I saw a bumper sticker the other day: “Alaska—Land of the individual and other endangered species.” Indeed, here in the Great Land, we have always admired the guys like Dick Proenneke who can go into the wilderness, chop down trees, build a cabin, and live in it for years, hunting and trapping and whatnot. The self-reliant individual is one of our great cultural myths. I say “myth” because in reality, there is no such thing as a completely self-reliant individual. As impressive as these guys are, we have to also admit that there is something a bit eccentric about them. As John Donne said so well in his 17th century poem, “No Man is an Island.” Eventually, even Dick Proenneke had to come into town for supplies.
To be human is to be a social being. We are born into a family, we grow up in our neighborhood, our school, our town. We identify ourselves within the context of a nation, a people…a Church.
The laws of society and the public policies that enact them must first protect and the defend the rights of the nuclear family. Perhaps at no time in our nation’s history have the unintended negative consequences of well-meaning, but poorly conceived public policy had such a devastating effect on the most basic unit of human society, the nuclear family.
Similarly, we have an obligation and a right to form communal ties with others as a Church, in fraternal and charitable organizations, even political parties, that help to build up a just society.
Finally, a just society must allow for all citizens to participate in the political process that will determine the course of civil society at the local, state, and national levels. It is not enough simply to provide the legal right to participate, but people must also have the practical means by which they can actually do so.
Society is at its best when it promotes and protects healthy families, healthy communities, and the participation in civic life of all members of society.
To learn more about the call to Family, Community and Participation, please watch this 3-minute video:
then go to:
This is a critical time in our society. Voting with an informed conscience is everybody’s responsibility. – Fr. Leo