Call for civil disobedience?
There’s an intriguing manifesto issued recently by some 150 American religious leaders who threaten to call for civil disobedience if US laws compel them to do what is against their beliefs and consciences.
The coalition includes some Catholic bishops and cardinals, Orthodox and evangelical leaders who react strongly to the drift in American laws that pressure their faithful to participate or get involved in activities like abortion, same-sex marriage and others that violate their Christian faith and morals.
It was released only last November 20 though the draft was made a month earlier after, I suppose, a long period of consultation among the religious leaders. It’s entitled “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience.” It’s 4,700 words long.
It laments the proliferation of social ills that undermine the culture of life, marriage and the family in American society. Divorces, the group’s spokesmen say, have risen dramatically, marital infidelity is becoming more acceptable, and marriage is detached from childbearing.
They also say that the statement is meant to educate their faithful, especially the young ones, that there is a hierarchy of issues that they have to identify clearly and react accordingly. And the most important ones, they say, are those about abortion, marriage and religious freedom.
The manifesto, however, has not specified exactly what actions to take to carry out this possibility of civil disobedience. But it reassured all that civil disobedience is a legitimate and a moral option to resort to when proper conditions are present.
“Throughout the centuries, Christianity has taught that civil disobedience is not only permitted, but sometimes required,” says the document, citing the example of Martin Luther King, a civil rights hero who was willing to go to jail for his beliefs.
To me, this new American development, thank God, may not be immediately applicable to the situation to our country, but it certainly can serve as a great learning opportunity regarding our duties towards our faith and beliefs.
Very often, we seem to take our religion lightly, easily entering into compromises with hardly any effort to determine if a concrete planned action is good or bad to it, or to know the good side as well as the dangers of such action, so we can be properly guided.
A case in point is the Reproductive Health Bill now pending approval in our Congress. Many of us Christian believers give scant attention to it, even dismissing it as unimportant.
Truth is, just like what that American manifesto said, the issue of the reproductive health possesses far greater significance than many of the so-called raging political, economic and social issues we have. Without disparaging these latter issues, the reproductive health belongs to a higher category.
There is indeed a hierarchy of issues, and we have to admit that the one of reproductive health has potentials to harm us more deeply than any mistake committed in the other issues, because it affects us in our soul more than in our material and bodily dimensions.
But since it requires more introspection and discernment, the objective importance of the reproductive health issue can escape many of us. That’s why, religious leaders are there to remind, clarify and explain things to everyone.
Sometimes though, we have this saddening development when religious leader are remiss of their duties, and instead of giving clear and prudent indications, issue confusing directions. That’s when they can actually cause unspeakable damage to the spiritual and moral lives of the people.
They handle their prophetic office badly since instead of teaching what the Church says, they prefer to peddle their own ideas. Instead of stating the clear doctrine, they would rather have opinions and other casuistic arguments. Their words and actions often are not in tune with official teaching.
Sometimes, they want to mainstream what is actually meant to be an exception. Thus, with respect to the reproductive health, the morality of natural family planning method is diluted sometimes to a fatal degree such that the method becomes a tool of contraception rather than of true conjugal love.
We need to be aware and be alerted to these developments in our midst. We should avoid being alarmists, but neither should we take our little daily duties of living and defending our faith for granted.
Let’s remember that big catastrophes are often caused by little neglects we commit everyday, much like the unstopped drip or unattended leakage that can eventually collapse a large edifice.
(Fr. Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City. Email: roycimagala@gmail.com)
