“The Great Divide”

In a recent Lenten reading from the Gospel of John we find that “a division occurred in the crowd because of [Jesus]” (7:43). Today that divide seems to be widening not only within the Church but between Christians and their governments.

Soon the President of the United States, champion of change and government expansion, will be honored at the University of Notre Dame graduation. This will certainly be a boost for his progressive policies that allow stem-cell research and virtually unlimited abortion even against the moral reservations of many in the medical field. Another possible consequence of the neophyte president’s expansion of government, incisively presaged by W. Bradford Wilcox, “is that the nanny state he [Obama] is seeking to build will likely crowd out religious institutions in America.”

Wilcox cites a recent study by Anthony Gill and Erik Lundsgaarde, political scientists at the University of Washington, revealing an inverse relationship between state welfare spending and religiosity. In their words, "countries with higher levels of per capita welfare have a proclivity for less religious participation and tend to have higher percentages of non-religious individuals." In short, the evidence indicates that, in general, those who rely on the government to meet their needs seem disinclined toward religion. Wilcox states: “The more the state steps in to reduce the economic and social insecurity of its citizens, the less likely fair-weather believers are to darken the door of a church on Sunday.”

In the 1990’s Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger commented that the Church was entering a time of persecution, when following Christ would be a costly decision and when many who identify themselves as Catholic would fall away. Ironically, if Gill and Lundsgaarde are correct, some Catholics might fall away because of government largesse, not just persecution.

At the end of the Gospel passage above, St. John comments: “Then each went to his own house” (7:53). This seemingly unnecessary statement is a literary device that may refer to each person going into his heart of hearts. It is here, in the conscience, that each of us has to determine the truth in every situation. Could it be that we voters, by allowing our government to take over many familial and church responsibilities, are actually assisting in their demise?

Political scientist Alan Wolfe observes in Whose Keeper?: "When government assumes moral responsibility for others, people are less likely to do so themselves." According to Wilcox, "Wolfe noted that large increases in welfare spending in Sweden, Denmark and Norway over the last half century have ended up eroding the moral fabric of families and civic institutions in these societies. Scandinavians have come to depend not on family, civil society, or themselves, but on the government for their basic needs."

No matter how much money our new president and his chosen leaders spend to expand government programs, we cannot become complacent or indifferent to our responsibility as Catholics active in society. The Church provides necessary balance to a government made up of weak and selfish people. In addition to the social benefits that the Church provides by her pastoral ministries, including education and health care, her greatest role is to stand up for Truth. The Body of Christ will outlive the body politic and it is up to each of us to remain faithful to Christ in good times and in bad. This means never allowing the state to slide a wedge between us and our Church. When all is said and done, we must find ourselves on the side of the Church because no amount of government programs can get us to heaven.