In any nation there exists a civil religion, a set of beliefs and practices that are basic to that culture.
In the U.S.’s civil religion, for instance, Manifest Destiny has long been a basic belief, spoken of today as American exceptionalism. Like all religions, scholars have outlined the holy times, beliefs, symbols, rituals and myths of the American civil religion.
There are also established historical religions in the U.S. and every nation. The Catholic Church is among these, as is Judaism, the various Protestant denominations, Islam and many other silo religious traditions, with their doctrines and practices.
Sadly, civil religions are rarely recognized as such, nor given the respect they deserve, until they are incorporated into one or more of the historical religions. But the belief in individual autonomy, control of one’s own body and fate, is inherent within American civil religion, and basic to our understandings of ourselves as a nation and as individuals. Often our governments’ moral policies, such as helping those who are less fortunate, are critiqued and sometimes curtailed by our belief in individualism, that each person is responsible for his or her own destiny. Such doctrines may even conflict with the historical religions, like providing for the downtrodden. Civil religious doctrines sometimes replace traditional religious beliefs.
The Catholic Church, however, does not historically believe in individualism. Rather, it has a series of doctrines and a church hierarchy to enforce its rules. So, for instance, the church believes in the salvific power of the Eucharist, and that only priests can administer that power. Thus, our local archbishop in Kansas sought to deny the Eucharist to President Joseph Biden because the president did not conform to church teaching regarding abortion. In other words, according to Sunday’s report in The Kansas City Star, Archbishop Joseph Naumann sought to coerce the president for all Americans to conform to Catholic doctrine regardless of the various beliefs of American citizens, because the church believes it administers salvation, and Biden’s personal beliefs contradict church teaching. This is inconsistent with the American belief in individualism, basic to our civil religion and the First Amendment. But to the church, doctrine supersedes constitutional principles.
Now, the Catholic Church seeks to enshrine Catholic doctrine regarding abortion in Kansas law, and it does so unabashedly and unapologetically. That this dogma is not only inconsistent with the American civil religion but also with Judaism and many other religions, does not deter the head of the northeastern Kansas Catholic Church from seeking to control the lives of every person in the state, depriving other Kansans of personal choice regarding their own destinies and those of their families. That this is inconsistent with the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of religion in the U.S., apparently does not bother the supporters of the proposed amendment on the August ballot that would allow the Legislature to take away reproductive rights.
But what about your Catholic neighbors, with their signs that say, “Vote yes on Aug 2.”? Why are they okay with curbing your religious expression? Having asked a few, I find that they say that life begins at conception, and murder is wrong, therefore abortion is immoral. It is not the teaching of Judaism, or various Protestant denominations, nor the American civil religion followed by so many. Yet, they seek to compel all Kansans to conform to their religious idea of the origin of individual lives, and to enshrine that belief in law.
Our neighbors have, sadly and tragically, declared a quiet and cold war against our religions, attempting to coerce the behavior of all other Kansans according to their personal religious faith, through minority rule. I hope they reconsider. I hope they realize the error of their ways. Our well-considered, historical religious beliefs deserve as much respect as theirs.
Tell your neighbors, of whatever religious faith, to vote no on Aug. 2. It’s the American thing to do.
Rabbi Mark H. Levin is the founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park.
Editor’s Note: Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann issued a response to this editorial in The Kansas City Star in which he says that Rabbi Levin’s editorial “combined flagrant mischaracterization and anti-Catholic rhetoric” and “is a page out of the Catholic Strategy playbook.” Rabbi Levin included this information with his submission to The Chronicle.
Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle Advisory Board, the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, or the Kansas City Jewish community as a whole.
The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle was given permission by the author to run this op-ed which originally ran in The Kansas City Star.