Conservative vs. Liberal Christians

Here we are. A society that defines itself either liberal as opposed to conservative, right verses left, far left verses far right or independent. We classify ourselves this way in all aspects of life but in this case we will refer strictly to our Christian faith and most especially our Catholic faith.

We boast of our advanced intelligence and express our “modern philosophies” but are we all that modern? No, not at all. Our society has digressed to a level of permissiveness that is perverse while we strive to redefine what we know is truth to conform it to fit what is most self indulging. In fact, today our social standards and permissiveness mirror that of the Caligula society during the first century. We’ve explained this in previous articles so we will not repeat the distorted elements or lack of morality that conform us to that era again here.  

In Christianity there is a call to faith that is expressed by a way of life of which we are taught by Jesus Christ. Scripture and the Church together teach that way of life and the moral values that are intrinsic to live as true Christians. Scripture does not teach a conservative way of Christian life or a liberal way of Christian life. It does not teach us we can selectively defy the teachings of Christ in our faith determined by what is most convenient or self gratifying to us as individuals. It does not teach us we can manipulate our conscience to serve our greater desires within a particular culture. The cultural elements of any given society are after all, nothing more than the adopted practices of the majority based on opinions. Opinions change based on what one considers as advantageous to the individual within that culture or period.

But God does not change; neither does moral values or truth change, but rather are respected or rejected. Principles of faith are either abided by or ignored. There are no conservative or liberal versions of Christian faith; we invented these categories to serve our own interests. We must be honest with ourselves before we can be honest with others. Many of us ignore our call to worship the Lord even one day a week. We claim sin is not sin, sexual promiscuity is not lacking in self respect or respect toward others, pregnancy to a single parent or outside of a marital commitment is acceptable and does not deprive a child of the benefits of a loving parental commitment or the influence of being raised by a father and mother during the growth of a child, divorce is as valid as marriage, abortion is not murder of human life, homosexual relationships are not adverse to nature, science, morality or the will of God, marriage is merely a civil agreement between any two people and is not a covenant intended strictly between one man and one woman but whoever chooses to enter into it including those of the same sex.

The fact is, if one believes in God and the judgment each of us will one day face, we must turn back to recognizing reality and stop kidding ourselves by claiming to be conservative or liberal in matters of living our faith. We must realize that claiming our conscience is good with the choices we make even when defiant of scripture and the Church either reflects an ill-informed conscience or a conscience that we have distorted for self-gratification. Is it difficult to live a truly Christian life? Not if you know your faith well enough to have a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. As in any loving relationship, self control and moral values are expressed willingly in the desire to preserve a loving relationship. Truth: there is no conservative Christian faith. In matters of faith, those considered conservative are actually striving to live their faith properly and “liberal” is living faith by convenience. Will we be judged on our choosing to live a truly Christian life or liberal way of life? The answer is in the following verse from Revelations, by which one can judge for them self the eternity they choose for them self. 

 "I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, 'I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,' and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold (grace) refined by fire (purified by perseverance in faith) so that you may be rich (righteous), and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see.”  (Revelations CH3: vs15-18)

Catholic - Abusing the Term

“Woe to those who tug at guilt with cords of perversity, and at sin as if with cart ropes! …Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who change darkness into light, and light into darkness, who change bitter into sweet, and sweet into bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own sight, and prudent in their own esteem!” (Isaiah CH5: v18, and vs20-21)

Recently I have been made aware of public comments made from independent groups that designate themselves as “Catholic” in their organization’s name but oppose Catholic principles or legal actions filed by the Catholic Church in defense of our constitutional rights under the first amendment. Usually I disregard such groups because they are obviously looking for recognition by showing their diversion against the Church. But this time I feel the obvious should be pointed out to show the absurdity in groups such as these.

Groups who promote themselves as Catholic such as “Catholics for Choice” for instance, a pro-choice organization (in favor of abortion or the murder of innocent preborn human beings usually performed by physically shredding them apart) prove themselves by the abuse of the reference “Catholic” to be hypocrites at best who obviously have no valid knowledge of scripture, Catholicism or man’s relationship with God. Yes, this is what they express of themselves by relating their organization’s mission to Catholicism. In fact, their referring themselves as promoters of the right to kill preborn human beings while referring to themselves as being of the Catholic Faith is misleading to non-Catholics and demeaning against faithful Catholic Christians who believe and strive to live in accordance with the calling of Christian life. As such they should be recognized for the hypocrisy expressed by their adopted title and the reflection of their ignorance in their knowledge of the faith they claim to belong. The promoting of abortion results in self-excommunication. What they do represent is dissention from faith, not the faith.

Another group, “Catholics United” has expressed their own ignorance by suggesting the Catholic Church must have some “secret agenda” for filing the law suits it has recently filed in seeking defense under the first amendment rights of religious freedom. Let me initially respond by pointing out that numerous religious groups, Christian and non-Christian alike are uniting in their opposition against the HHS mandate which is the primary element of this issue. I would be more inclined to believe it is “Catholics United” who may have their own personal agenda for opposing the lawsuits rather than the Catholic Church filing for surreptitious reasons.

Suggesting this legal defense filed by the Catholic Church under the constitution in some way opposes charitable acts is a perverted play on conscience. The Catholic Church provides charitable services throughout the world including all over the United States. These services include providing food to the hungry, shelters for the homeless, schools for the unfortunate, medical services to the ill, the suffering and the dying, and no one in need is denied regardless of their religious beliefs. That is Charity. The Obama administration by their own law insists the Catholic Church NOT provide these services to anyone other than Catholics and not hire anyone except Catholics if the Catholic Church wants to stay in conformity to its religious principles.  In other words, Obama would have all those who are hungry, homeless, uneducated in poverty, ill, suffering, and dying be turned away from the charitable works of mercy offered by Catholicism, AND all those who are currently employed by Catholic institutions be removed from their jobs and replaced by Catholics only. Now who is it that is denying charity to the needy?

According to the Obama administration, the forced HHS mandate was to serve as a protective measure under commerce to relieve the financial stress and availability of health care but wouldn't that be more relative to say, capping or attempting to control the high cost of gas due to its influence on the economy? Funny that was never mentioned...

These legal actions are a forced response seeking defense and relief from the willful disregard and attempted fragmentation by this President and his administration against the religious rights protected under the constitution; these are the foundation of this country. Failure to protect and defend any constitutional rights once violated can then result in the systematic dissolution of principles previously protected under any article of the constitution. Once a process of diminishing principles of rights under the constitution has been proven effective, groups such as “Catholics United” and others may one day find themselves without a right to free speech, or to assemble at all which incidentally has come under attack in recent years as well.

Sistine Chapel Courtesy the Vatican

Sistine Chapel view changes by moving the cursor up or down, side to side or zoom in.