CONSISTENT ETHIC OF LIFE!

So the school I work at is Catholic, and there's a concerted effort now to teach and discuss the "consistent ethic of life," the challenging Catholic teaching that says that all life is sacred, including the unborn (hence the pro-life Catholics) and convicted criminals (hence the anti-death penalty Catholics).

I don't have any problem teaching this ethic; I don't even have a problem upholding it in my own life. No, I haven't personally confronted the challenging parts of the the ethic, but if ever I do, I expect that the consistent ethic of life will play an important role in decisions that I make.

So why did I not vote for the "moral values" president?

Because the government is a pile of shit when it comes to spiritual and moral guidance, and the Christians as a faith community suck ass when it comes to providing for the health and safety of the population. Not to mention the fact that a chunk of the population does not belong to the Christian faith community, and their right to not belong to it is 'self-evident.'

Follow? So one of my moral values as an American Catholic is that Church and State should remain SEPARATE. This is a separation that the writers of the Constitution used WORDS to ensure. There can be no doubt of their intent. The fact that they were religious men themselves only underscores their commitment to the separation between church and state.

So I will tell my students that abortion is an awful choice. No problem. I'll also tell them that abortion is not the source problem; unwanted pregnancy is the source of the problem, abortion is an awful consequence. Eliminate the source of the problem, eliminate the awful consequence.

(This is where you squeal in protest, saying "you'll never succeed at eliminating unwanted pregnancies!" at which point I will stop talking to you).

I will also tell them that the most despicable criminal has an eternal soul, and that the Church's job is to minister. You can't save someone's soul if they're dead.

I will also tell them that Christ treated the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, and the condemned with love and compassion, not with hate, suspicion, or accusations, and certainly not with protests or fire bombs. In fact, Jesus' anger tends to be directed towards the Pharisees (the self-righteous, hypocritical religious scholars) and the money changers (who made a dishonest living off of the generosity of the faithful. Remind you of anyone?

And that, children, is why the Church does not perform abortions and does not put people to death (anymore). The State does.

The State's job is to find solutions for the populations problems with health and safety. I hope someday we find better solutions than abortion and capital punishment. Until then, we work, we teach, we pray.

By the way, if Row v. Wade is ever overturned somehow, martial law would be the only thing with a remote chance of holding this country together. The battles will be fought at the city line.