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Federal Social Programs and Catholic Principles
Catholic Culture ^ | 10.05.05 | Peter Mirus

Posted on 11/11/2005 10:52:44 PM PST by Coleus

Federal Social Programs and Catholic Principles

One of the fundamental differences between the “liberal” and “conservative” mentalities, at least in the United States, is the penchant of one for glorifying social programs and the other for glorifying capitalism and a free market system. Over the decades, but particularly today, politicians on both sides court the Catholic vote.

The Catholic who votes liberal because of the social programs that are the legacy of 60-plus years of American socialization does so out of a sense of obligation. The argument is that the welfare system and other similar systems promoting social equality are more in line with Catholic teaching – on the grounds that we, as a society, are obligated to consider the poorest of the poor before we consider ourselves. They believe the federal government to be the best (though not necessarily the only) vehicle for accomplishing these social goals.

The Catholic who votes a conservative ticket in order to quash these programs also does so out of a sense of obligation. He believes several things, listed here in order from ethical to preferential. First, he believes in the self-determination of man – that in both giving and receiving the individual should be able to exercise a freedom of conscience that is compatible with his beliefs. Second, he believes in the principle of subsidiarity; that which is possible to do on a local level should be done on a local level. Third, he believes that he knows better how to dispose of his money than does the federal government.

Conservatives paint left-leaning liberals as being socialist, teetering on the edge of advocating a system that has led to outright socialism (and economic problems of significance) in Europe. Liberals paint conservatives as being unconcerned with the plight of the poor.

The question is: which group is right?

Pope John Paul II wrote a considerable amount against socialism and in favor of individual freedom. But at the same time, he also spoke of the responsibility of the state to be mindful of the poor and less privileged.

However, earlier than that Pope Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum helped to establish the blueprint which has been largely followed by his successors. He commented, “It is not right for either the citizen or the family to be absorbed by the state; it is proper that the individual and the family should be permitted to retain their freedom of action, so far as this is possible without jeopardizing the common good.”

Those who follow politics in the United States know that our country, while still far from being a socialist state, has developed alarming socialist tendencies. One of the most egregious examples of the citizen or family being absorbed by the state is the federal welfare system, which is to a large degree emblematic of the problems behind our federal social systems. For the sake of brevity, in this article I’ll focus on it as my primary example and allow the reader to apply the expressed principles to other federal social programs.

I believe that our federal welfare system violates Catholic principles on two central points. First, that it diminishes the individual citizen’s right to exercise discretion in charitable giving according to his conscience. This is true both because he may find the federal programs to which he is contributing immoral, and also from a financial standpoint. Second, it violates the principle of subsidiarity because it deprives particular communities of dealing with their poor in a case-by-case manner.

In a piece titled Subsidiarity at Work: a Catholic’s Vision of Social Policy, Senator Rick Santorum points out the progress that has been made in the past two decades to reform the welfare system in the United States. In advocating further change, Santorum points out the negative effect of a welfare state that does not sufficiently respect subsidiarity by quoting John Paul II in Centesimus Annus:

“By intervening directly and depriving society of its responsibility, the Social Assistance State leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than concern for their clients…In fact, it would appear that needs are best understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them and who act as neighbors to those in need.”

The current welfare system is a self-perpetuating problem that regards the poor purely from an economic standpoint. It is a system that cannot hope to treat the person as a unique individual in order to genuinely encourage self-reliance or self-determination. By providing a wide safety net that does not discriminate in a meaningful manner, it removes the “effect” in “cause and effect” and therefore disintegrates accountability.

I am not taking the perspective that the federal government should have no involvement in helping the poor – nor do I suggest that it should surrender the necessity of apportioning some tax dollars expressly for that purpose. The argument could definitely be made in favor of the federal government possessing the ability to assist in dealing with multi-state national disasters that cripple local abilities – as is the case with Hurricane Katrina. In this case it is difficult, if not impossible, to provide timely aid to the poor without federal involvement.

However, the Church makes a point of the rights of the individual citizen and family because it knows that decisions made closer to home are likely to value the person more, and are therefore more likely to be ethical and appropriate decisions. When it comes to helping the poor, this is particularly true. An organization such as the Saint Vincent de Paul society operates much more effectively than does the federal system in providing necessary income and encouraging personal growth and development. It treats both the symptoms and the causes of poverty in a manner impossible at the federal level. For this reason, Catholic social teaching traditionally holds that building a strong society requires that responsibility for the care of the poor be given primarily to private charitable organizations and secondarily to local government.

There is another argument to consider: without the federalization of charitable giving to the poor, most people would not exercise their freedom in the proper manner. This means that left to our own devices, we will be selfish with our money and not assist the poor.

I agree that this might be a concern. One of the foremost problems with our citizenry is that it regards freedom as the power of self-determination (purely and simply) rather than the power to do the will of God. This is logical to a certain extent: despite an undoubted faith in God, our founding fathers left the legacy of a constitution that favors a highly enlightened definition of the words “freedom” and “liberty”. Inevitably, the constitution is a fairly good guide on how to build a decent government, but philosophically it cannot be looked to as a moral compass.

