Freedom as Idolatry

As a Navy veteran, in a special way, I appreciate the freedoms we have as Americans. However, the movement of our society to valuing unlimited freedoms as a god, led by those who espouse postmodern approaches knowingly or unknowingly, is most troubling.  An individual or society that does not see the value and need to sacrifice freedoms for good reasons is a person or society that is rootless and bound to decline, just like the Roman Empire. 
That a law protecting the right to abortion was deemed nationally unconstitutional is telling.  More than just politics, from the first, constitutional legal experts declared Row v Wade overreach.  Surely, enshrining abortion in our state constitution is similar and not imagined by past generations.  Some constitutional changes can be enlightened, unimagined in the past, but in concert with eternal values such as equality, dignity and respect, for example women’s suffrage. However, the enshrinement of abortion in our state constitution would be remarkably unenlightened. Let’s look at some reasons why.   

Gradualism
The disrespect that underlies abortion is prone gradualism, or as it is also called, the slippery slope.  If a child in utero can be aborted because the child impinges on the freedom of a woman, then truly, (and this might sound extreme,) what is to prevent infanticide?  For, there is no greater freedom limiter than a born baby who needs more care and is more helpless than a child in the womb.  Infanticide was not legal in Roman society.  Yet it was practiced, undoubtedly a sign of the rootless foundation of a declining culture.  Pursuit of unlimited freedoms will not free or better a person or society. 

Healthcare that is not Healthy
There is an additional unlimited freedom inherent in Issue One:  unlimited freedom to abortion providers.  With this constitutional amendment, they are free to not inform, to not caution, and to not protect women regarding abortion. They are also free to assume that minors are mature enough to make such a monumental decision alone, without their parents. 
As well, since “reproductive healthcare” could be legally interpreted as relating to self-determination of sex in opposition to common sense and science, the tumultuous teen years could hold disastrous decisions for “every individual” (as the proposed amendment reads) minor who self-determines into a lifetime of physical and emotional woe that comes from transitioning a healthy physically-sexed body into its opposite.  (For stories and references read The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory by Abgail Favale, which can be obtained in our parish offices.  She relates how a surprising number of healthcare workers have abdicated their responsibility to be true to medical science in favor of yielding to postmodern ideology.  This generation of sex-transitioning minors is becoming an unknowing and massive medical experiment.)

Silence about Parental Rights
The proponents of Issue One state that the proposed amendment “says nothing about parental rights.”  That is true enough, and that should worry any parent who is striving to be a great parent.  The amendment gives “every individual” who is a minor and such healthcare providers above the ability to nullify parental rights.

The Government
Finally, the nebulous and nefarious way the proponents of Issue one refer to “the government” limiting our freedom lacks depth and truth.  The role of a government is to balance freedoms and enforce limitations (laws).  “The government” is the constitution they want to amend.  “The government” is also the legislature, the courts, the governor and legal codes, imperfect though they are, that make us a great state and nation.

Abolishing the Death Penalty in Ohio 
 For the same essential reason the Church calls Catholics to proclaim and lift up the rights of the unborn, children, women and parents by voting “No” on Issue One, the Ohio Conference of Catholic Bishops is also calling for us to work toward abolition of the death penalty by encouraging our state legislators to support Senate Bill 101 and House Bill 259 to end the death penalty in Ohio.  Please visit our website for more information.  There, you can be highly active in the political process easily by writing a form-fill letter to our legislators encouraging them to protect human life.

Vacation/Retreat
As is my custom during the last two weeks of October, I take five weekdays of vacation and a five weekday retreat.  This past week aside from the Tuesday Convocation of Priests and an afternoon with the Parish Leadership Team, I took vacation.  Usually, I go camping.  This year I spent it with Mom, who is eighty-nine and lives in Hamilton.  
A week ago mom fell, still living at home alone.  She used her life alert button and did not need to be transported to emergency, even as she likely broke some ribs.  My siblings and I visit her every day and now we can monitor how she is doing through video.  I stayed with Mom because I love her and to get a better sense of how she is doing.  Please pray for caregivers of spouses and elderly parents.  Theirs is a blessed ministry and a big cross.

Sincerely and with Love in Christ,
Fr. Pat