Laws: Just and Unjust – ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’

“… You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws. One may well ask, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “An unjust law is no law at all....”

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., August 1963

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

O n Jan. 10, the N.J. State Senate (by a 23–15 vote) and Assembly (by a 46–22 vote, with eight abstentions) passed a new law (S 49), called by some, the “Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act.” Gov. Phil Murphy signed that bill into law on Jan. 13. On Jan. 17, we marked, as a nation, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The law (S 49) that was passed by our state legislators and signed by our governor is a terribly unjust law, as it fails to recognize the “personhood” of an unborn child. As I shared in this space last week, while there are differences, there are also many similarities between the ongoing struggle for civil rights, so powerfully led and inspired by the life, sacrifice, and example of Dr. King, and the struggle to fulfill the words of the Declaration of Independence, upon which our nation was founded:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

This new law in our state denies that “Right to Life” as long as a child is in her or his mother’s womb. This law allows abortion through the full nine months of pregnancy. I believe that, somehow, our governor, legislators, and others see this law as protecting a “woman’s right to choose” and providing “access to reproductive health care,” but I do not understand how they cannot see that the life of a child is being taken and ended by each abortion.

Perhaps some would say that I am looking at this too simplistically and that a (celibate) male should not even comment on the decisions that a woman makes or feels she has no other choice to make. If you have read this far, I want you to know that I am not judging or condemning any mom who has had to make such a terrible decision. I write because I am saddened by what this law says about us as a community.

In the Statement issued by the Bishops of our state in response to this law, we say:

We have failed as a society when a response to any pregnancy is fear rather than joy. Sadly, too often this fear is born out of the mother’s uncertainty she will not be able to provide for herself and her child the resources necessary to live a flourishing life. We must do better. Therefore, we urge all Catholics and people of good will to actively participate in breaking down the economic, employment, social, racial, and emotional barriers that lead mothers into thinking that abortion is a better option than life.

For our part, the Catholic Church is committed to broadening and increasing awareness about the abundant resources and programs we offer that include life-affirming health and prenatal care, emotional support, assistance in bearing and raising her child, and basic needs such as housing, food, and clothing to pregnant mothers seeking or considering alternatives to abortion.

There is much more that I could say on this topic. I am aware that there are many faithful Catholics who feel that the Bishops do not speak out strongly enough against elected officials and legislators who pass and sign laws such as this, especially those elected officials and legislators who identify as Catholic. I am also aware that there are many faithful Catholics who feel that a Bishop or the Church should stay out of this debate and remain quiet on topics such as this because the Church, in their understanding, focuses too much on abortion.

As I prayed and reflected on these recent events, I thought back to Dr. King, to what I have learned about him, and was inspired by my respect and admiration for him. I went back and read, once again, Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. For all those who are concerned about these issues of life and justice, as I believe all Catholics, Christians, and people of good will should be concerned about these issues, I encourage you to take the time to read Dr. King’s words and thoughts as he expressed them in that historic, challenging Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Take the time to think and reflect with Dr. King about the difference between a “just and unjust law” and “How does one determine when a law is just or unjust?” As you read, you might ask yourself, as I did, whether I (currently) may be included in one (or both) of the two groups who “disappointed” Dr. King: (white) “moderates” and the “(white) church and its leadership”? And, if so, we can ask ourselves what we may need to do to be more faithful in and committed to the struggle for justice. In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. King expressed the truth that all of humanity is interrelated and that we live: in an “inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Surely, our embrace of Dr. King’s vision can help us to do better than to pass laws that diminish the human family and which instead provide for a hopeful common destiny which is served by God’s eternal law.

Dr. King was one of the most inspired, effective, and persuasive orators and writers in our nation’s history. Inspired, formed, and nurtured by the Word of God in the Scriptures, Dr. King’s words inspired and continue to inspire so many. But, was it only his words what made Dr. King the great person and leader he became? I believe, more than his words, it was his actions that made him who he was, the way in which he lived and embodied Jesus’ “Law of Love,” never using violence, always ready to sacrifice.

I pray that the unjust law that has recently been passed in our state will one day be overturned. I invite us all to put the Word of God, the words of Jesus, into action, so that by “loving one another as (he) loves us,” not only our laws, but also our community (state and nation) may be a place where all human beings are treated equally (under the law and in fact) and that the Right to Life of all will be guaranteed, protected, and cherished.