Inside the Capitol

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld as constitutional the most controversial element of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA): the mandate that all individuals must purchase private health insurance. The court held that the mandate was essentially a tax that Congress could compel citizens to pay.

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Getting your news solely from mainstream media outlets, particularly when it comes to Catholic issues is, shall we say, imprudent.

It’s no secret that mainstream media frame issues in a way that serve ideological biases, particularly in their coverage of the Catholic Church.  A healthy degree of skepticism about what we see in media is in order.

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Blessed John Paul II reminds us in his 1994 “Letter to Families” that for parents to take true responsibility for the education of their children, they must enjoy “true liberty in how their children are to be educated.”

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Most people are familiar with the Scripture verse that we are to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

But what belongs to God, and what is properly within the jurisdiction of the state?

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In any given legislative session in Minnesota, thousands of bills are introduced on every subject imaginable. The Church does not pronounce its view or take a position on the vast majority of bills because it is not within its proper role or competency to offer technical solutions to every social and political challenge.

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Too often today, we hear complaints about the church meddling in politics. We are accused of trying to take the reins of political power and imposing our religion on others. The church, however, does not seek to control the state nor does it wish to impose sectarian beliefs on the public.

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The Catholic Church is sometimes unfairly reproached because of an inaccurate perception that her defense of marriage and family diminishes her efforts to address economic problems such as poverty and the rights of workers.

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Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address that American government is “of the people, by the people, for the people.” But such a political system requires learned and virtuous citizens to make informed choices about the politicians they elect as representatives, as well as the public policy matters that should receive the most attention.

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