Your argument seems to be since America has failed to act on the abortion and same sex marriage issues, then it has no moral reason to act against any other evil either.
Abortion and homosexuality are not crimes in America. Drug peddling still is.
Because Americans have failed to act against the greatest evil of our generation, how is it Catholic teaching that America must fail equally in acting against other forms of evil?
My position is the other way around. Catholics have allowed this country to fail. If we are truly interested in abolishing evil, let’s do it right. Forget what the law says is legal or not legal, because the law can be very immoral, as you have correclty pointed out. We led the world into legalized abortion and now we’re following the UK, Canada and other nations toward same-sex marriage.
As Catholics we have to be grounded in moral law, before we can be grounded in civil law. Civil law is telling us that illegal immirgration is a crime and legislators are using the crimes of the few to push their argument. The moral Catholic position is to look at all evil, denounce all evil, including those evils that come into our country through the southern border.
We Catholics have to take a tougher position with legilators and demand that they secure the borders at both end and filter who arrives by boat, plane or any other means. Because if we exclude the Mexicans, poor and criminal alike, but welcome the abortionist and the gay agenda with open arms, then we’re being inconsistent in our application of moral law.
The Church is not opposed to tough immigration laws. The Church is for tough laws against all kinds of evil. This is the role of all Catholics who vote in any country, to inform and demand from their government that evil be condemned and that it not be allowed into the country, be it the USA or any other.
We do not welcome drug trafficers, but we do not welcome abortionists and gay rights people either. But the current policy that we have is not based on moral reason. It’s based on convenience. When that happens, it is the duty of the Church to point it out. This was made very clear in Gaudium et Spes. The Church stands as a teacher to government, not the other way around.
What some people in our government want to do is to close off the Mexican border, because of the economic and criminal problems that our horrible immigration policies pose. But the same people who are sounding off on the economic and criminal problems causes by illegal immigration are the ones who allowed terrorists to enter the USA legally, because they had money in the bank. If you approach any American embassy in the world and you prove that you have money to spend, you can get a visa to enter the USA. I know this for a fact, because I grew up the son of a diplomat who als served as an ambassador. I saw how the embassies work.
Here is what is happening now. They want to close off the Mexican door, because of crime and economic problems. This is not a bad idea, if it done properly. But they are saying nothing about continuing the open door policy to Canadians and Brits without visas. When the Church looks at this, she has to denounce the injustice, because a nation that kills its unborn is guilty of far greater crimes against humanity than one that sells drugs. Since we should always strive for the greater good, we must challenge the government to filter out as much evil as possible, from every port, not just the south.
The concern is not about allowing in drug dealings from the south. It’s about allowing in every kind of criminal, from north and south. This is what Catholics need to say to government. These things are all crimes and we don’t want them in our country. How are we going to clean up the moral mess in our country, if we continue to welcome immorality?
The best way to minimize dust in your house is to close your doors and windows. Then you can clean inside and it will stay cleaner.
Let’s not just fight against drugs and street gangsters, while we forget the most serious and dangerous criminal of all, the abortionist. Catholics have a moral duty to demand that the government address all of the evil that it allows to enter our country. The argument that abortion and homosexuality are legal in the USA is not morally justifiable. Because the law that makes them legal is an immoral law. Therefore, it is not binding on Catholics. We do not have to view these things as having a right to exist in our country, just because someone says that it is legal. We have an obligation to demand that our government clean up the country from border to border.
I hope this clarifies what I’m trying to say here. This is a matter of implementing the Gospel of Life. All life is sacred from conception to natural death. It’s not just the life that is lost in a street shoot-out that is sacred.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
