Don Legatt
Financial Secretary

Last month, I mentioned that we as Catholics need to become more willing to defend our religious liberty and attacks against our Faith. This month I would like to expand on this.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This should never be confused with the presumption of “separation of church and state,” which the media and the opposition continually spout as truth, but which is not the case.

The reality of the matter is that the First Amendment guarantees the right of all citizens to speak in the public square and lobby for laws, regardless of ones religious or non-religious beliefs. A public square void of truths based on moral or natural law becomes a dictatorship based on arbitrary and ever-changing trends.

So we all need to become educated in public affairs to be effective in our efforts to bring our Catholic culture to others. As the definition of marriage debate continues to heat up prior to the election in November of 2012, there will be plenty of information coming from the Church and the KCs to aid you. Here are a few key discussion points to get started with:

• Public discourse on marriage needs to shift away from “rights” and toward “meaning and purpose.”
• Social science provides strong evidence supporting benefits of traditional marriage.
• Mothers and fathers parent differently, but complementarily, for the good of their children.
• Marriage, as the reproductive union of man and woman, has existed in every culture throughout time.
• The central justifying point of sex is the perfection of marital union, not pleasure, or even the sharing of pleasure.
• There are literally hundreds of federal, state, and local laws that contain references to “marriage,” “husband,” “wife,” and “spouse.” Marriage is referenced in laws regarding the family, employment, property, trusts & estates, healthcare, and taxes. Changing the legal definition of marriage changes the meaning of all these laws.

Again, as I said last month, the battle lines have been drawn, and it is not acceptable for us to sit on the sidelines. Please become more educated and confident on these issues in order to defend marriage.