Catholic Life Ministries

By Robert Fontana

July 4, 1776. WHAT A DAY IN HISTORY! Leaders from the 13 English colonies decided together that it was time to break from their mother country and create a new country based on these immortal words,

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

YEAH! Women were giving the right to vote! NOPE! Only men can vote in the United States of America (even though Abigail Adams begged her husband John to “remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”  (Women and the American Story)

Okay, well, YEAH, all men, black and white and any shade in between are given the right to vote! NOPE! Only white people were given the franchise even if there were people of color who were “free” and not enslaved. The right to vote for people of color did not happen until passage of the 15^th Amendment in 1870: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. (National Archives)

At least ALL WHITE MEN over the age of 18 were given the right to vote! NOPE! Only white men of wealth who owned property and paid taxes (about 6% of the population) could vote. The states set the rules for voting, and most states limited voting to white men of wealth defined by owning property and paying taxes. This changed by the 1828 presidential election when most states lifted the property requirement and expanded voting rights to all white men above a certain age. (Wikipedia – “Voting Timeline”). In 1856, North Carolina was the last state to remove ownership of property as a condition for being able to vote. (The American Leader)

GOOD GRIEF, some states had laws restricting the right to vote based on one’s religion. In some states with a Protestant majority, Jews, Quakers, Catholics, and Mennonites had their voting rights restricted. Most of these restrictions were dropped in 1828. (Wikipedia – “Voting Timeline”)

What about NATIVE AMERICANS? Sadly, and tragically, the 14^th Amendment recognizing any child born in the U.S. as a citizen did not apply to Native Americans. With some exceptions, Native people were not granted citizenship until the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. But, because voting was organized by the states, most Native people, like their African American neighbors, were excluded from the vote by local requirements of paying a poll tax or requiring a literacy test. These practices did not end until 1957. (Wikipedia – “Voting Timeline”)

What about immigrants to the U.S. from ASIA?  The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens and gaining the right to vote. In 1942, Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 that led to the forced removal of Japanese Americans and Japanese resident aliens into internment camps. The Magnuson Act of 1943 gave ethnically Chinese persons the right to become citizens and to vote. In the case of the Japanese Americans who were forced into internment camps, not until 1988 was their unjust treatment corrected with the passage of the “Civil Liberties Act.” The United States government issued a formal apology and paid restitution to each person who had survived internment. (National Archives & Japanese American National Museum)

What do all of these narratives have to do with Christian Nationalism versus Christian Humanism? Since the formation of the United States and into the present, there has been a strong element among White Supremacy advocates to exclude women and people of color from the right to vote. In my opinion, Christian Nationalists who today argue for a specific brand of Christianity fused with our federal government are a reiteration of the KKK without the white robes and hoods. Christian Nationalists were a major force behind the January 6^th insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, behind limiting immigration to our country pretty much to only White South Africans, and behind ICE’s aggressive removal of undocumented immigrants. They want to turn back the clock on how the right to vote was extended to all men and women regardless of race, creed, color, sex, or sexual orientation.

In contrast, Christian humanism embraces the way Jesus treated people from all walks of life with dignity and respect. Those who see themselves as Christian or faith-based humanists (Jews, Muslims, etc.) promote public policy which manifests respect for the dignity of each person. They strive to do what serves the common good without imposing any particular religious doctrine on anyone. Christian humanism is a moral force for the common good. It was behind the Quakers in the 1790’s who first offered amendments to abolish slavery. Christian humanism inspired abolitionists in the 1850’s, suffragettes in the 1920’s, the Catholic Worker movement in the 1930’s, and the Civil Rights activists in the 1950’s and 60’s.

As we approach the 250^th anniversary of America’s declaration of independence from Great Britain, it is Christian humanism that we need, not Christian Nationalism, to enable us to live out those immortal words of Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [people] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”