Chapter Twenty-Seven
JOHN MONITORED THE country’s reaction to the State of the Union Address. He scoured newspapers, news magazines, Internet news services, and internal DOJ reports from the field. As expected, there were protests in some places on the children’s placement issue. But almost nothing was mentioned on the sovereignty matter. It was either too complicated or too remote for most people to care about. There was a little push back, most of it minor, but in a couple of towns, small groups took to the streets. Every day brought news of more people protesting government interference. John considered the protestors as little more than loud-mouthed idiots.
At one meeting with his team he brought the point home. “You know, the average IQ in the United States is supposed to be 100. Do you know what that means?” He paused for effect. “It means that half of the people you meet are below that average.” The comment brought chuckles. “Those are the ones marching in the streets.”
The Secret Service ramped up protection for the president. John received reports of increased threats to members of Congress. John expected this. Americans loved their perverted sense of freedom and loved their children even more. Any hint that the government could snatch away a child because he or she was being reared by too-religious parents was more than some citizens could bear.
Several prominent members of the clergy threw down the gauntlet on another issue. Trouble brewed in John’s hometown of Colorado Springs where Bishop Thomas Laroca—fully aware of DTED’s seizure of a small number of faith-based hospitals earlier—said in a public forum that he would not allow Catholic hospitals to perform what the government euphemistically called “the full range of health services,” meaning abortion, sex-change operations, therapy to overcome homophobia, and the like.
“I will not close our hospitals down,” Bishop Laroca announced. “I will not bend to government pressure to force doctors and nurses of faith to do what is offensive to God. If the government wants to arrest me, they know how to find me.”
Most Catholic hospitals were independent corporations under the direction of a board of directors composed of both clergy and civic leaders. Bishops could appoint people to the boards of directors, and in some cases he might serve on the board himself, meaning the Catholic Church had no formal role in the staffing or management of those hospitals. However, the hospitals under Bishop Thomas Laroca still worked under the old systemin which hospitals were directly accountable to the local diocese.
Laroca had previously assumed direct management of the facilities, quoting Pope Saint John Paul II, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the freedom to do what we ought.” The threats and intimidation from the governor’s office became more intense, but he held his ground.
“Our beliefs, which are based on the Scripture, are very clear on this. The purpose of our hospital is to revere and protect life, not to end it prematurely or provide material assistance to evil. People in this region need us. The only way our hospitals will be closed down is if the government chains the front door.”
Bishop Laroca, as his name implied, was a rock. He refused to compromise his principles. He said, “That’s not how the scales of God’s justice operate; there’s no equivalency between God’s laws and the laws of a corrupt society.” John had been happy to see the press excoriating the bishop for his remarks.
Another Catholic bishop had worked his way under John’s skin: Bishop Daniel Grace. He was a long-time pain in John’s neck. Bishop Grace had stood against the abortion industry for many years and was an outspoken critic of the compromises that had taken place in the state of Indiana. What got him into trouble was his strong support for a young parish priest in Fort Wayne who had denied communion to the state’s governor. When the media and others in the community began complaining about the priest’s hate speech and behavior, the bishop wrote a letter defending the priest’s position and commending his courage. He laid out the concerns of the Church in the diocesan newsletter, which the secular media picked up.
Shortly after, the letter appeared in a point-counterpoint column in the Indianapolis Star. John took action notifying the bishop and the local priest, who were already being sued for hate speech and libel with a demand for millions of dollars in damages, that they were now targets of hate speech prosecution brought by DTED with assistance from the ACLU and other equality groups. The bishop’s letter was the centerpiece of the prosecution.
At issue was denial of communion to Governor Rachel Stenson at her home church in Fort Wayne, even though she claimed she was an observant Catholic. The priest said that since she was an outspoken advocate of abortion at any stage of pregnancy and had personally ordered state funds be used to finance abortions for women in prison, the church considered her to be out of fellowship with the Catholic Church and its teachings.
When a reporter from the Indianapolis Star approached the bishop, he gave the young man permission to quote from portions of his letter without realizing the potential consequences. John saw this as a bone-headed move on the bishop’s part. His mistake, however, was just what John needed to drag the man into court. The bishop had gone on record saying he had nothing to hide and stood by his beliefs. When the Star published the letter, it became a national scandal. The bishop had used Bible verses and passages of the Catechism to describe the governor’s spiritual failings, and that became the basis of the lawsuit.
And that made John happy. Very happy.
