Christians are called to win the battle of ideas and values in
secular society, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput said on Tuesday.
In a speech
delivered to the Alliance Defending Freedom Summit on Religious Liberty
on July 9, the archbishop said authentic religious freedom is essential
in shaping a society of love, “the animating spirit of all
authentically Christian political action.”
“I mean love in the biblical sense: love with a heart of courage,
love determined to build justice in society and focused on the true good
of the whole human person, body and soul.”
Chaput told the audience of lawyers from around the world that
Christians must work to build an authentic vision of society built
around the common good, and that “human progress means more than getting
more stuff, more entitlements, and more personal license.”
“Real human progress satisfies the human hunger for solidarity and
communion,” Chaput said.
“When our leaders and their slogans tell us to
move ‘forward into the future,’ we need to take a very hard look at the
road we’re on, where ‘forward’ leads, and whether it ennobles the human
soul or just aggravates our selfishness, our isolation, and our appetite
for things.”
True religious freedom is crucial to serving real human progress, the
archbishop said, drawing a distinction between it and “the half-starved
copy of the real thing called ‘freedom of worship.’”
“We can never accept a separation of our religious faith and moral
convictions from our public ministries or our political engagement. It’s
impossible. And even trying to do so is evil because it forces us to
live two different lives, worshiping God at home and in our churches;
and worshiping the latest version of Caesar everywhere else.”
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