Church and state: What U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr should have said at Notre Dame

U.S. Attorney General William Barr recently gave a speech at the University of Notre Dame and decried the impact of secularism in America as a primary reason for the decline in our nation’s morals.

His viewpoint about the culture wars in America, and in particular the secular/religious conflict, triggered a controversy. Some pundits said he went far beyond his area of expertise, which is law enforcement and not theology.

The purpose of the speech was to address America’s juvenile justice problems. I can understand his position when he says juvenile justice reform means advocating “the strengthening of society’s most important socializing institutions: The family, schools, community associations and religious institutions.”

Barr stands on solid ground with these comments.

Then Barr leaps into a diatribe against the government and the liberal policies of the past and decries those policies that weaken the family. Where the trouble comes is when he gets into the schools for having expelled religious teachings:

“This moral lobotomy of public schools has been based on extremist notions of separation of church and state or on theories of moral relativism which reject the notion that there are standards of right or wrong to which the community can demand adherence.”

Barr went on to identify the decreasing influence of religion in American life and that people he thinks of as secularists do not have the live-and-let-live philosophy.

“The secular project has itself become a religion, pursued with religious fervor,” he said. “It is taking on all the trappings of religion, including inquisitions and excommunication. (How ironic!) Those who defy the creed risk a figurative burning at the stake — social, educational and professional ostracism and exclusion waged through lawsuits and savage social media campaigns.”

Finally Barr comes out clearly to declare the culture war between people of faith and the secularists who, according to his beliefs, threaten our way of life.

“Secularists, and their allies among the ‘progressives,’ have marshaled all the force of mass communications, popular culture, the entertainment industry, and academia in an unremitting assault on religion and traditional values.”

The fact that Barr is a Roman Catholic and speaking at a Roman Catholic university is irrelevant. He is entitled to his viewpoints about diagnosing the problems in American society and especially in regard to caring for and prosecuting juveniles who commit crimes.

What is unfortunate is how he demonizes his fellow citizens who may not share his viewpoints about religion. The idea that Americans who are not religiously affiliated should wear a label of secularists and then be condemned as amoral only contributes to the further deepening schism in our society.

I am glad the attorney general is deeply concerned about juvenile crime and the underlying reasons so many commit violent crimes. My problem is how this attorney general fuels a divisive narrative, pitting Americans against each other.

The problems of juvenile crime and the schools, which he believes have no moral fiber to instruct students, is a worthy topic and deserves our attention.

People who want there to be a high wall separating religion and state are not bad people, whether they are secular or religious, because plenty of people like myself believe the schools should educate students about religion but not in a religious way.

Schools can and do teach about morality and how to behave, but that does not have to be couched only in a religious tradition in order to be effectively taught.

Mr. Barr, we are all in this together. We need you to make your presence known as a unifier and not a divider who generalizes that only secularists believe in separation of church and state.

Go ahead and speak your mind about problems that lead to crime in America. Yet, castigating people because they identify or not with a particular religion further exacerbates the problem of not being able to get people together to build that moral fiber that our nation’s youth desperately need.

We are all concerned about morals and values, not just in our schools. You have a bully pulpit and you could do so much good to bring us together for solutions and not harangue against people who do not share your particular religious orientation.

How about attending a Thanksgiving dinner this year with so-called secularists and the religiously affiliated? You might find more common ground with your perceived adversaries than you expect.

Rabbi Brad Bloom of Hilton Head Island writes commentary on matters of faith.