Make America Good Again

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio - articles - email ) | Nov 04, 2024

Jesus teaches: “The first [commandment] is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Love God. Love neighbor. It’s personal.

A scribe approves, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he; and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (cf. Mk. 12:28-34)

The first three Commandments describe our duty to love, respect, and worship God. God has a right to our love, respect, and worship. The remaining seven Commandments describe our duty to love our neighbors: Obey lawful authority and detest murder, adultery, theft, and lies. Do good. Avoid evil.

Every human right is rooted in the Commandments and aligns with a duty. Lawful authorities have the right to our obedience. We have a right to life. Spouses have a right to fidelity. We have a right to private property. We have a right to the truth.

The Commandments, taught through the Church, authenticate the reasonableness of the Catholic Faith. Abiding by the Commandments brings out the best in human nature.

However, we frequently dismiss the Commandments as religious impositions. Never mind that the tablets of the Ten Commandments grace the Capitol Dome. Love for power replaces love for God. So, we often prefer expansive laws and policy statements that disassociate the rights of man from the duties of God’s law. Members of the hierarchy are among the biggest offenders.

We need not belabor the explosions set off by the Boston Globe in 2002 with the detailed revelation of the sex-abuse scandals. The problem is pervasive and not limited to the Church. But a centralized Church—unlike the epidemic problems in the public school system—is an easy target. This context, however, offers no excuses.

With few exceptions, the hierarchy did not invoke God’s Commandments nor the demanding precepts of the Act of Contrition. The aftermath of the scandal saw the proliferation of diocesan policies, procedures, and protocols to promise the impossible: Compliance would guarantee the dereliction of duty “will never happen again.” Their impersonal bureaucratic policies separated human rights from the responsibilities inherent in the Decalogue. Henceforth, the rights of priests evaporated. By policy, priests would be guilty until proven innocent.

The divorce of rights from duties to protect young people needn’t have happened. Suppose a clever Church official plagiarized the texts of the Commandments from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Act of Contrition. A carefully written policy based on Catholic morals and repentance would have profound catechetical, practical, and personal value—matching rights with duties. We would preserve the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and the guilty would suffer just punishment.

Society routinely replaces the Ten Commandments with secular policy statements, decoupling human rights from duties. Instead of the Sixth Commandment—Thou shalt not commit adultery—we have elaborate harassment training modules. Instead of the Fifth Commandment, Thou shalt not murder, we have anger management workshops and seminars.

Complicated policies, procedures, and protocols guarantee that everyone is in violation under some obscure clause. But the insurance companies are happy.

Imagine a culture that rejects the Commandments but complies with impersonal bureaucratic rules.

Suppose a society rejects the 8th Commandment. (Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.) We would see pervasive lies within families and nations. We couldn’t trust the exchange of promises at marriage ceremonies. Politicians would lie with impunity. Even fact-checkers would lie. The media would become untrustworthy because of their lies and half-truths.

We can’t have that.

Suppose a society rejects the 7th and 10th Commandments. (Don’t steal or covet your neighbor’s goods.) The threat of theft would risk all private property. Money would lose its meaning. Savings would become a gamble in the stock and real-estate markets. We would demand the government to tax our neighbors to feed our entitlements. We would blithely ignore the national debt, threatening rampant inflation and financial collapse for future generations.

Suppose society rejects the 6th and 9th Commandments. (Don’t commit adultery or covet your neighbor’s wife.) Human lust would have no limit. Every sort of promiscuity would afflict us, and sad and angry souls would demand that we condone their licentiousness. Marriage would become meaningless. Children would grow up without the unity of a mom or dad.

Suppose society rejects the 5th Commandment. (Don’t murder.) Unrestrained anger and hate would overcome us. Our families, communities, and nations would become battlegrounds. Nobody would be safe—especially unborn babies. Combatants on all sides would deliberately target civilians in wars.

Suppose society rejects the 4th Commandment. (Obey parents and lawful authorities.) We would grow in disdain for intact families, motherhood, and especially, fatherhood. Global interests would replace patriotism.

Suppose society rejects the first three Commandments. (Love God, reverence His holy name, and keep holy the Sabbath.) Prayer in our schools would be outlawed. Christians would be called dangerous extremists. Politicians wouldn’t respect consciences.

Dismissing the Commandments and living by political slogans alienates faith from morals and our duties from human rights. The Commandments teach us to love God and neighbor. They do not inhibit our freedom and rights. God’s law frees us from our slavery to sin and grants every right worthy of our humanity.

A remark often attributed to historian Alexis de Tocqueville reads, “America is great because America is good.” The opposite is true: “When America ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

When we abide by His commandments, Jesus assures us, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Let’s evaluate every human right by the duties of the Ten Commandments. Let’s Make America Good Again. It’s personal.