The Contradictions Sharpen

As the cultural Left consolidates its control over public life, it’s going to be more and more difficult for people who object to leftist goals to look like good Americans as officially defined. So I think we’re likely to see more stories like these:

• A couple of respected Southern Baptists are proposing a convention resolution asking members to remove their children from public schools. The resolution goes beyond the usual complaints about sex ed and whatnot and takes the view that government schools are a bad thing as such and cannot be reformed. That view seems sensible from a Baptist perspective, since Baptists are strong on both religiously-centered education and strict separation of church and state. Mainstreamist commentators (who of course don’t like the resolution) say it most likely won’t come before convention, and if presented won’t pass. We’ll see what happens—regardless of any peculiarities of the resolution and situation the issue isn’t going away.
• Meanwhile, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State is asking the IRS to investigate “electioneering” by the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs. Bishop Sheridan recently issued a pastoral letter telling local Catholics not to vote for candidates who support legal abortion, stem-cell research or euthanasia. According to Americans United, “Bishop Sheridan’s letter is code language that says, ‘Re-elect Bush and vote Republican’ … Sheridan is using a form of religious blackmail to steer votes toward the GOP.” I doubt the request will get anywhere, since like other bureaucrats IRS bureaucrats like to avoid hot issues, and since Bishop Sheridan ought to have a good argument that the letter isn’t partisan “code” but a statement of accepted doctrine he’d apply in a consistent manner in any setting. Still, you can’t get a tax exemption if your activities violate public policy, and Catholic teaching, simply by staying what it is, more and more violates fundamental public policy as set forth in legislative findings, constitutional adjudications, international human rights treaties, etc., etc., etc. So I think this kind of complaint is likely eventually to make some headway.
• A couple of administrators at Temple U tried to have a student committed to a psycho ward because he objected to the play “Corpus Christi”, which portrayed Christ and His disciples as active homosexuals. A specific feature of liberalism is that it can’t allow for dissent, since it makes individual desire the standard of value and so can’t treat a disinclination to go along with liberalism as a sane act without destroying its own claim to rightful authority. All those who listen to the authorities know of course that there’s something psychologically wrong with right-wingers. So I think what the Temple U administrators have done has a glorious future too.