Joseph McCarthy’s Ghost

Coercive power is the world’s modus operandi. But Christ’s love is open to all.

Created by Dave DuBay using leonardo.ai

Sexual self-discipline can feel like a Herculean task. Catholic sexual morality is strict and uncompromising. Many fail to live up to it, and certainly I am no saint. Yet, Christ offers an open table to anyone willing to sit down with Him. But He describes those who put their piety on public display—“virtue signaling,” as we say today—as vessels that are clean on the outside but filthy on the inside. Love is the constant thread—Christ’s criticism of the unrepentant tells us that our priorities are off and that He has our back if we will turn to Him.

Human sexuality often falls short of God’s perfect standard. Not all sexual sins are of the same degree, but sometimes we single people out or treat them with compassion independent of the severity. This includes heterosexuals who use sex recreationally, are serial monogamists, or who casually use pornography, but who throw stones at gays and lesbians–—even those who are in committed, monogamous relationships. 

This does not mean that the Church should change its teachings on sexual morality to accommodate the world, or that Catholics should support same-sex marriage or the blessing of same-sex couples or of heterosexual couples who are divorced and remarried. But it does mean that we cannot ignore the pain of gays and lesbians who are singled out instead of being treated as fellow travelers. 

While people who are same-sex attracted face unique challenges if they strive to live according to the gospel, these challenges aren’t as unique as they might seem when we consider the fact that everyone, to varying degrees, must battle for chastity. 

Still, the broken impulse to do to others as they have done to us rears its head. Communists, for example, escaped the stigma rightly dealt to fascists while conservatives are falsely called fascists. Yet, 1950s McCarthyism ruined many lives. People were blacklisted and lost their jobs—“canceled,” as we say today—even though Senator Joseph McCarthy was frequently lying when he called people communists. Because of social pressure, people were afraid to speak out. They were afraid that by defending the innocent, they’d be labeled communists too. 

Senator Joseph McCarthy at the Welch-McCarthy Hearings 9 June 1954. Courtesy of the United States Senate

The spirit of McCarthyism remains today. We often hear accusations of “homophobia” and “transphobia.” But supporting the Church’s moral teachings isn’t the same as unfairly singling some people out, especially when we begin with personal repentance and place sexual morality in its larger context. 

Portraying one’s political opponents as bigots is uncharitable, however, similar to self-righteously singling out other people’s sins while giving ourselves a free pass. The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) describes a phobia as a significant fear of something that poses no threat. Yet, unqualified people diagnosing millions of their neighbors with made up disorders such as Islamophobia, homophobia, and transphobia is somehow socially acceptable. Activists might point out that they’re not really saying these folks have a phobia like arachnophobia (fear of spiders). But these activists are inadvertently admitting that their accusations are propaganda.

It’s also common to accuse someone of racism with no evidence except that the conflict was between a white person and a black person, or of misogyny simply because someone is pro-life. Anti-Catholic prejudice goes back to colonial America, but allegedly this is not problematic because “bigotry is bias plus power.” But what will an ideology that places power over human dignity lead us to? Besides, spurious accusations of bigotry can backfire, causing some to take it less seriously. And there’s the damage done to the falsely accused. 

Everyone knows that propaganda is false. The purpose of getting people to say things they know are false, however, is to compromise them to gain power over them. The antidote to phobia, we are told, is to be affirming. To affirm is to make a positive judgment rather than condemnation. Demanding positive judgements while prohibiting negative judgments, though, is another power play. Either way, judgment belongs to God, not to us. 

While coercive power is the world’s modus operandi, Christ non-coercively stood for truth and stalwartly refused to back down—even when the establishment threatened crucifixion. When God became man, He could have been the emperor of Rome. Instead, He chose to be born in poverty in a podunk town in a marginalized country. His sinless life meant using only what He needed—the Son of Man had no place to lay His head—and earning His living as a simple carpenter. 

Created by Dave DuBay using leonardo.ai

How, then, do we respond to neo-McCarthyism in a Christ-like way? By refusing to repeat lies, but not personally attacking the establishment’s spokespeople. Most of all, we must respond to everyone with the love of Christ—a tall order indeed. 

If people call you a bigot, that accusation belongs to them, not you. You don’t need to accept it, and you don’t need to get defensive. Just impassively say, “I don’t accept that.” Other people might go along with the bully, but the bully’s opinion only has value if you give it value. Instead, turn the interaction around to focus on the person as a child of God. 

Offering everyone the love of Christ, though, doesn’t mean saying, “I’m okay, you’re okay.” It means first acknowledging our sinfulness, forgiving others, and approaching our neighbors as fellow travelers on the road to repentance. Some might choose a different road. Then again, a Christian life is one of frequently getting off track and having to find the road again.