Email to My Pastor on Social Justice

Vanity | 1/4/2012 | pgyanke

[pgyanke]

Dear Father,

I get my dander up when the "social justice" crowd roars. There is a place for it to be sure (we can't pick and choose which parts of our faith to follow), but some of this support comes at the expense of the bigger picture. I follow the Holy Father's words on this:

"While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia."

-- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (before he was Pope Benedict XVI)

Unfortunately, much of our Church in America (from leaders to lay) support the Democratic Party for its supposed support for "the working man" while ignoring its outright support (in its platform) for three of the five intrinsic policy evils (abortion, homosexual marriage and embryonic stem cell research). I take note when our prayer intentions line up ideologically with that party's rhetoric.

Here are the prayer intentions that got my attention:

2. That there may be a renewed energy for creating a more just, humane, compassionate economy.

An economy is driven by the actions of its participants. I get very concerned when well-meaning people want the economy to be humane and compassionate... the economy is a dispassionate conduit of the fruits of labor. It should be just. It can't be compassionate. It is not a social justice mechanism. This rhetoric tends to be a code for government intervention to MAKE the economy be more humane and compassionate. Anyone with open eyes can see the results we have reaped for such wrong-headed policy decisions... $15T in debt, $1.2T in annual deficits, and an ever-increasing dependent class. It isn't humane or compassionate to drive the country into bankruptcy. In a collapse, we will be equal... but equal in misery.

Our Church absolutely rejects socialism and accepts regulated capitalism as the better alternative (Nostis et Nobiscum, Rerum Novarum, Graves de Communi Re, Notre Charge Apostolique, Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum, Quadragesimo Anno, Summi Pontificatus, Mater et Magistra, Deus Caritas Est). Unfortunately, recent support from the Church in America has been toward government-driven social programs (leaning toward Liberation Theology). In fact, the most openly abortion-promoting duo (Obama and Pelosi) received majority Catholic Support in the last national election! That is a failure of Church leadership to even approach the truth and teach the faithful.

"The words of the Bible and of the Church fathers rang in my ears, those sharp condemnations of shepherds who are like mute dogs; in order to avoid conflicts, they let the poison spread. Peace is not the first civic duty, and a bishop whose only concern is not to have any problems and to gloss over as many conflicts as possible is an image I find repulsive."

-- Cardinal Ratzinger

3. That there may be renewed creativity toward finding solutions to problems concerning health care, education, immigration, and respect for all life.

The problem with our health care system is government intervention. Government intervention is not the solution. Much like the economic argument above, the health care industry fulfills a function... until the government steps in and puts greater distance between you and your doctor. Remember... the HMOs and insurance providers the government decries were first empowered by the government. The late Ted Kennedy was quoted in the early 1990s as admitting that their intent is to break the health care system so they can step in to fix it.

You can see here that the Democrats have been trying to nationalize our health care system for more than half a century. Each time, they point out how bad it is... yet, which country's health system has been better for the last 50 years? We handle the hard cases of the world and take care of the "rich" who can afford to flee their own countries' systems. The reason for this push to socialized medicine? In 1945, an AMA pamphlet quoted V.I. Lenin in stating that socialized medicine is the keystone arch to the socialist state. Of course it would be. If you control the health decisions of every American... you control every American.

On education: we are meant to be the masters of the State, not the other way around. It is inconceivable that a people educated by the State can adequately exercise control of the State. The government has no business in local education.

I will attach a letter I wrote to the USCCB on immigration rather than repeat it here.

I realize that I am reading through the lines on these intentions. However, I have been fighting this fight for many years and I recognize the enemy's language for what it is. Whether driven by a desire for political-correctness or outright support for Democratic Party rhetoric, the result is the same. These are perilous times. Many of the ills we face in our society would not be so grave if the Church simply stood up for Her values. Instead, we couch our words in the language of those who seek our ruin. These subtle word choices are not benign and not an accident. They warp fully-formed consciences to being malleable to the messages of the culture... a culture driven by the entertainment industry and the press with the full support of the Democratic Party. If we are ever going to turn things around in this country, we will have to start in the Church with recognizing those who would weaken our resistance against the evils of our day.

Here are some quotes from recent popes on the evils of Socialism... including "moderate" Socialism.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to discuss these things with you and with our Bishop. Social change doesn't come from Right to Life marches, it comes through the ballot box. In this election year, I pray fervently that our Bishops will fully engage and teach the faith so our faith can free this country from its national nightmare.

God bless you.

[ApplegateRanch]

But, (sputter!) don't you realize that if the Church takes such a hardline approach, that it will drive away many of the faithful and result in an immediate loss of credibility in the larger community? This is a very delicate and complex set of problems, which you would understand, if only you could see the bigger picture of the issues facing the USCCB. Such a Legalistic approach just is not in Conformity to the Compassion demanded....

Hope I'm wrong about that expected response.