"The Report of...[Heterodox American Catholicism's] Death was an Exaggeration" (apologies to Mark Twain)

"Across the U.S., the Catholic Church is undergoing an immense shift. Generations of Catholics who embraced the modernizing tide sparked in the 1960s by Vatican II are increasingly giving way to religious conservatives.... surveys show most American Catholics are far from orthodox. Most support abortion rights. The vast majority use birth control. But increasingly, those Catholics are not in church" ('A step back in time': America’s Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways,  AP News, 5/1/24 updated)

This supposed new conservatism of American Catholics is greatly exaggerated.  If those who identify themselves as Catholic were truly being salt for the earth, why  would we have a "Catholic" president who has shown himself to be such an enemy of the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of marriage/family/human sexuality?  Those who treasure Catholic orthodoxy must keep preaching! 

"Before Americans can be convinced that abortion is murder, they need to become serious again. This will require improving education, strengthening religious and civic communities, and creating a true pro-life culture. Success is only possible when the ground has been prepared. In order to help an unserious people care about abortion, pro-lifers need to help them become serious first. This does not mean making their case more attractive or popular, but about getting their fellow Americans to transcend the metric of modish popularity altogether and reason like responsible adults" (Abortion and the American Seriousness Deficit, The American Conservative, 4/30/2024).

The author is absolutely right about our need for reform to "become serious again."  However, we cannot and must not put struggles for recognition of the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of marriage/family/human sexuality on the back burner!