New Secular Ideologies

Last month, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Dr Jose Gomez addressed the Congress of Catholics and Public Life in Madrid, on the rise of new secular ideologies and movements for social change in the United States and elsewhere and the implications for the Church. Because of the pandemic, he made the address by videolink. Below is an outline of the main points of the address which he divided into three themes:

1. Secularisation and De-Christianisation
2. America’s new political religions
3. What Is to Be Done

Starting with the wider context of the global movement of secularisation and de-Christianization and the impact of the pandemic. He described how

“[A]n elite leadership class has risen in our countries that has little interest in religion and no real attachments to the nations they live in or to local traditions or cultures. This group, which is in charge in corporations, governments, universities, the media, and in the cultural and professional establishments, wants to establish what we might call a global civilisation, built on a consumer economy and guided by science, technology, humanitarian values, and technocratic ideas about organizing society.

In this elite worldview, there is no need for old-fashioned belief systems and religions. In fact, as they see it, religion, especially Christianity, only gets in the way of the society they hope to build.”

He went on to echo what our Popes have pointed out:  that secularisation means de-Christianisation, how there has been a deliberate effort in Europe and America to erase the Christian roots of society and to suppress any remaining Christian influences. Referring to “cancel culture” and “political correctness” two themes of the conference, he stressed that what is being cancelled and corrected are perspectives rooted in Christian beliefs –  about human life and the human person, about marriage, the family, and more. He also suggested that the coronavirus pandemic did not change our societies as much as it accelerated trends and directions that were already at work, and that social changes that might have taken decades to play out, are now moving more rapidly in the wake of this disease and our societies’ responses.

As an example of this, he cited the George Floyd killing: 

“The new social movements and ideologies that we are talking about today, were being seeded and prepared for many years in our universities and cultural institutions. But with the tension and fear caused by the pandemic and social isolation, and with the killing of an unarmed black man by a white policeman and the protests that followed in our cities, these movements were fully unleashed in our society.

This context is important in understanding our situation in the United States. The name George Floyd is now known worldwide. But that is because for many people in my country, myself included, his tragedy became a stark reminder that racial and economic inequality are still deeply embedded in our society.”

He stressed the need to keep the reality of inequality in mind, because these movements are part of a wider discussion –  a discussion that is absolutely essential –  about how to build a society that expands opportunities for everyone, no matter what colour their skin is or where they came from, or their economic status.

He started the second section of his address by suggesting that the best way for the Church to understand the new social justice movements is to understand them as pseudo-religions, and even replacements and rivals to traditional Christian beliefs. Political belief systems based on social justice or personal identity have come to fill the space that Christian belief and practice once occupied and whatever we might call them – “social justice,” “wokeness,” “identity politics,” “intersectionality,” “successor ideology” –  they claim to offer what religion provides. They provide people with an explanation for events and conditions in the world. They offer a sense of meaning, a purpose for living, and the feeling of belonging to a community, and even more than that, like Christianity, these new movements tell their own “story of salvation.”

To explain what he meant, he summarised the Christian story and contrasted it with his understanding of the “woke” story or “social justice” story. His summary of the Christian story runs like this:

“We are created in the image of God and called to a blessed life in union with him and with our neighbours. Human life has a God-given “telos,” an intention and direction. Through our sin, we are alienated from God and from one another, and we live in the shadow of our own death.

By the mercy of God and his love for each of us, we are saved through the dying and rising of Jesus Christ. Jesus reconciles us to God and our neighbours, gives us the grace to be transformed in his image, and calls us to follow him in faith, loving God and our neighbour, working to build his Kingdom on earth, all in confident hope that we will have eternal life with him in the world to come.

That’s the Christian story. And now more than ever, the Church and every Catholic needs to know this story and proclaim it in all its beauty and truth.”

He summarised the rival “salvation” story, what might be called the “Woke” story like this:

“We cannot know where we came from, but we are aware that we have interests in common with those who share our skin colour or our position in society. We are also painfully aware that our group is suffering and alienated, through no fault of our own. The cause of our unhappiness is that we are victims of oppression by other groups in society. We are liberated and find redemption through our constant struggle against our oppressors, by waging a battle for political and cultural power in the name of creating a society of equity.”

