By Tom Klocek

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging freedom of speech…” —Constitution of the United States, Amendment 1

While not explicitly establishing a state religion by law, the progressives in power have nonetheless established, by a combination of executive orders, mandates, school board and city council decrees, and liberal interpretations of laws, the state religion of “wokeism” and “politicized ‘science.’” Matt Purple notes, “While progressivism might be religion, it’s stupid, hypocritical bad religion.” It’s idols are anti-racism, homosexuality, transgenderism, self-defined science, Black Lives Matter (when in opposition to the police), mandates and lockdowns, suppression of speech and opposition, pride, and ruling by fear. Note the similarities to communist and fascist policies.

Its sacraments are abortion, gender modification surgery, identity-shaming, and getting around the Constitution. Purple quotes G.K. Chesterton: “When a man stops believing in God, he doesn’t believe in nothing, he believes in anything.” Austin Ruse, in his book Under Siege: No Finer Time to be a Faithful Catholic, notes, “Political correctness and fear of isolation work to enforce the whole spectrum of State Church dogma, particularly with respect to homosexuality, ‘transgenderism,’ and climate change.” Many policies deny the basic social unit, the family, and work to indoctrinate children to the exclusion of parents and parental rights.

Various things constitute heresy against the state church. As George Orwell said, “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.” Despite the “state” advocacy for science (actually only “state approved” science, which may be incomplete science), using real science to refute state policies is considered heresy. To deny the “benefits” of abortion or to even suggest that Post Abortion Syndrome (PAS) exists is also heretical, and as the power of the state church grows, it may even become hate speech punishable by law. In the interest of “never letting a crisis go to waste,” progressives suddenly came to the conclusion that mask mandates were essential to protecting public health, despite the fact that studies prior to COVID supported the longstanding view that masks were a useless and even harmful intervention.

And now we learn that the Biden administration is investigating putting abortion clinics on federal land to circumvent the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution (states’ rights), as well as Section 3 of Article IV which states: that “The Congress shall have the Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular state.” We have always known that the Democrats view the Constitution as an impediment for their plans and control, with the Biden administration doubling down on the efforts initiated during the Obama administration.

And now the state church wants us to worship at the altars of abortion and gender modification surgery with its LGBTQ+ priests and priestesses. While still touting themselves as “pro-choice,” choice is no longer the main issue. Once a woman decides on an abortion, there is no turning back. And so pro-life demonstrators in front of abortion clinics must be restricted as much as the courts may allow. In England, a doctor is being prosecuted for prescribing chemical abortion reversal for women who have taken the RU-486 pill but subsequently decided they want to keep their babies.

Similarly, once someone begins to believe that they are not the gender their biology indicates, by DNA or obvious physical characteristics, they must be “supported,” and any challenges, whether by a parent, family member, or psychiatrist/psychologist, must be prohibited. And so we have school boards and teachers forcing children to be addressed by the gender they have chosen. Counseling for children in such situations is prohibited, despite the fact that science shows that most children grow out of it as they progress through adolescence. Gender transition surgery, which mutilates the body (and should be considered child abuse), is supported by Medicaid, thus being paid for by taxpayers. Only recently have parents and civil groups spoken up loud enough to protest these policies with some effect as was shown by the recent Virginia state election that swept the top Democrat leadership out of office. More need to take action. “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetuate it.” —Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the same time, Democrat politicians insist that abortion actually supports children and that they only have the children in mind, despite the fact that in an abortion, the child dies. In June of 2021, 60 Democrat representatives who self-identify as Catholic published a “letter” entitled “Statement of Principles” in which they claim they “are committed to making real the basic principles that are at the heart of Catholic social teaching.” Yet their actions speak louder than words. They tout support for increased access to education but vote against providing for school choice while proposing Marxist policies such as Critical Race Theory (which is racist in and of itself) and denying the rights of parents with regard to what their children are taught or to what they are exposed.

“Many call themselves Christian, but that they certainly are not! They are not what their title signifies — not in their life, not in their morals, not in their faith, not in their hope, not in their charity.” —St. Augustine, Sermon on 1 Jn4:4

There are those who claim that all religions are man-made. This is certainly true of the religion of the state. Such is the characteristic of communist governments. The state as the only approved “religion” has always been a failure and has, throughout history, been characterized by oppression, suppression, and genocide. The current state of China is a perfect and obvious example. The 20th century gave us the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Communist Cuba, Venezuela, Vietnam, North Korea, and the Peoples Republic of China, among others.

The words of the Vatican II document, Gaudium et Spes — “When God is forgotten, however, the creature itself grows unintelligible” — are clearly evident in the state church. It was the Democrat Party that took God out of its platform. It was the Democrat Party that stated religions would have to modify their positions. And it is the Democrat Party whose policies fly in the face of nature and God’s laws. Dr. Peter Kreeft says: “We forge the chains of our own bondage. We use our freedom to destroy our freedom. We need a savior.”

It is time for a renewal in our understanding of God’s revelation of his existence and of our obligation to follow him and adhere to his principles. While the American progressives work to create their own religion and endeavor to force everyone to follow, we must not forget that there is such a thing as absolute truth. Those who would deny it claim that there is no absolute truth. Much of the chaos in today’s world and in people’s lives is because they are building their existence on the shifting sands of public opinion and public policy, which change with major events or even the smallest of elections. Too many people today have their eyes fixed on anything but God. They are restless because they deny St. Augustine’s observation, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Now is not a time for withdrawing into ourselves. We must bring the true God to our brothers and sisters. For as St. Augustine said in his Confessions, “For where I found truth, there found I my God, who is truth itself.”

“Choose whom you will serve … [secular gods], the gods in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."—Joshua 24:15