By Fr. Glenn Jones:
Well, we hope you have a joy-filled, fun and safe Independence Day on this long weekend for many. A lot of people protesting this year because of a Supreme Court ruling not going the way they preferred, but one of the biggest things we celebrate on this annual holiday is our freedom TO protest; many people around the world do not have that freedom, and would be brutally crushed and persecuted should they dare even speak against the government. Remember Tiananmen Square? And neither can many peoples travel either abroad or within their own nations without official permission, much less renounce their citizenships. In some countries critics are put in work camps, or simply “disappear”. But here in the U.S., you can post videos of dissent on the internet for worldwide dissemination if you want.
We would do well also to remember the Berlin wall, the barriers separating North and South Korea, the fence/minefield at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Those are not built to keep people from sneaking into various regimes, but to keep people from fleeing them.
That brings up that relevant point: If democratic/capitalist countries like the U.S. are so horrible, why do people flee other countries, risking life and limb, to go to them and not vice versa? Why are people swarming our southern border trying to get in if the U.S. is so terrible? Somehow very few U.S. citizens who “hate” the U.S. and renounce citizenship ever go to oppressive countries, but rather to another democratic/capitalist one, or to one in which a little cash (acquired by capitalism, by the way) greases the skids (or palms) for a comfortable life. Huh; it’s a mystery! Well … maybe not so much.
One wonders where the disgruntled think they will find the perfect system. For its flaws, at least our country has mechanisms by which to peacefully institute change regardless of those in authority. Change may not happen on our preferred timeframe, or at all if the electorate decides against it, but anyone has the ability to advocate for it. But a singer or actor (or anyone) raging in juvenile, profanity-laced huffs is hardly convincing.
Gracias a Dios, freedom of religion is one of our most cherished rights here in the U.S., enshrined in the Constitution. Imagine living in a country in which you were forced to (or prevented from) worship a certain way, or in which your own faith was violently suppressed, either by the government or by the country’s populace. We in the Catholic Church recently observed the memorial of the first martyrs of the Roman church, a memorial established to remember those in the early Church who died scapegoated because of their Christian faith, refusing to give worship to the Roman gods. We read in the Roman historian Tacitus’ Annals:
“… Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace…an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle … [hence] there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man’s cruelty, that they were being destroyed.”
We can fast forward to the 20th century to remember how easily religious persecution can still raise its ugly head—the Armenian genocide of the late 1910s, the Catholic Church being violently oppressed in Mexico in the 1920s, Hitler’s “final solution” of destroying Jews, the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan. Even today there are many places of religious oppression and interreligious strife. Here in the U.S. there has been a spate of churches burned recently—not unlike in Nero’s time, religion punished because of its teachings and the beliefs of its followers. As we read in scripture: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Catholicism itself teaches as part of the exposition of the 4th Commandment of honoring one’s parents, therefore also observance of legitimate authority: “It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. The love and service of one’s country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 2239) One might also point to St. Peter’s epistle: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him … Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2: 13,17) Or, St. Paul: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities … Pay all of them their dues … respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.” (Romans 13:1,7).
None of us will ever agree with everything a government does. Even the authors of the epistles above were likely being threatened by the very authorities for whom they were advising due honor be given. So we need give thanks this weekend that we live and a nation with much freedom, and work to ensure those freedoms for future generations through peaceful means and mutual respect, remembering the dedication of the signers of the Declaration of Independence we celebrate: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
Editor’s note: Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.
