By Moe Wosepka, Executive Director
Montana Catholic Conference

“This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” This a quote from one of our most popular presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, as he identified the absolute link each of us have with each other no matter who we are, where we live or what we believe.

Martin Luther King echoed the thought nearly 50 years later: “We are all tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.”

We are all tied together in this community, our country and globally. The decisions we make in Montana will have some affect on decisions made throughout the country, however small those decisions may be. They may seem insignificant, just like the thought that my one vote doesn’t matter, but look at how recent events in California and New York have affected marriage.

Do we think that we will not be affected by those decisions? We see similarities with state health-care initiatives, and immigration and welfare reform.

In many cases, our policies and our daily lives are affected more by decisions in other states than decisions in our national assemblies. We are not the first to recognize this phenomenon. For several years national associations have been promoting change on a state level which will have national significance. Much of this occurs through the initiative process. This is in part due to the fact that it is very difficult to pass legislation of great significance on the national level.

Take immigration as an example. States are taking on the challenge since the federal assemblies have been unable, or are unwilling to take action.

How can we respond to initiatives and court rulings in California and New York? We respond first by understanding that we are inexplicably tied to all others in this great country. Second, we respond by creating good public policy in Montana with an understanding that what we do affects every person in this state.

When someone who does not have health coverage has a heart attack, we all pay whether that person has health insurance or not. When someone commits a crime and goes to prison, we all pay. When someone lacks the job skills to pull themselves from poverty, we all pay. When employers are not able to find qualified workers and production suffers, we all pay.

Forming good comprehensive public policy is very difficult. It requires compromise much like a marriage. Marriages are much healthier if disagreements and fights are about improving the marriage, not about winning or losing the fight. Debates over public policy should be about what’s best for everyone in the state.

One of my favorite scriptures is 1 Kings when Elijah is standing on the mountain looking for the Lord. A strong wind comes, as does an earthquake and a fire, but God was not in any of those. God was in the tiny whispering sound that followed the fire.

We must try to remember who the ultimate author is in all we do. When we take on the task of forming good public policy in this upcoming legislative session, we should remember that God is less likely to be in the anger, and outbursts, and the win at any expense attitudes than he is in the quiet handshake sealing a compromise between two political foes.


Moe Wosepka is the executive director of the Montana Catholic Conference. You can reach him by phone at 442-5761, e-mail director@montanacc.org or check out the website www.montanacc.org.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 24, No. 8, August 15, 2008.