READERS of this site, accustomed as they are to associating commercial pizza with propaganda of various kinds, were probably not surprised to find pizza at the center of a national conflict last week. During Holy Week, the most sacred and solemn week of the liturgical year, owners of a pizza shop in Indiana were baited into stating that they would not serve pizza at a “gay wedding.” Even at this advanced stage of pizzafication there was probably not a single “gay couple” in America who wanted pizza at their “wedding,” at least from this particular pizza shop. Nevertheless, the owners faced an hysterical mob on the Internet and had to shut down.

Not a single slice had been denied to anyone. That didn’t matter. The owners of the pizza shop had committed a thought crime, and that’s what mattered.

Please do not blame the virtual mob. These people have been brainwashed. They have been indoctrinated all their lives into believing that the freedom to think and do whatever one wants is the highest and most precious principle. All freedom is good, even the freedom to destroy oneself.

They should not be blamed for their ignorance. They are pursuing American secularism to its logical conclusions. They are acting upon what they have been taught in school and by every major organ of public opinion.

Things have worked out reasonably well for the owners of the pizza shop, as they have been the beneficiaries of a successful fundraising effort, although perhaps they will have to move and maybe change their names if they ever want peace again. But things have not worked out well for many small business owners who will have the same pangs of conscience. They have been sent a very harsh message and many will not be strong enough to resist it.

The truth is there is nothing in the American Constitution or its judicial tradition as it has developed up until this point to protect them. Though there might be temporary reprieves, this battle for the protection of Christian morality within a non-Christian state is lost. It can’t be won by resorting to the Constitution, the Supreme Court or state legal remedies, which will almost certainly be overturned by the Supreme Court.

A Christian society cannot remain Christian under an explicitly secular constitution once Christian habits and ways of thinking have evaporated. There are many professed Christians who, in the wake of same-sex “marriage” laws, will stand up to this sort of bullying. They will be defended by many others.

But our government as it exists will not protect them and it is futile and draining to expect that it will.

— Comments —

John writes:

Today, saying you support the constitution is enough to get labeled a threat and put on a government list.  I’m sorry to see you joining in.

The system of government under the Constitution subsumed a long established body of English laws, many of which predated the Reformation and were explicitly Christian.  The constitution itself was a framework for restraining the unbridled use of government force for the good of the few in power and to the detriment of the people generally.  It is hard to see that this is inherently evil, simply because the founding generation was not Catholic and was riddled with Masons.  If authoritarianism is to be preferred, let me point out that authoritarian governments in the 20th century have been among the most atheistic and murderous in history.

The secular-left agenda could not have been implemented in the U.S. without overriding the constitutional restraints on government power.  This was done in recent decades by the invention of the concept of civil rights, which was then used as a wedge to intrude into the affairs of private citizens.  Once established, the wedge was used to advance a stealth agenda.  Now, supporting abortion is a “mandate,” and the cake baker that refuses to violate her conscience in a business transaction is a criminal.

Is the Constitution to blame for this?

Consider Ireland, a land that has historically embraced an explicitly Catholic social foundation and given great respect to the priests and bishops.  Ireland today is experiencing the same spiritual decomposition that we are.  The Church is generally despised.  Abortion will soon be legal, if it’s not already.  It appears the Church has been no more successful than the Constitution at resisting. Why?  It’s because the people behind the agenda know what they’re up to.  Meanwhile, nobody wants to destroy real liberty more than the secular left does.  This alone should tell you something.

Instead of attacking the Constitution, I would relate the many instances in which the Church has stood against evil, both the evil in society generally, and the evil of oppressive and authoritarian governments.  The laity should use what little influence it can wield over Church affairs to urge the bishops to return to heroism.

Laura writes:

It’s wrong to say I don’t support the Constitution. Even though the idea of such centralized federal authority was not supported by many Americans at the time the Constitution was adopted, making the notion that it embodies “we the people” quite suspect, and it almost immediately led to instances of federal excess, it includes laws and a form of government that are excellent in many ways. However, the Constitution is flawed in its rejection of any kind of moral authority over society. Some of the Founders agreed with this assessment and said it would only remain adequate as long as the morality of the people was in place. The Constitution as it is includes no provisions for the rights of God over society. No people has the right by any kind of majority rule to implement laws that are immoral whether their constitutional governments allow it or not. Where do we find this idea protected in the Constitution?

All societies follow metaphysical premises and act upon them whether their constitutions are explicitly religious or not. For instance, when we look as the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, some would say that was plainly unconstitutional.  However, the moral imperative of “equality” took precedence over previous interpretations of the Constitution for the Supreme Court. In other words, the document itself is not enough.

You’re incorrect about Ireland. Its constitution, written in 1937, did not fully recognize the rights of the Catholic Church and the Church’s status was further marginalized in 1973.

Also to say that all societies are obligated to recognize the Kingship of Christ is not to say that any society can be thereby permanently protected from decay and spiritual decline. This isn’t a utopian program, founded as it is on a recognition of the inherent weakness of human nature.

Laura writes:

The idea that societies, not just individuals, owe allegiance to God is founded on the very obvious fact that societies are part of the Created order. Man is a social creature. He was made that way by God. Societies form individuals. The very existence of laws illustrates this fact. Societies aren’t simply a conglomeration of automatons.

The American Constitution, entirely divorced as it was from he very idea of the divine basis for all civil authority, was a radical development for Western civilization even though the American government embodied some of the finest aspects of English civil law and classical government. To say that I have no respect for those traditions is unjust. All Americans owe deference and allegiance to the constitutional underpinnings of our government.

Please follow and like us: