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Democracy was never meant to jeopardize the Common Man. In fact, it was meant to ensure his survival against the unbalanced strength of mighty men. Popularity was meant to be a protection for virtues—to preserve them from being overthrown by denying corruption the ability to surface easily since power would be so broadly spread that it could not easily be bought. Democracies are established and founded upon constitutions—which merely express not only how society is organized but indicate a desire to build society up.
Yet, democracy, like any human device can be used for evil—Plato despised democracy because it essentially executed his beloved teacher, Socrates. Slowly as the world becomes more and more complex, it also becomes more and more inter-connected. Democracy, which was meant to diversify and decentralize power, has shown in recent decades the inability to cope in a shrinking, over-centralized world where both national and moral boundaries are but a blur.
Democracy has been twisted. The telltale sign is that it does not protect he Common Man. The Constitution, instead of building-up the Common Man, is now being used to cripple him, to tear him down. Demographics are destiny—and when the political establishment works unwaveringly to propagate and embrace a contraceptive mentality, then it matters not whether such a regime was popularly-elected or not—it is, at its core, undemocratic. Procedures are not what make a democracy great or pure—but the majesty of any democracy is to be found in the lives and the homes of the common men and women.
Today, in America’s “democracy,” we still have regular elections, people still vote. Otherwise, they are scrapping along—uncertain, scared, unemployed, despairing. Economics are one thing. But the political powers that be, that were popularly-elected, are more bent on perpetuating the fear than alleviating it. Instead of giving society a reason to hope (despite the campaign promises) they have confirmed their deepest fears. Hard times are as natural to humanity as its overwhelming joys. Yet, the current political regime is using their popularly-elected powers to push a deeply hurtful agenda onto the nation—they are capitalizing off of difficult times to promote two unholy things: despair and infidelity.
The HHS Mandate is an affront to hopefulness. The Culture of Death that has spawned its offshoots of abortion and contraception are nothing more than validations of the untruth that “God is a liar.” Do you trust God? Your condoms and your birth control don’t say that you do. Because deep down at the core of contraception is the sense that you not only can, but will, handle this; God and His Church can just stay out of it—mind their own business. A lack of trust in God is demonstrated when docility to His Will is firmly rejected. That is what contraception does. Permitting contraception is legislating despair. Despair hurts the Common Man because it keeps him comfortably rooted in his fears, steadily affirming his anxieties. In the meantime, men and women can live the fantasy of “free love,” while the world continues to plunge deeper into unreality. Condoms do not only block our fruitfulness—they blind us from seeing a decaying world.
Further, the HHS Mandate is an affront to Faith. Faith is not merely a private matter of the heart. Belief that can be isolated solely to the internal realms of one’s own being is as shallow as it is weak. Believing is a matter of life—it is perhaps not coincidental that the very word, ‘believing,’ is rightfully akin to the phrase ‘be living.’ If we cannot live our Faith, then we cannot believe. Our Faith then becomes just a matter of private worship. The HHS Mandate challenges us by asking us to acquiesce to putting our lamp under a bushel-basket. To do this violates our dignity as common men and women to be preserved in our Faith, in our beliefs. We will practice our religion, because that is what it means to worship as Catholics. We are called to love and communion. These are not things done behind closed doors as private individuals.
One may call our form of government what they will—but a mere label does not a democracy make. One may call our government “of the People, for the People, and by the People;” but when that very government begins to devour the Faith of the Common Man, it is a raging beast despite its sheep-like costume. Dare we stand up for believing, for hoping? Bending to this soulless edict is nothing more than a call to cast a trivial offering in the direction of the pagan gods. Endorsing this mandate or tolerating its pronouncement is not within the purview of a practicing Catholic. Faith is believing—presently living. Hope is a virtue that gives us strength for tomorrow. Only then can we be led to Charity. If you destroy any of these two predecessors—Faith or Hope—then a life of Charity and the Kingdom of God simply cannot be ushered down on earth. Oddly enough, the HHS Mandate goes after both—the Faith and the Hope of the Common Man—and it does so in the name of “democracy.” As St. Luke would say, “Woe…”
