do not fail in our duty.

Third, the same ignominious notions of "life unworthy of life" that inspired the eugenics movement in the early 20th century and flourished in Nazi Germany have "returned from the grave" in the modern instantiations of the culture of death. Even though the "doctrines of the eugenicists are dressed up in the language of 'liberty,' 'autonomy,' and 'choice,'" no euphemism can gloss over the damage caused by cancer of abortion and its metastasized daughter cells: embryonic destructive research, "therapeutic" cloning, and "voluntary" euthanasia. This new form of culturally acceptable eugenics "cheapens life in all its stages and conditions" and promotes the belief that "lives that are imperfect, immature or inconvenient are discardable." American Christians today should do what we wish German Christians would have done in the 1930s and 40s, and stand up in defense of those whom others want to treat as disposable.

Fourth, the "first responsibility of government" is to "protect the weak and vulnerable against violent attack, and to do so with no favoritism, partiality, or discrimination." This is precisely the point that Pope Benedict made during his address to the United Nations in April last year. This means that it is a total dereliction of duty — not just Christian duty but civic — for Christians in public office not to do everything in their means to decrease and eliminate the destruction of innocent human life. It is likewise a total dereliction of religious and civic duty for Christian citizens of a Republic like ours — who share in the responsibility of government — not to do everything possible to protect innocent human life.

Fifth, since marriage is the "first institution of human society" and the "institution on which all other human institutions have their foundation," it follows that "marriage is the original and most important institution for sustaining the health, education, and welfare of all persons in a society. Where marriage is honored, and where there is a flourishing marriage culture, everyone benefits — the spouses themselves, their children, the communities and societies in which they live. Where the marriage culture begins to erode, social pathologies of every sort quickly manifest themselves." There are many influences that have led to the erosion of a marital culture — out-of-wedlock births, non-marital sexual cohabitation, unilateral divorce, glamorizing promiscuity and infidelity, and the scandalous failure of many Christians and Christian institutions to uphold marriage and "model for the world its true meaning" — but the most urgent threat today is the attempt to redefine marriage as something other than the union of one man and one woman. If political attempts to redefine marriage succeed, the declaration says, it would be nearly impossible to restore a sound understanding of marriage and rebuild a healthy marriage culture, because it "would lock into place the false and destructive belief that marriage is all about romance and other adult satisfactions, and not, in any intrinsic way, about procreation and the unique character and value of acts and relationships whose meaning is shaped by their aptness for the generation, promotion and protection of life."

Sixth, the greatest attacks on the rights of religious freedom and of conscience come from those who are always clamoring for us to affirm their rights. "It is ironic that those who today assert a right to kill the unborn, aged and disabled and also a right to engage in immoral sexual practices — and even a right to have relationships integrated around these practices be recognized and blessed by law — are very often in the vanguard of those who would trample upon the freedom of others to express their religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife." This is an "ominous" development "not only because of its threat to the individual liberty guaranteed to every person, regardless of his or her faith, but because the trend also threatens the common welfare and the culture of freedom on which our system of republican government is founded." The signers of the declaration do not hold back from describing what such lack of respect for freedom of religion and conscience portends: "Disintegration of civil society is a prelude to tyranny."

Finally, Christians must be willing to pay the cost for doing what is right, "even at risk and cost to ourselves and our institutions." When laws are passed that are "gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral," when laws "undermine the common good rather than serve it," Christians have a right and duty to civil disobedience, as we have seen in the example of the early Christians all the way to Dr. Martin Luther King. "Unjust laws degrade human beings. Inasmuch as they can claim no authority beyond sheer human will, they lack any power to bind in conscience."

This leads to the courageous and powerful concluding paragraph, which is a forewarning of widespread Christian disobedience if unjust laws are forced upon us. "Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's."

Anchor readers wishing to join prominent American Cardinals, bishops, priests and lay leaders, Orthodox and Evangelical torchbearers and, as of press time 251,050 other Christian citizens in signing the declaration, may do so by visiting manhattandeclaration.org.

Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.