Check your religious beliefs at the door - or don't (your call)

Doug Payton looks at yet another of the now-frequent attacks on religious belief coming from leftist activists and promoted by numerous members of the press. In this case, a PC group is trying to drop the hammer on pro-life medical professionals and any Catholic hospital that isn't Catholic in name only.

A note to the leftist activists: I might be wrong about this, but as far as I can see people are not vending machines. You can't expect someone to mindlessly dispense whatever you want. Even for money. Or to make you happy. Imagine that. Hit men and other criminal types, maybe. Good folks, no.

Then there's that whole inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of a clear conscience thing. One definition of a free country is one in which a decent human being cannot legally be forced into doing something he or she would be ashamed of doing. That was a founding principle of the United States of America. It's still a good one, I think. One of the best. Think about it, won't you? At least toy with the idea a while and see where it takes you? Thank you.

A note to Christians and Jews and anybody else with a strong and healthy moral compass (one that actually points in a direction worthy of this precious life you've been given): You might want to read Religion and the Common Good, by Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., the archbishop of Denver, printed at First Things, April 24, 2007. An excerpt:

In other words, ideas have consequences—which brings me to today’s topic. When Cardinal Rigali first invited me to come to Philadelphia to talk about religion and the common good, I accepted for two simple reasons. First, I’m tired of the Church and her people being told to be quiet on public issues that urgently concern us. And second, I’m tired of Christians themselves being silent because of some misguided sense of good manners. Self-censorship is an even bigger failure than allowing ourselves to be bullied by outsiders.

Only one question really matters. Does God exist or not? If he does, that has implications for every aspect of our personal and public behavior: all of our actions, all of our choices, all of our decisions. If God exists, denying him in our public life—whether we do it explicitly like Nietzsche or implicitly by our silence—cannot serve the common good, because it amounts to worshiping the unreal in the place of the real.

[...snip...]

...As Christians we need to live our convictions in the public square with charity and respect for others, but also firmly, with courage and without apology. Anything less is a form of theft from the moral witness we owe to the public discussion of issues. We can never serve the common good by betraying who we are as believers or compromising away what we hold to be true.

He's also got information on the novels of Georges Bernanos, which I admit I haven't read. Yet.

And he's got some comments on Nietzsche. And on attacks on human memory and history. And the meaning of history. The language of the abortion debate. A Flannery O’Connor short story. More. It's a wide-ranging essay, but interesting, I think. And one that made me stop and think and reconsider.

Update: See also Half-Christians, by Rev. Robert Lynn, associate pastor for mission, adult education and university ministry at Knox Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor. (BreakPoint, 4/30/2007)