By Bishop Kevin J. Farrell
Catholic teachings on the sacredness of both life and marriage were disregarded recently by events in Texas and Washington. On June 25 in Austin, when Senator Wendy Davis’ filibuster against a Texas State Senate bill (SB 5) imposing controls over abortion clinics failed, mob rule stepped in and disrupted the Senate to such a degree that business could not be conducted and the legislation died when time ran out on the special session.
One day later, the Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by the states, as unconstitutional and threw out California’s Proposition 8, the basis for the state’s same-sex marriage ban.
That same evening, the State of Texas carried out its 500th execution since 1982, when the state resumed imposing the death penalty. Kimberly McCarthy died from lethal injection and became the first woman executed in the United States in nearly three years.
What the three events have in common is that they all represent a further drifting of our society into one of secular convenience where morality is equated with civil law, and efforts continue to legislate and adjudicate Judeo-Christian moral standards out of existence.
As Catholic Christians we must redouble our efforts to counter this moral erosion of the Gospel values by word, witness and prayer.
