Conservative Principles Now

With the decision by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to deny a stay requested by proponents of traditional marriage, the District of Columbia’s same-sex marriage law takes effect today.  Anticipating that event, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington took another step to comply with the law’s terms this past Monday. Rather than begin to offer spousal health insurance benefits to the partners of any homosexual employees of Catholic Charities, the Diocese has chosen to end such benefits for all new employees, effective today.  The benefits will also cease to be available to the spouse of any current employee who had not already elected the coverage.

One District official who had previously clashed with the Diocese over its decision to seek a robust religious exemption from the same-sex marriage law seems unfazed by the Catholic Church’s new decision. D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), who voted for same-sex marriage, said “Catholic Charities is a private, nonprofit corporation. They can choose to provide benefits to families and spouses or not.”

This outcome protects the right of the Archdiocese of Washington to preserve a policy it views as central to its character and mission. Marriage in the Catholic view represents “the covenant of conjugal love freely and consciously chosen, whereby man and woman accept the intimate community of life and love willed by God Himself.” In addition to maintaining its freedom to determine the character of its charitable work, the Diocese’s decision allows a set of invaluable social services to continue. Catholic-run shelters in the nation’s capital, for example, serve about one-third of the city’s homeless.

The litigation over the same-sex marriage bill will continue irrespective of last night’s ruling from the Supreme Court, as advocates of traditional marriage strive to get the issue on the ballot for a public vote. In the interim, another toll of the new law is clearer. Husbands and wives of future employees of Catholic Charities will sacrifice health insurance coverage, a benefit that recognized the importance of the family unit. The “clash of orthodoxies” is not a victimless conflict.

What’s more, the idea that major changes in civil society can be implemented without profound clashes of principle is clearly false. Marriage is not an insular institution, even if, as here, it can be insulated to a degree from public policy. The Archdiocese of Washington has asked the Church’s adherents to bear the brunt of the new policy, but the coming clash was visible to city officials who chose conflict over compromise.

The recent CPAC conference showed us that the conservative movement is powered, in part, by the students and young leaders who keep important political issues front and center on their respective campuses. A majority of the people who attended the conference were young people, and it was clear they took home a great wealth of knowledge about our founding principles, our political system and our economy. While it is certain that these students are well versed in these subject matters, it may not be true for their peers back on campus.

On Monday, February 22, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) conducted a panel discussion at The Heritage Foundation and discussed their recent studies on how well American colleges teach the political and economic principles that our nation was founded on. The 2007 and 2008 studies tested the civic literacy of respondents through questions on American history, politics and economics. The results were disturbing:

• Overall, college seniors failed the test.
• College seniors scored only slightly higher than their freshman counterparts overall.
• “Negative Learning” (where freshman score higher than seniors) occurs at Duke, Cornell, Princeton and Yale.
• Only 48% of Americans can correctly identify the 3 branches of government.

If students aren’t able to pass a basic test on politics and economics after earning a degree, what are they taking away from their time on campus? ISI extended its study in 2009, and the statistics show that the college experience influences people heavily on social issues:

• College graduates are more likely to support same-sex marriage and abortion on demand.
• College graduates are less likely to believe in school prayer and the belief that a someone with a good work ethic will achieve success.
• Those with college degrees tend to be further left on the ideological scale.

Progressive social ideas seem to be more pervasive than founding principles in our nation’s intellectual institutions. Our founding documents and the principles that the young students at CPAC learned about are too often neglected. Let’s hope the next generation educate themselves on our shared history and do not discount the value of our founding documents for our nation’s future.

ISI’s study has shown that civic knowledge influences people’s opinions on a wider range of issues including American ideals and institutions, the economy, higher education, culture and society, and public policy. Greater civic education, whether gained at a college or independently, helps people understand the institutions that help our country operate. It’s time for our universities to see the benefits of a greater civic education and begin requiring classes with civic content.

Nick Taddeo is a member of the Young Leaders Program at the Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please visit: http://www.heritage.org/about/departments/ylp.cfm