April 18, 2005

KUFM / KGPR

T. M. Power

George Bush’s Attempt to Wear the Mantle of Pope John Paul

In wealthy “modern” nations like the United States and Europe, the teachings of the late Pope John Paul that received the most attention were those that seemed most in conflict with contemporary sexual mores: His opposition to birth control, divorce, homosexuality, gender equality, and the marriage of priests.

Since most of these positions were also shared by the Christian Right, one of Bush’s most energetic constituencies, it was not surprising to find President Bush effusively praising John Paul after his death. Judged by Bush’s words, you would think that he and the late Pope shared a common moral vision of the contemporary world. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, President Bush’s policies both at home and abroad stand in gross conflict with the John Paul’s ethical teachings.

George W. Bush is an enthusiastic supporter of the death penalty. As governor of Texas he supervised the execution of over a 150 individuals. Pope John Paul and the Catholic Church have spoken out vigorously against state sponsored killing.

George W. Bush has promulgated a doctrine of preemptive war, asserting the right to use deadly organized violence whenever an opponent is perceived to threaten the United States. That was the justification for invading Iraq: Iraq might have had weapons of mass destruction. Of course, it did not. The Pope and the Catholic Church opposed that war and oppose that military doctrine.

George W. Bush and his conservative allies are active opponents of labor unions and the rights of workers to organize to bargain collectively with their employers. Pope John Paul, of course, actively supported the Solidarity labor movement in Poland that not only demanded the right to negotiate over working conditions even thought they were public employees but also became the kernel of the democratic rebellion that brought down Communism in that country.

George W. Bush and his conservative allies believe that government regulation constrains private entrepreneurial activity, damaging the economy. Their goal is a market economy unfettered by government intervention and regulation. The Catholic Church, while strongly defending private property and economic freedom, has also insisted on the ethical obligation of governments to monitor and correct market outcomes. Consider these quotes from Pope John Paul’s encyclical letter of 1991:

“There are needs and common goods that cannot be satisfied by the market system. It is the task of the state and of all society to defend them. An idolatry of the market alone cannot do all that should be done.”  

“[The Catholic tradition calls for] a society of free work, of enterprise, and of participation. Such a society is not directed against the market, but demands that the market be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the State, so as to guarantee that the basic needs of the whole of society are satisfied.”

“Consumerism also raises the ecological issue. Humanity is consuming the resources of the earth and life in an excessive and disordered way, forgetting the earth's own needs and God-given purpose, provoking a rebellion on the part of nature, and overlooking our duties and obligations toward future generations.”

Can you imagine any of these statements appearing in one of Bush’s neo-conservative pronouncements?

Pope John Paul was especially critical of the culture of consumption and instant personal gratification that has become America’s primary export to the rest of the world. At times the late Pope’s critique of that unbridled materialism sounded very much like the attacks of the Islamist’s on our commercial dominance of their societies and traditions, what they perceive as a new infidel invasion.

That culture of personal consumption was all the more ethically repulsive to John Paul because it was superimposed on societies where basic human needs were not being met, where access to clean water, to food, to sanitary housing, and to basic medical care were not available. While high rates of infant mortality and rampant disease and hunger literally plagued a substantial part of the world’s population, international corporations were pushing addiction to life-snuffing cigarettes, baby-formula to displace breast-feeding, and empty symbols of Western affluence. One-sided “free trade” policies that privileged the wealthy nations and drastic cuts in foreign assistance simply increased the stark inequality among nations. The Catholic Church objected; George Bush insisted it was good for everyone, but especially the United States.

While George Bush continues to express doubts about modern science including the theory of evolution because it appears to contradict the Book of Genesis, Pope John Paul clearly laid out why science and religion need not conflict as long as the sacredness of life and the divine spark at its core were recognized and respected. John Paul apologized for past know-nothing attacks on science such as earlier insistence that the sun and stars had to revolve around the earth. Bush, on the other hand, lends support to the contemporary know-nothings. John Paul embraced modern scientific enquiry and the rationalism at its core as part of our spiritual quest to understand ourselves and the rest of God’s creation. Bush, apparently, fears that.

George W. Bush does not deserve to wear Pope John Paul’s moral mantle. It is profane to see him trying to do so.