St Thomas More Committed Sins for a Political Church

I chose St Thomas More for my name saint. 

Since I spent much of my adult life as an elected official, and Thomas More is the patron of saint of elected officials, that might seem obvious. Of course, Thomas More’s political career far exceeded anything I ever accomplished. 

He was an internationally recognized thinker, who became, for a short while, the Chancellor of England. 

He was also a martyr who gave his life rather than take an oath saying that Henry VIII was the new head of the church. 

There is much to admire about Thomas More. He seems an obvious choice for name saint for someone who had begun working in political campaigns at the age of 15 and continued right on through to running for office myself and then holding office for 18 years. 

It all made sense. 

Except it didn’t.

I didn’t chose Thomas More because he was the patron saint of politicians. I chose him because he was a man who had done terrible things and made egregious — and I mean egregious mistakes — as a politician, and yet, through the grace of God, managed to still get into heaven.

Thomas More made the mistake that devout people often make of following his faith leaders, even when they were using him and lying about what their faith really requires. Christian faith leaders who try to take control of political power and use their followers’ faith for barter at the political power table are the spiritual twins of the Pharisees who murdered Christ.

They always — and I mean always — end up being a force for evil and destruction. They always — and I mean always — demand a kind of mindless fanaticism from their followers, especially and in particular members of their faith who hold political power, that gets people killed. 

Thomas More mis-used the power of his political office to do the bidding of a corrupt and evil political Catholic Church. He had people burned at the stake because they questioned the Church’s teaching authority. He enacted judicial murders of the most vile, sadistic and cruel sort on behalf of spiritually dead clerics who were acting in league with satan, not Jesus. 

Read the Gospels. Jesus healed the blind, raised the dead,  cured lepers, saved women from being stoned for adultery, ate with sinners, and said straight up Give to Ceasar (government) what is Ceasar’s. Give to God what is God’s. 

Jesus spoke plainly in favor of separation of church and state when he said that. Jesus told Pilate My Kingdom is not of this world.

He instructed His disciples to go into all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them what I have taught you. 

There is no record that Jesus ever made anyone blind. He never gave anyone leprosy. He never turned a sinner away and told him or her they were too dirty and sinful to be near Him. Jesus never killed anyone. He suffered a horrible death and never raised a finger to harm His attackers.

How do you get from the Jesus of the Gospels to a Church that uses government to burn those it hates at the stake? 

You don’t. 

St Thomas More fell into the hole of accepting his religious leaders’ lies when they told him that Church belongs in politics; that political power should be wielded by priests and bishops. He believed the evil lies of evil religious leaders. And he mis-used the power he achieved with his God-given political talent to do horrible things to his fellow human beings on behalf of those religious leaders. 

He believed the lie that political bishops, when they are using their followers’ faith to buttress their own earthly power, are speaking for God, even when what they are saying reeks of sulphur. 

That, and not his martyrdom, is why I chose Thomas More as my name saint. I chose him because he is such a stunning example of the fact that no matter how hard you try to do the right thing, you are going to trip and fall into doing the wrong thing, and when you have political power, that wrong thing hurts other people. 

I chose him because I knew that his weakness, his fallibility, his great and terrible sins that he committed in blind obedience to his very evil and sinful church leaders could and will happen to everyone. 

I chose him for those reasons. My name saint is Thomas More. I chose him because he called me with his terrible mistakes, with the ghastly sins he committed while trying to do the right thing. Thomas More did heartless, cruel, sadistic, hideous things to his fellow human beings on behalf of a corrupt, politicized Church that told him burning people at the stake was righteousness. 

And then he became a saint because he would not recant his faith, even if it meant his death. 

Thomas More is a perfect saint for any politician. He is also a perfect cautionary tale for any bishop.