One could write books on the subject of which economic principles are more in line with Catholic teaching (and many have been written). My goal is to point out that the Kennedys and Kerrys of this world do not successfully represent a socialist form of government (for that is what it is) as being more in line with authentic Catholic teaching. The fact of the matter is that many of our country’s social systems do not pass the litmus test for approval by Catholics, and many more can be properly debated from either perspective as we struggle to define the common good in relationship to individual freedom and the principle of subsidiarity.

Ultimately, some social responsibilities may be best handled on a federal level, and some on a state or local level. Equally, there are some areas of the country in which a purely capitalist, free-market system may not be in the public’s best interests. Catholics of good will can certainly deliberate and support different policies.

We live in a flawed society with flawed members. In principle a free-market economy that values subsidiarity offers the best chance for meaningful personal liberties exercised in an ethical manner. Moreover, it would be proper to state that the Church, though careful not to make policy judgments except in extreme circumstances, favors this perspective as well.

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TOPICS: Catholic
KEYWORDS: capitalism; catholiccharities; catholiclist; catholicvote; cchd; centesimusannus; encyclical; marxism; socialism; socialjustice; socialprograms; welfare; work
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1 posted on 11/11/2005 10:52:47 PM PST by Coleus
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To: Coleus; Huber; NCSteve; TaxRelief

Socialism is evil. It is the opposite of Christian charity. It turns productive citizens into slaves, and unproductive citizens into domestic animals.

To the extent that Church leaders encourage "society" or "the state" to take over the duties of individuals, families, churches, and private organizations, they are not on the side of God but of Marx.

("Government is not God" ping, y'all)


2 posted on 11/12/2005 4:36:52 AM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
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To: Tax-chick

Yep. I was just thinking about the the anti-family nature of the welfare system and the problems it spawned.


3 posted on 11/12/2005 4:50:12 AM PST by Knitting A Conundrum (Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly With God Micah 6:8)
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To: Knitting A Conundrum

You must have been on some of the threads where the conjunction of "poor" and "children" brings out a few dozen people yelling, "They're just like animals ... sterilize them!"

Socialism destroys the humanity of everyone involved.


4 posted on 11/12/2005 5:25:19 AM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
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To: Tax-chick
Socialism destroys the humanity of everyone involved.

I wish I could believe that it is "socialism" which brings out these responses. I think it's something more fundamental in our nature itself--more like Original Sin. To mention just one example, Rick Santorum's really thoughtful discussion of subsidiarity and social justice is the sort of thing some FReepers cite as evidence that he is a crackpot. What other sort of politician would take seriously the religious principles he professes to believe?

5 posted on 11/12/2005 5:43:23 AM PST by madprof98
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To: madprof98
I think it's something more fundamental in our nature itself--more like Original Sin.

Well, that's certainly true at the rock-bottom level. However, there are some social structures that are more conducive to the operation of Grace upon nature, and some that are less so.

What other sort of politician would take seriously the religious principles he professes to believe?

LOL! Many people have bought the idea that a society can function without reference to moral, that is religious, principles. The outcome in France would be instructive for them, if they're looking closely :-).

6 posted on 11/12/2005 7:43:19 AM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
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To: Tax-chick
The tenets of redistributionism and "social justice" are antithetical to Christian teaching:

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

I have to take issue with Pope Leo (and the author) on one small point, though:

...it is proper that the individual and the family should be permitted to retain their freedom of action, so far as this is possible without jeopardizing the common good.

Christ said, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." He did not say, "except where it suits the common good." There can be no exceptions: secular government must be excluded from the construct of the family and from the enforcement of charity. Any other condition is non-Christian and immoral.

7 posted on 11/12/2005 8:39:50 AM PST by NCSteve
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To: NCSteve

I think you're right about the "common good" point, except in the most general sense, since individuals' or families' "freedom of action" has to constrained by general laws against murder, theft, assault, etc.


8 posted on 11/12/2005 8:59:28 AM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
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To: madprof98

" I think it's something more fundamental in our nature itself--more like Original Sin."

Well, yes, certainly socialism is a reverberation of Original Sin. "You shall be as gods," the serpent said to Eve. IOW, you need not consult God as to matters of right and wrong; you can decide these things for yourself. Using your godlike intellectual powers you can design a utopia.

Surely "we are as gods" is the uncanny wail of the socialist.

"We can decide for ourselves how people should act, what is moral and immoral, who should have his property taken away and to whom it should be given." (Never mind that "Thou shalt not steal" stuff and that bit about not coveting. That's for the superstitious.)

"We can decide for ourselves what forms marriage should take and what types of sexual activity should be endorsed." (Every form of utopianism for at least the past 500 years, most especially including socialism and communism, has held out a promise of increased sexual license.)

