John Paul II and the death of 'Christian' America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It was just another day, another Washington, D.C., press conference and yet another appeal for the U.S. government to allow believers to follow the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2013\/07\/john-paul-ii-and-the-death-of-christian-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"John Paul II and the death of 'Christian' America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was just another day, another Washington, D.C., press conference and yet another appeal for the U.S. government to allow believers to follow the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2013\/07\/john-paul-ii-and-the-death-of-christian-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Terry Mattingly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-08T13:54:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-15T13:56:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2013\/07\/john-paul-ii-and-the-death-of-christian-america\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2013\/07\/john-paul-ii-and-the-death-of-christian-america\/\",\"name\":\"John Paul II and the death of 'Christian' America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-08T13:54:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-15T13:56:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\"},\"description\":\"It was just another day, another Washington, D.C., press conference and yet another appeal for the U.S. government to allow believers to follow the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2013\/07\/john-paul-ii-and-the-death-of-christian-america\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2013\/07\/john-paul-ii-and-the-death-of-christian-america\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2013\/07\/john-paul-ii-and-the-death-of-christian-america\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"John Paul II and the death of ‘Christian’ America\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\",\"name\":\"Terry Mattingly\",\"description\":\"On Religion\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\",\"name\":\"tmatt\",\"description\":\"Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. 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{"id":3997,"date":"2013-07-08T09:54:29","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T13:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?p=3997"},"modified":"2013-07-15T09:56:43","modified_gmt":"2013-07-15T13:56:43","slug":"john-paul-ii-and-the-death-of-christian-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2013\/07\/john-paul-ii-and-the-death-of-christian-america\/","title":{"rendered":"John Paul II and the death of ‘Christian’ America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cThe United States, at its best, is unique among the nations of the world when it defends the self-evident freedom of all people to exercise their faith according to the dictates of their consciences,\u201d said the \u201cStanding Together for Religious Freedom\u201d text. It was signed by 58 faith leaders, mostly from conservative bodies such as the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, the National Association of Evangelicals and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the signatories on this letter do not hold doctrinal objections to the use of contraception. Yet we stand united in protest to this mandate, recognizing the encroachment on the conscience of our fellow citizens. \u2026 HHS continues to deny many Americans the freedom to manifest their beliefs through practice and observance in their daily lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was just another sign of the times, along with a Texas filibuster opposing a late-term abortion ban and the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s approval for a state-by-state legal approach to same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n

None of this would have surprised the Blessed Pope John Paul II, according to one of America\u2019s most controversial Catholic priests. In one of his most sweeping encyclicals, John Paul foresaw a \u201cconspiracy against life\u201d that would threaten the suffering, the elderly and children, born and unborn.<\/p>\n

That 1995 document was called \u201c Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)<\/a>,\u201d and the Rev. C.J. McCloskey of the Faith and Reason Institute was recently asked to write a meditation on it during a Vatican celebration of its lasting influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was asked to write an article<\/a> that would help cheer people up. Sorry, but I just couldn\u2019t do that right now,\u201d said McCloskey, in a telephone interview from Chicago.<\/p>\n

In particular, the Opus Dei priest was struck by this sobering John Paul declaration: \u201cThe eclipse of the sense of God and of man inevitably leads to a practical materialism, which breeds individualism, utilitarianism and hedonism. \u2026 The only goal which counts is the pursuit of one\u2019s own material well-being. The so-called \u2018quality of life\u2019 is interpreted primarily or exclusively as economic efficiency, inordinate consumerism, physical beauty and pleasure, to the neglect of the more profound dimensions \u2014 interpersonal, spiritual and religious \u2014 of existence.\u201d The human body, thus, is \u201csimply a complex of organs, functions and energies to be used according to the sole criteria of pleasure and efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n

While this judgment will offend most liberals and some political conservatives, those words led McCloskey to write this blunt verdict: \u201cFace it folks, the United States is no longer a Christian country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already have the most liberal abortion laws in the world, responsible (at a minimum) for tens of millions of deaths, with the morning-after pill now available at your local pharmacy for teen-age girls. \u2026 Pornography is the most profitable and watched form of \u2018entertainment.\u2019 Marriage is being redefined not as a covenant between man and wife, with one of its purposes being the procreation of children, but as more or less whatever one wants it to be. \u2026 And who can disingenuously doubt that universal euthanasia for the incurable will become common with the help of our new \u2018health\u2019 plan?\u201d<\/p>\n

McCloskey knows these harsh judgments anger elites in places like Wall Street and inside the D.C. Beltway, since he worked at Citibank and Merrill Lynch after graduating from Columbia University and later led the Catholic Information Center on K. Street, near the White House. Yet over the years he has led many prominent Americans into Catholicism including columnist Robert Novak, abortion-rights pioneer Dr. Bernard Nathanson, Judge Robert Bork, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback and economist Lawrence Kudlow.<\/p>\n

Truth is, he noted, parts of America are more open to some forms of faith than others. Thus, McCloskey is convinced traditionalists will eventually need to cluster in states that are more faith-friendly on abortion, marriage, parental rights, home schooling and other hot-button cultural issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one in this country has ever really suffered for their faith in any meaningful way,\u201d he said. \u201cThose days are ending, especially in certain states. \u2026 Among Catholics, we may soon find that many are Americans more than they are Catholics.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"