JOHN WATCHED RENEÉ X shake with anger. “Is it in the public interest to allow any ministry to exist in America, to use our airwaves or anything else that violates the public trust by claiming they have a corner on truth?” She flashed a picture on the conference room monitor showing the Archbishop of Kansas City. “This man is the perfect example of what’s wrong with America. He claims to have the truth on his side. He’s the head of the anti-choice brigades in that place—a sworn enemy of the people.”
“The bishop is being defended by a public interest law firm,” Joel Thevis said.
Reneé exploded. “They may call themselves that, but it’s not in the public interest to grant privileges to an organization that promulgates a doctrine of bias and exclusion. Any group that claims to have the corner on truth ought to have their public entitlements stripped away.”
“I agree, Reneé,” John said. “The only reason the government granted churches tax-exempt status in the first place was to keep the peace—to keep those rednecks off the streets. You’re absolutely right. It is not in the public interest for a bishop to scandalize a highly respected public servant. All Rachel Stenson has ever done is to stand up for the rights of women and minorities. How dare some monkey in a clerical collar make an example of her? All these right-wing bishops have to go.”
Special Agent Bob Maas leaned forward to get the group’s attention. “Words can kill, John, and not just statements by hotheaded priests. Columns written by people advocating hate should not be allowed in the newspapers in the first place. We’re tracking what’s being said on television and radio, and before long we’ll be going after what’s said on the Internet. But we need to get the Commerce Department and the FCC into the act, to help us shut these people down. We need emergency power over the Internet. And if the media won’t cooperate with us, we may have to shut them down as well.”
Joel looked puzzled. “Hold on a second, Bob. Renee’s legal theories on tax exemption are as unfounded as this media thing. Congress never had the power to regulate churches until we got some modern court rulings. And as to the media, we are not authorized to go after them. Don’t you think that’s a little strong?”
“The media uses aspects of commerce for distribution,” John explained. “Any communication that promotes bigotry and intolerance, whether by wireless transmission, phone lines, cable systems, fiber optics, or even private e-mails, is a legitimate concern. They operate in the public interest, Joel, and I will not allow any organization that impedes our ability to prosecute cases to stand in our wa
y. So far a lot of folks in the media have been our friends, but Bob’s right. If the news media can’t be trusted, we will shut those segments down.”
“That bishop’s newspaper article was clearly a violation of the law,” Bob interjected. “Legally, it should never have been distributed. If he wanted to print off a few copies for his personal use, for his parishioners, or something of that sort, that’s one thing. But he can’t use the mail or the Internet or any other entity the government regulates for that purpose.”
“This was where the Christian Family Forum hit the skids,” John added. “And there are a lot more ministries of that type that we need to be going after.”
“They’re doing it the right way in Canada,” Reneé added. “In Canada they screen the programs of hate groups for offensive material before they’re broadcast. If the commission decides the content of any program is unsuitable, they either make the group edit the content or they shut it down. It’s as simple as that. That’s what we need to be doing.”
After a thoughtful pause, John said, “I believe you’re on to something, Reneé. This is exactly what we need with this ‘exclusionist’ thing. We’ve been wrestling with the law on prior restraint. Anyone trying to claim they have the only truth needs to be off the air. We can give them the option of changing the message or closing their doors. But it’s perfectly clear that any such claims must not be mailed, broadcast, or published in any form, and the media should not be allowed to quote their contents.”
“The Alliance won a big case in the Ninth Circuit a few years ago called Canyon Ferry Baptist,” Joel said. “Let me read a section of that decision that you’ll need to get overturned to move ahead.
“‘An unregulated, unregistered press is important to our democracy. So are unregulated, unregistered churches. Churches have played an important—no, an essential—part in the democratic life of the United States… The liberals who applaud their outcomes and live in their light forget the motivation that drove the champions of freedom. They approve religious intervention in the political process selectively: It’s great when it’s on their side. In a secular age, Freedom of Speech is more talismanic than Freedom of Religion. But the latter is the first freedom in our Bill of Rights. It is in terms of this first freedom that this case should be decided.’”
John sat motionless for a moment. “I’m familiar with the Canyon Ferry Baptist case, Joel. It’s a decade old. Things have changed. We changed them and we’ll change them a lot more.” The room chilled to silence. “Sometimes I wonder whose side you are on.”
“I started on your side and my loyalties haven’t changed, John. I’m just saying that it’s all going to come back to the First Amendment.”
John stood to indicate that the meeting was over. He looked over at Joel. “If we were doing things correctly, Mr. Thevis, the messages from the Indiana and Kansas City bishops would never have been heard in the first place. We’ve achieved a lot over the last few years, but we still have a long way to go. It’s time to turn up the heat.”