Catholics and Politics: Reminders THE THREE NON-NEGOTIABLES

10-06-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Leonard F. Villa

Other matters may be relevant, but a present-day Catholic citizen should never place issues of lesser importance at the same level of "the three non-negotiables": As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the principal focus of her interventions in the public arena is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person, and she is thereby consciously drawing particular attention to principles which are not negotiable. Among these the following emerge clearly today:

FIRST NON-NEGOTIABLE - Protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death;

SECOND NON-NEGOTIABLE - Recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family - as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage - and its defense from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union which in reality harm it and contribute to its destabilization, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceable social role;

THIRD NON-NEGOTIABLE - The protection of the right of parents to educate their children. These principles are not truths of faith, even though they receive further light and confirmation from faith; they are inscribed in human nature itself and therefore they are common to all humanity. The Church’s action in promoting them is therefore not confessional in character, but is addressed to all people, prescinding from any religious affiliation they may have. On the contrary, such action is all the more necessary the more these principles are denied or misunderstood, because this constitutes an offence against the truth of the human person, a grave wound inflicted onto justice itself.

Benedict XVI Address to the Members of the European People's Party

With respect to inter-religious dialogue, Christ is not negotiable. He is Lord and Savior and the source of true religion.

Vote to Protect Parental Rights: Vote NO on Prop 1
From the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights:

On Election Day, November 5, voters in New York State will cast their ballot for Proposition One. It would amend section 11 of article 1 of the New York State Constitution in two ways: Paragraph A would offer equal protection before the law to eleven new demographic categories; Paragraph B would revise the legal meaning of discrimination. New Yorkers, like all Americans, are naturally supportive of liberty and equality, so when they are asked to vote for an initiative that is nominally supportive of these ends, they are inclined to do so. But in this case, voters would not be inclined to support Prop One if they really knew what it entails. Those who champion Prop One are telling the public that it is needed because abortion rights are under attack. They manifestly are not under attack in New York State, but abortion-rights activists know that this is a hot button issue in many parts of the country—abortion is on the ballot in ten states—therefore they reason that if it is on the ballot, it will galvanize supporters to turn out on Election Day. This is only one aspect of what is in reality a huge stealth campaign. Those behind Prop One have a very different agenda.

Their real goal is to undermine parental rights, eviscerate religious liberty and legalize selective discrimination. Currently, the New York State Constitution says that no one can be subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed or religion. Paragraph A of Prop One would add the following demographic categories: age, sex, gender identity, gender expression, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy. The implications are dramatic….

Gender Identity and Gender Expression Adding gender identity and gender expression to the list of protected categories would seriously impact on parental rights and religious liberty. The medical literature continues to grow concerning the longterm consequences of sex transitioning. Minors who transition, mostly girls who seek to be boys, are suffering from serious mental health problems and need to be treated accordingly. Transgender persons suffer from high rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and suicide. Prop One would enable young people to skirt the scrutiny of their parents by accessing therapists and medical professionals behind their back in their quest to transition. They could claim they are being discriminated against on the basis of age. What would happen to a teacher if he told the parents of a student who was ready to take puberty blockers, or undergo chemical castration, about their child’s decision? He would be fired. This is not a matter of speculation. Last year, Kathy McCord was fired as a student counselor from an Indiana high school for openly condemning a secret transgender policy that kept parents in the dark about their children’s “gender transition.”

In the state of Washington, a young girl wanted to get sex-reassignment surgery behind the back of her parents, but the parents found out anyway. They learned that if their daughter wanted to flee and move to a home with a family that agreed to take her in, she could do so. Moreover, the host family was under no legal obligation to inform her parents that she was about to have her genitals amputated. This is exactly the kind of thing that could happen under Prop One. It gets worse. States are effectively kidnapping children in service to the pernicious ideology of transgenderism. And if it can happen in Montana, it can happen in New York. Krista and Todd Kolstad have a sexually confused daughter, Jennifer, who mistakenly thinks she is a boy. Jen had suicidal thoughts and when her family found out about it, Child and Family Services (CFS) were called to deal with her condition. Bullied at school, her parents moved her to another school district, doing everything they could to stabilize the situation. But CFS was unimpressed. They took Jen from them because they refused to affirm her delusional state. Look for more such cases if Prop One wins. If Prop one succeeds, there would be no stopping biological males from competing in women’s sports, effectively destroying them. The guys could also use the locker rooms and shower facilities with the girls, and no one could stop them. If a coach complained, he could be fired.

Travis Allen is a girls’ soccer coach at a public school in Vermont. He was suspended from his job without pay because he complained about a male student roaming around the girls’ locker room. His daughter, who is on the volleyball team, also spoke out about this incident. She saw the male student in the locker room and publicly stated how uncomfortable she was with this situation; she and the boy were both fourteen. But she was the one who was suspended for complaining. The school dropped the suspension after her parents filed a lawsuit. But if Prop One succeeds, the school could win. In the name of gender expression, teachers could be required to address gender confused students by their choice of pronouns. In other words, a boy who thinks he is a girl could assert his gender expression rights by demanding that his teacher refer to him as “she” or “her.” For that matter, he may want to be called “they” or “them,” and his teacher would have to oblige.

This is not an exaggeration. Some schools, like one in Colorado, already have policies that assure this outcome. “Transgender and non-binary students have the right to discuss and express their gender identity and expression openly and to decide which, with whom, and how much to share their private information.” Frederick Short knows all about this issue. He learned that at Cherry Hill West High School in New Jersey, where he sent his children, that they adopted a novel policy. “A transgender student shall be addressed at school by the name and pronoun chosen by the student, regardless of whether a legal name change or change in official school records has occurred.” Short objected to the policy and was told that was too bad. So he sued. Expect more such cases.

Go here for the full report on Prop 1: https://www.catholicleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/5-English-PropositionOne-New-York-State-Booklet.pdf