The Sunshine Empire

As the Republican party’s rank apathy for its presidential field becomes more and more apparent, the party has been putting forward a series of wedge issues in an effort to steal the political momentum back from President Obama. After House Speaker John Boehner’s work to fire the American people’s passions over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline failed, Republicans have latched onto the administration’s contraception move as a violation of “Religious Liberty” or “Religious Freedom.” Grand visions of waves of traditionally Democratic Catholics streaming to the GOP standard after their proud pro-contraception stand must have filled Boehner and Mitch McConnell’s dreams after the Obama administration finalized their rule.

In reality Catholic public opinion with regard to the president has essentially remained unchanged since the ruling and Obama’s subsequent moves to accommodate Catholic beliefs. Newly pro-Catholic Republicans also were suddenly stridently for religious liberty. Republicans assure us that any person of religious belief, no matter what that is, shall not have their beliefs trampled on by the mob rule of the government. Yet this sudden dedication to the religious portion of the First Amendment seems completely counter to traditional Republican practice. Traditionally “religion” in GOP circles essentially means protestant Christianity. With this embrace of their Catholic brothers, Republicans have gone off the range in this regard. The move calls into question many of the Republican’s past stands on the matter of religious freedom.

Two years ago members of a major world religion were quietly arranging to build a sanctuary and religious center in lower Manhattan. Two major current GOP presidential candidates took very strong stands against this group’s right to build their religious center in lower Manhattan. Rick Santorum stated that president Obama was thwarting the will of the people by standing by these peoples’ right to build their center. Religious freedom apparently is only useful when it moves public opinion. Former speaker Newt Gingrich went so far as to compare these efforts to build a religious center in our free country to the work of Nazi Germany. So why the stark difference now and then with regard to religious liberty? Those people were Muslims.

Too often with conservatives and Republicans, “religious liberty” actually means only protestant Christian liberty. Conservatives have staged protests all across the country in communities to block the rights of Muslim Americans counter to their new found love of religious freedom. Conservatives regularly call for the institution of Christian prayer in public schools and even have passed laws in states requiring those seeking abortion get sonograms all in line with their religious beliefs. Republicans going all-in on attacking contraception policy is nothing but an awkward attempt to co-opt the Catholic vote and has nothing to do with religious freedom. This turn has done nothing but weaken their position on a host of other past matters.

Here in Florida, five Catholic Bishops including my own sent a plea to Governor Rick Scott to stay the execution of a convicted murderer on death row. No word yet on if Governor Scott plans to stand with Florida Catholics and their religious liberty this time around. The next time Republicans work to stop the construction of a Mosque, I wonder if they’ll remember that they are for religious freedom now?

Related posts:

1. On the value of liberty
2. Timing And Point Of Contraception Politics Interesting
3. On The Fluid Nature Of Good Catholicism
4. Hey, Remember The Iraq War?
5. The Founders Made It Simple Folks