Dr Gomez agrees that this is a powerful and attractive narrative for millions of people and mentions how many of America’s leading corporations, universities, and even public schools are actively promoting and teaching this vision. He goes on to say how the narrative is attractive because of the simplicity of its explanations –  the world is divided into innocents and victims, allies and adversaries  and also because it responds to real human needs and suffering. People feel discriminated against and excluded from opportunities in society. He urges us never to forget this – many who subscribe to these new movements and belief systems are motivated by noble intentions. They want to change conditions in society that deny men and women their rights and opportunities for a good life.

He, points out however, that while we all want to build a society that provides equality, freedom, and dignity for every person, we can only build a just society on the foundation of the truth about God and human nature. He quotes Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti: “unless we believe that God is our Father, there is no reason for us to treat others as our brothers and sisters.”  

Developing this point further, he describes today’s critical theories and ideologies as profoundly atheistic. They deny the soul, the spiritual, transcendent dimension of human nature, or they think that it is irrelevant to human happiness. They reduce what it means to be human to essentially physical qualities –  the colour of our skin, our sex, our notions of gender, our ethnic background, or our position in society. He sees in them elements of Liberation theology, of a Marxist cultural vision and even of older heresies such as Manicheanism, Gnosticism and Pelagianism and describes them as Utopian, believing we can create a heaven on earth.

But he goes on to stress that the Church must understand and engage with these movements, not on social or political terms but as dangerous substitutes for true religion. Furthermore he warns that:

“In denying God, these new movements have lost the truth about the human person. This explains their extremism, and their harsh, uncompromising, and unforgiving approach to politics. And from the standpoint of the Gospel, because these movements deny the human person, no matter how well-intentioned they are, they cannot promote authentic human flourishing. In fact, as we are witnessing in my country, these strictly secular movements are causing new forms of social division, discrimination, intolerance, and injustice.”

The final part of his address deals with the question of what is to be done and how should the Church respond to these new secular movements for social change. His answer is clear and unequivocal:

“We need to proclaim Jesus Christ. Boldly, creatively. We need to tell our story of salvation in a new way. With charity and confidence, without fear. This is the Church’s mission in every age and every cultural moment.

We should not be intimidated by these new religions of social justice and political identity. The Gospel remains the most powerful force for social change that the world has ever seen. And the Church has been ‘anti-racist’ from the beginning. All are included in her message of salvation.

Jesus Christ came to announce the new creation, the new man and the new woman, given power to become children of God, renewed in the image of their Creator.

Jesus taught us to know and love God as our Father, and he called his Church to carry that good news to the ends of the earth –  to gather, from every race and tribe and people, the one worldwide family of God.

That was the meaning of Pentecost, when men and women from every nation under heaven heard the Gospel in their own native language. That is what St. Paul meant when he said that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free.

Although in the church we have not always lived up our beautiful principles, we don’t need a new secular religion to replace Christianity but for us all to be better witnesses, better Christians. And he urges us to begin by forgiving, loving, sacrificing for others, putting away spiritual poisons like resentment and envy.”

He goes on to tell how he finds inspiration in figures from American history, including Dorothy Day, an important witness for how Catholics can work to change our social order through radical detachment and love for the poor grounded in the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and the works of mercy. He is also inspired by Venerable Augustus Tolton who was born in slavery, escaped into freedom with his mother, and became the first black man to be ordained a priest in his country. He quotes Fr. Toulton who said “The Catholic Church deplores a double slavery – that of the mind and that of the body. She endeavours to free us of both.”

Summing up, Dr. Gomez said that we need this confidence in the power of the Gospel as the true path to liberation from every slavery and injustice, spiritual and material and that the Church must be a voice for individual conscience and tolerance, and we need to promote greater humility and realism about the human condition. Acknowledging our common humanity means recognizing our common frailty. The truth is that we are all sinners, people who want to do the right thing but often do not.

Dr Gomez finishes his address by referring to the fact that in ten years’ time we will be celebrating the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which mark the true spiritual founding of America. He continues to be strengthened and inspired by her words at Tepeyac: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not in my shadow, under my protection?”