Virginia’s Ballot Puts Caesar Over God

Father, I don’t think you should bring politics into religion.” That’s a line I’ve heard a lot lately. Of course, nobody really believes it. People only trot out that complaint when it’s not their kind of politics they hear in church. Now, the latest reason for that complaint is our Catholics Vote No campaign against two proposed amendments on the Virginia ballot this fall. 

Proposed Amendment No. 1 seeks to embed unrestricted abortion in the Virginia Constitution. Predictably, this initiative is presented as simply codifying Roe v. Wade, going back to the good old days before Dobbs. That would be bad enough. But the proposed amendment goes much further. It would open the door to practices that would shock many who favor legal abortion. By the usual tactics of murky, elastic language, the amendment creates conditions that would permit abortion up to the point of birth, remove all parental rights, and eliminate accountability for the abortion industry. 

Proposed Amendment No. 2 is promoted as removing the “ban” on gay marriage from the Virginia Constitution. Of course, there is no ban. Gay marriage isn’t mentioned, because it’s not a thing. The state constitution bans gay marriage about as much as zoology bans unicorns. Rather, it simply defines marriage as what it is. Not surprisingly, the proposed amendment’s language removes not only the imagined ban but, in effect, any definition of marriage whatsoever. Its broadening of marriage’s definition undoes the institution itself. This has always been the endgame.

Thankfully, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington has been aggressive and vocal in opposing these initiatives—and has encouraged his priests to do likewise. The teaching has been clear from the outset. Since this is a simple referendum, not involving political parties or candidates, a no vote is a moral imperative. And that’s when people get upset about religion and politics. 

Their anger is misplaced. First, because they have things backward. What’s at issue isn’t the Church interfering in the legitimate autonomy of the state, but the state intruding on the Church’s territory. It’s Caesar claiming authority over the things of God. That’s when God’s ministers must speak out.

Further, the Church has a right to teach and advocate because she has a responsibility to do so. If the Church cannot teach the state about the common good, then faith has little public use and might as well be confined to the inside of church buildings. The Church’s prophetic witness reminds the state of its obligation to recognize and yield to the truth of life and marriage. The union of mother and child, the union of man and woman—these precede the state as the foundations of society. In its duty to foster the common good, the state has an obligation not only to defend but to promote them. 

Virginia calls itself a commonwealth. But November’s ballot initiatives don’t bode well for the common good that word indicates. They only further divide us into atomized individuals, each vying for his own way, each defining his own meaning of existence. Turns out, the Church has a lot to say about the common good. Her witness and advocacy are a blessing to all citizens in the commonwealth.

Image by xiquinhosilva via Creative Commons. Image cropped.