Lesson lost

By Ken Burrows

Several philosophers have observed that when we don’t learn from history, we risk repeating its errors. This truism plays out in the case of Aimee Maddonna and her husband, South Carolinians who applied to become foster parents through that state’s largest foster care agency, the taxpayer-funded Miracle Hill Ministries. Throughout the application process the agency found the Maddonnas to be a good fit, but they were ultimately rejected when Miracle Hill learned they were Catholics. The agency said it accepts only evangelical protestants. Aimee Maddonna said it was the first time she ever felt she was “a religious minority” discriminated against solely for her faith. A lawsuit has subsequently been filed to stop South Carolina from allowing religious discrimination with taxpayer dollars.

In a surprising move to many observers, the Maddonnas’ Catholic diocese supports Miracle Hill’s decision to reject them due to their Catholicism. This aligns with a broader campaign by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to support federal legislation that would allow faith-based child welfare organizations to discriminate in a similar way—denying equal rights to applicants based on factors such as sexual orientation, gender/gender identity, lifestyle choices or, as the Maddonnas learned, practicing “wrong” religions. The child welfare agencies want this right to discriminate even if they receive public funds.

Where does forgotten history fit in this? Consider that in the 17^th and 18^th centuries when different church denominations were vying for favored positions, if not outright establishment, Catholics were often among the most frequently vilified “wrong” religions. In early Virginia, Catholics were prohibited from holding public office, and some leaders called for all “popish priests” to be deported. In the 1600s William Penn, a devout Quaker, dismissed Catholics as “papists” and suggested the “design of popery” was to destroy true religion. In the 1700s Presbyterian Samuel Davies called for the state to restrict certain religions and claimed Roman Catholics in particular should not be tolerated because they were “godless.” Catholic teachings were once termed “superstitions and idolatries” by a leading pastor in Boston.

As Catholics were routinely discriminated against, one who thought differently was James Madison, who would go on to be chief draftsman of the Constitution. Historian Robert Alley relates how Madison in his youth “had observed firsthand the narrowminded bigotry and cruelty of religious persecution” and he (Madison) “consistently opposed anti-Catholic prejudices.” This general respect for differing religions is partly what drove Madison to be a fierce advocate for separating religion and government, so all religions could be treated equally and none given special favor. In his famed Memorial and Remonstrance, he stated that equality is violated when government grants unique advantages to selected religions because that subjects some citizens to “peculiar burdens” and allows others “peculiar exemptions.” His influence, along with that of colleagues like Thomas Jefferson, helped to free Catholics from the abuse they regularly faced.

That lesson has apparently been lost by today’s Catholic leaders as they advocate for “peculiar exemptions” to anti-discrimination laws. This denomination that was once victimized by religion-based prejudice is now a supporter of religion-based prejudice, even when it is inflicted on one of their own members. They have failed to learn from Madison’s call to reject the “cruelty of religious persecution” against others. In doing so they resurrect and repeat one of our history’s greatest errors.

Published in the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs Freethought Views column in the Colorado Springs Independent, May 1, 2019 with the quotation below.

We learn from history that we don’t learn from history.

--- Desmond Tutu