The whole thing positively reeks of Original Sin, which is why I always say that leftism, whatever label it happens to be claiming at any given time, is of and from Satan.


9 posted on 11/12/2005 9:31:20 AM PST by dsc
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To: Tax-chick
After reading the Rerum Novarum, I think that's exactly what Pope Leo intended. In the very next paragraph he says:

Now, it is to the interest of the community, as well as of the individual, that peace and good order should be maintained; that all things should be carried on in accordance with God's laws and those of nature; that the discipline of family life should be observed and that religion should be obeyed; that a high standard of morality should prevail, both in public and private life; that justice should be held sacred and that no one should injure another with impunity; that the members of the commonwealth should grow up to man's estate strong and robust, and capable, if need be, of guarding and defending their country.

This indicates he takes the common good to be founded on peace and order rather than some elitist vision of "equality." And, of course, Pope Leo cites natural law in his defense of "the common good." The left has hijacked parts of this language to press their agenda, knowing that most of the unwashed masses will not take the time to critically examine the point.

10 posted on 11/12/2005 9:50:24 AM PST by NCSteve
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To: Tax-chick
Socialism is evil. It is the opposite of Christian charity. It turns productive citizens into slaves, and unproductive citizens into domestic animals.

To the extent that Church leaders encourage "society" or "the state" to take over the duties of individuals, families, churches, and private organizations, they are not on the side of God but of Marx.

("Government is not God" ping, y'all)

Conversely, capitalism in its purest form is pretty evil too. Well, actually, all systems, economic, political, or otherwise are flawed and evil to some extent. That's why it's important for a Christian (Catholic, Orthodox, or otherwise) to consider themselves a Christian first, a citizen second, and a party memeber third.
11 posted on 11/12/2005 10:19:18 AM PST by Conservative til I die
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To: madprof98
To mention just one example, Rick Santorum's really thoughtful discussion of subsidiarity and social justice is the sort of thing some FReepers cite as evidence that he is a crackpot. What other sort of politician would take seriously the religious principles he professes to believe?

And then throws his support to baby killing Arlen Specter? Santorum's a political hack, no more and no less. And when he loses to Casey next year, it'll be well deserved. Good riddance.
12 posted on 11/12/2005 10:21:15 AM PST by Conservative til I die
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To: Tax-chick

A democracy cannot survive without a free market because the competition between business and government ensures protection of private property rights; limits the government's ability to write restrictive laws and fosters a desire within citizens to create wealth by creating businesses. The creation of wealth results in the creation of legitimate jobs.

Individuals have an overwhelming, innate desire to perform in a job that actually contributes to society.

Off topic, but it had to be said.


13 posted on 11/12/2005 11:19:00 AM PST by TaxRelief ("Conservatives are cracking down!" -- Rush Limbaugh, October 13, 2005)
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To: NCSteve

Thanks for following up on that. I've always thought Pope Leo XIII was a cutie :-).


14 posted on 11/12/2005 12:27:53 PM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
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To: Conservative til I die
Conversely, capitalism in its purest form is pretty evil too.

I disagree. Capitalism, or let us say, "a free-market economy" is based on the majority of people's making free decisions regarding economic ends and means. Because people are limited in their knowledge and often flawed in their intentions, there is indeed scope for evil. However, the system is not, in itself, based upon immoral premises, as socialism is.

Socialism, as I observed in my earlier post, ultimately removes from people even the opportunity to act out of genuine Christian charity toward their neighbors.

15 posted on 11/12/2005 12:32:07 PM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
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To: TaxRelief

Thanks for saying it :-).


16 posted on 11/12/2005 12:36:09 PM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
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To: Coleus

later read/maybe pingout.


17 posted on 11/12/2005 12:43:00 PM PST by little jeremiah
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To: little jeremiah

ok


18 posted on 10/18/2006 5:20:49 PM PDT by Coleus (Roe v. Wade and Endangered Species Act both passed in 1973, Murder Babies/save trees, geese, algae)
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To: 69ConvertibleFirebird; Alexander Rubin; An American In Dairyland; Antoninus; Aquinasfan; ...
Should interest Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The problem of government spending is critical and my personal POV is that it should be cut by at least 50%, for starters. Many serious problems would wither on the the vine; and good hearted citizens of all religions (and none) would undoubtedly have more time and inclination to help the less fortunate.

This is a good companion article to the one about the government trying to get Amish people enrolled in the food stamp program. They don't accept government largesse; one said the reason is that the consider that they are their brothers' keepers. I'll find a link and post it.

Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee or little jeremiah to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.

FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]

19 posted on 10/18/2006 7:45:23 PM PDT by little jeremiah
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To: Coleus; All

Here's the companion piece:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1721419/posts?page=1
Counties caught in conundrum: getting Amish to take food stamps

"We believe that we are our brother's keeper," Miller said.


20 posted on 10/18/2006 7:51:23 PM PDT by little jeremiah
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