Bundy v The Catechism

By now, everyone has probably heard about the situation between the Bundy Ranch and the Bureau of Land Management. If you haven’t, just Google “Bundy Ranch and the BLM” and then pick your politically biased poison.

In brief, a rancher in Nevada named Cliven Bundy has been illegally grazing his cows on federal land for the past 20 years without paying grazing fees. The BLM finally said ‘enough’ and began collecting and removing Bundy’s cattle from federal property.

I’m not going too dive to deep into Bundy’s case or discuss how the government and the BLM handled the situation. Bundy broke the law. He was wrong. Plain and simple.

Regardless, when the fertilizer hit the fan, a group of “patriots” showed up with guns in hand, itching to relive the days of our forefathers and shed blood for the rights of trespassing bovines everywhere. This resulted in an intense standoff that lasted for several days until the BLM, not wanting people to die over where cows eat and poop, decided to back down.

As expected, this event sparked an outpouring of pundit jabbering and combox bickering over who’s right, who’s wrong, patriotism, and our “tyrannical government.”

Now, if we can wade through all political the riff raff, what happened at Bundy Ranch provides us Catholics with a great opportunity to discuss just war, legitimate defense, and all the other moral quandaries involved with this situation.

You see, while what went down out in the Wild West may have gotten some folks awe struck and starry eyed for freedom, what those “militia men” did toed the line of a morally grave offense.

Let’s be very clear on one thing before we go any further. Our government is not a dictatorship. It is not tyrannical. Sure, you could argue it’s moving that way. There are plenty of incidents that make it seem so. However, we are far from Fascist Germany or Soviet Russia, despite what anyone on television might want you to think.

No, I do not always agree with what our government does, especially in relation to the religious, but we’re nowhere near the need for guns and revolution. Not even close. When I can’t attend Mass without being shot or thrown in jail, I’ll reevaluate that position.

Now, I don’t know if any of the heat packing men that showed up are Catholic or not, but one thing that is absolutely certain, Catholics across the country have no business supporting their actions. They literally bypassed every single stipulation for armed conflict or defense outlined in the Catechism.

Was any damage done to the community? If so, was it lasting, grave, and certain? Absolutely not.

Had all other means of putting an end to the conflict been exhausted or proven ineffective? Nope.

Was there any prospect of success? None.

Had they actually fired shots, would the use of arms have produced evil and disorder greater than the evil to be eliminated? You bet.

As Catholics, we need to recognize the events at Bundy Ranch for what they were: immoral and against Church teaching. There’s just no other way around it.

War, conflict, violence, and killing are never good. Even if they are justified, they bring with them sorrow, pain, and unnecessary suffering; and when they’re not justified, they bring the stain of mortal sin and the risk of damnation.

No matter the situation, we are supposed to resist violent conflict at every possible opportunity, even if we aren’t directly involved. Even supporting the efforts of unjust war or conflict puts us in moral danger. What happened at Bundy Ranch wasn’t an isolated incident. There are plenty of people across the country who claim to be Christian, and yet are locked and loaded, ready go all Boondock Saints on the first person that looks at them cross-eyed.

We can debate all day about the legal battle between Cliven Bundy and the BLM. We can pick sides and argue until we’re red in the face about who was right and who was wrong. What we can’t do is accept the actions of those men who showed up ready to shed blood for an unjust cause.

Now, it’s not a stretch to say that most of the people who express their support for Bundy, and perhaps even the armed men who supported him, lean to the right. I also understand that many Catholics tend to hold at least some conservative view points. I know I do. Plenty more wholly align themselves with the Republican Party. That’s why conservative and moderate Catholics need to pay attention to situations like this one, because it shows that the Devil can and will do his work on both sides of the aisle. He will not miss a chance to misguide, misinform, and lead the march into mortal sin. He will make evil look like “patriotism” just like he does with the idea of “choice”.

We have to be ever vigilant of deception, which is why we bind and submit ourselves to The Church, The Catechism, and Holy Scriptures over government, country, and political agenda. Regardless of how we vote, what platform we support, or where our money goes, we need to be ready to recognize and call out immoral actions, especially when it’s our team committing the offense.