Social Justice: Take Back the Term from the Thieves and Build a New Catholic Action Comments
Some have begun to use the phrase "Social Justice" in a disparaging manner. They want to expose the error committed by some who have stolen the term "Social Justice" to hide a "leftist" political agenda. There are others who use it but reject the existence of objective moral truths meant to govern our life together. However, some words and phrases must be rescued when they are stolen. Social Justice is such a ... Continue Reading
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Tony: I'll answer your questions first. "Would you say that a Catholic would be putting his own right-wing political opinions above the teachings of the Church in being supportive of both the death penalty and of the Iraq War?" I answer a very resounding NO! "In other words, would a person be favoring allegiance to their own political biases over allegiance to the Church in such a situation?" My answer, God and His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church first, my family second, my country next; other than that I do not know how to answer your question because it supposes that I agree with you that the Church has unequivocally condemned the Iraq war and totally ruled out the death penalty. Neither of which is true. "Would you support a federal policy for universal health care “that is, basic health care for all citizens“ if it was cost-efficient and did not include abortion?" My answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. The government has proven time and again that it is monstrously incapable of anything of which you suggest. Freddie and Fannie ring a bell? AMTRAK? Social Security (which the Supreme Court has ruled that those who pay into it have "no right" to a claim to money from it)?
Tony, if you follow the CCC 2nd Ed without taking anything out of context, you will not be furthering your own agenda. That being said, your attack of me an other Catholics who have written is in grave error. No one said that government should not help those who are UNABLE to help themselves (including health care), starting with the Local, then State, and when necessary the Federal Government. This is all in line with the Church's teaching of Subsidiarity, and that excessive government intervention is wrong. The majority about 277M who do not need or want government health care, should not be forced to take it or be put in a position where they are forced to take it due to bill provisions over a period of years. Rather than the government making health care decisions for the poor and others who need health care, it would have been more prudent for the government to make payments to Physicians serving them. Waste and Fraud could be curtailed by strong and enforced laws of huge financial penalties and defined jail terms. It's important that the poor, elderly, and disabled can make their own health care decisions in conjunction with their Doctors and Families rather than Beaurocrats in DC - but this is my own opinion. which I also believe to be in line with "Subsidiarity". I don't agree with doing away with the term "Social Justice" since it is in the Catechism; we must all be vigilent that it is applied correctly and in accord with the CCC 2nd Ed - not part of a socialist or communist agenda. That is why "Subsidiarity" must be part of all "Social Justice" programs.
The Catholic Church is neither Democratic nor Republican; Liberal or Conservative. It is Catholic as defined in the Doctrine of the Church - contained in the "Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition" without leaving anything out. I would like to thank this web site for this and other articles which PROVE the NEED that every Catholic home must have a copy of the "CCC 2nd Ed" to avoid errors, errors of others, and errors of enemies within the Church. The CCC is a great gift from our Church.- Thank you.
There is nothing in the CCC that states the banning of handguns. Handguns can allow those weaker than others to defend themselves and their families against stronger aggressors. In fact self defense is included in the CCC 2nd Ed.
"The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved....and the publication of which I today order by virture of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church's faith and of Catholic Doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magesterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the Faith, and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclessial Communion" - Pope John Paul II. Imprimi Potest by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. (Someone above mentioned the web site of the "National Catholic Reporter" which is known for supporting pro-abortion politicians such as Nancy Polosi, Obama, etc; and refuses to refer to the "CCC 2nd Ed" without taking things out of context.)
The USCCB is NOT the Magesterium of the Church, to believe otherwise would be heresy in itself. Unfortunately, they have never purged their 300+ Staff to insure complete loyalty and understanding of Catholic Church Doctrine without taking anything out of context. Per the Magesterium, Catholic Church Doctrine is contained in the CCC 2nd Ed. "Global Warming" now called "Climate Change" is false. The CCC requires the TRUTH.
Ecclesiastes 10:2 “The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.”
Last point. Pete, you mentioned pro-America. While there is nothing inheriently wrong with being Pro-America, let me ask you this. Where does our Catechism require us to be Pro-America? When did the Pope ask all Catholics to be pro-America? When did Christ tell his Apostles to be pro-America? Is being Pro-America one of the Cardinal virtues? Are South American, European and African Catholics required to be pro-America? Is God going to deny people entrance to Heaven because they are not pro-American? This is another one of my issues with right-wing Catholics. They tend to view America of some kind of favored country by God. Again, I have no problem with patriotism, but I have a problem with it when Catholics are willing to place the interest of their country above the interests of the Catholic Church. Right-wing Catholics condoned the Iraq War because they wished to be pro-American rather than pro-Catholic. When patriotism blinds one from faith, it is a dangerous thing. And in my experience, being pro-American under right-wing conditions means caring first and foremost about American citizens and utterly neglecting the needs of the poor in other countries. Being pro-American under right-wing conditions means having absolute disregard for the needs of people in other countries and viewing Americans as being superior to other citizens. If you are interpreting me as hating America, you are simply misunderstanding this post. I am simply saying that being pro-America is absolutely irrelevant to being a Catholic, and I am saying that it is immoral to choose to be pro-America over being pro-Catholic.
Pam, I enjoyed reading your post. You seem to be very unbiased and faithful to the Church. It would be nice to see you post here more often. Yes, there are some exceptions in regards to the death penalty, but mainly in societies in which sound prison systems do not exist (America would not qualify). As you said, the bishops and the Pope have basically said that the use of the death penalty is almost non-existent in modern day civilized society. And yes, with regards to war, war is certainly sometimes justified. I was specifically referring to the Iraq War, which was condemned by the Church and did not even remotely fulfill the criteria of the Just War Doctrine of the Catholic Church. As for health care, yes there is a danger in universal health care being handled by the government if it is done in the wrong way, certainly. However, if done in the right way (cost-efficiently with universal and equal coverage, as our bishops have proposed), then it would be quite beneficial. It is good to see that you would prefer universal health care in general. Thank you for the refreshing post! God Bless.
Again, my purpose of posting here is not to spread my own agenda. My purpose of posting here is that I don’t see enough allegiance to the Church within this ‘group.’ Pete, could you please answer a question of mine. Would you say that a Catholic would be putting his own right-wing political opinions above the teachings of the Church in being supportive of both the death penalty and of the Iraq War? In other words, would a person be favoring allegiance to their own political biases over allegiance to the Church in such a situation? And one more question… Would you support a federal policy for universal health care – that is, basic health care for all citizens – if it was cost-efficient and did not include abortion?