Posted on 07/03/2015 7:54:06 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
My bride and I each year travel to Indianapolis for the Gen Con gaming convention which this year will be held on the last week in July. Indianapolis is a lovely city and we have enjoyed our visits there. Back in 1926 an Indianapolis parish priest, John C. Rager, demonstrated that the core of the Declaration of Independence has its roots in Catholic thought.
It will suffice for our purpose to consult, in detail, but two Catholic churchmen who stand out as leading lights for all time. The one is representative of medieval learning and thought, the other stood on the threshold of the medieval and modern world. They are St. Thomas Aquinas of the thirteenth century and the Blessed Cardinal Robert Bellarmine of the sixteenth century (1542-1621). The following comparisons, clause for clause, of the American Declaration of Independence and of excerpts from the political principles of these noted ecclesiastics, evidence striking similarity and identity of political principle.
Equality of man
Declaration of Independence: All men are created equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.
Bellarmine: All men are equal, not in wisdom or grace, but in the essence and nature of mankind (De Laicis, c.7) There is no reason why among equals one should rule rather than another (ibid.). Let rulers remember that they preside over men who are of the same nature as they themselves. (De Officus Princ. c. 22). Political right is immediately from God and necessarily inherent in the nature of man (De Laicis, c. 6, note 1).
(Excerpt) Read more at the-american-catholic.com ...
“as American history is erased, and replaced with a fake history”.
You mean like your Northern liberal pals are trying to wipe Southern heritage from the history books. Without the Southern United States there would be no United States. Without Catholic explorers there would be no United States. Without Catholic priests bringing Christianity to the Americas there would be no Christianity in America. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Now please tell me where I lied? Tell me that Columbus and the rest of the explorers who founded the majority of the great cities of North America were really evangelicals or baptists, or buddists, or moslems. I’m sure you can some up with some old BS to deny the truth.
Oh lovely, religion-centrics are even picking Catholic versus Protestant fights on the even of Independence Day. Raising division instead of seeking the unity that the founding fathers, who were Protestant, Catholic and Jewish, joined in to fight the British monarchy and establish a new country where freedom of religion was one of the keystones.
Lord save us from always seeking disunity in Your name.
Something that I have learned from the few Catholics at FR who are more cult like Catholics, rather than normal Catholics, is that America is seen as a blight against their European headquarters, a stain that needs to be erased.
We see that America as it was founded, and it’s history, is something that must be overcome, and defeated by Rome.
We also see that the cult member type Catholics fully support immigration, even though here at FR, they are supposed to be pro-life/pro-marriage conservatives.
Obviously Catholic immigration overwhelming the United States is more important to them than anything else, to them, making America Catholic is the most important goal of all, the only thing that matters, although it means the left, and abortion, and gay power, welfare, and socialism, totally dominates America forever.
Anything to remove that curse of the pre-Catholic America, the greatest, most free nation ever created.
When you read these threads, look at the hatred for America, and how Spain is glorified, July 4th is a day for some of these guys to attack America and the peoples who created it.
What is it with mere mortals taking credit for God’s blessings? No wonder we find ourselves in the state of ill repute. Nation of narcissists.
Only one signed the Declaration. Charles Carroll. He is in my family tree. I have never come across one individual who has as many descendants as he does.
“It’s obvious who Jefferson got his ideas of freedom from.”
There are three huge problems with that.
1) In Europe Catholicism never brought individual freedom to the nations it ruled via Catholic Monarchs. Nearly all Protestant rule over there was just as bad. But freedom of thought certainly never followed Catholicism.
2) Do you have the slightest evidence that Jefferson used any Catholic thought to form his opinions? He wrote widely on his readings and influences, where is the record. It is not simply “obvious”.
3) In a general sense, Catholicism and its effect on Europe was generally viewed as an anathema to the founders. This feeling lasted well into the 20th century. What evidence do you have that the founders had high regard for Catholic thought?
None of this is to disparage Catholics today who are my Christian bretheren, but its very misleading to act like this nation was founded on Catholic thinking.
And again, this is not anti Catholic. I regard the Catholic Spanish arriving in the Aztec world of Mexico as almost identical to the Allied Armies liberating the Nazi death camps. But the RCC wasn’t the impetus behind the US Constitution.
I’ve got some Maryland Carrolls in mine, but not Catholic. Always wondered about that. Likely will never know, spotty records due to burned counties and all that.
Catholic explorers clearly were a huge force in the exploration of present day America. This is true in Texas, Florida, the southwest, the southeast and Louisiana, and California.
Nobody hold those guys, including the mission priests in higher esteem them me. But admirable as that all should be held, they simply did not bring the roots of a representative republic as found in our constitution. Their biggest belief was that of fealty to the papacy.
In fact, some new world ‘catholics” were Jews under a false flag who were fleeing inquisitions.
Many of these “crypto-jews” settled in New Mexico where some odd traditions from that are found to this day.
No religious denomination that came to American was ran out of Europe by Catholics. They were ran out by other protestant denominations. No Catholics burned anyone alive in the northern colonies. But protestants damn sure fried other protestants that didn’t agree with their one-track mind.
http://tomwoods.com/books/how-the-catholic-church-built-western-civilization/
“An excellent work…. We are reminded by Professor Woods that the earliest universities fostered a dialogue between faith and reason, along with logical theory and a spirit of investigation. Perhaps this is the greatest secret of Western civilization over the past four centuries. It is my cherished hope that this book will serve to unlock this hidden mystery.”
-from the foreword by Cardinal Antonio Cañizares
“This book couldn’t have come at a better time for Catholics clinging to their faith against an increasingly hostile and skeptical world…. Well argued and well researched.”
–Dallas Morning News
“Engaging and engrossing, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization is a mine of information and a stimulus for reflection on the debt we owe to Catholic life and thought.”
-Michael P. Foley, assistant professor of Patristics, Great Texts Program, Baylor University
“Dr. Woods’s book is a superb and scholarly refutation of the widespread and deeply rooted prejudice that the supernatural outlook of the Roman Catholic Church disqualifies Her to make any valuable contribution to the ‘progress’ of humanity. This book is a magnificent illustration of Christ’s saying: ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His justice; the rest will be added unto you.’ Whether we turn to science, legal questions, economics, education, scholarship, fine arts, Dr. Woods shows convincingly the fecundity of a supernatural approach to life. This book is highly recommended.”
-Alice von Hildebrand, professor emeritus, the City University of New York
“Professor Thomas Woods has put the Catholic Church squarely back where it should be: at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization. I recommend Professor Woods’s book not only to anyone interested in the history of the Catholic Church, but also to any student of the history and development of Western civilization.”
-Paul Legutko, Stanford University
“Exhaustively researched and footnoted, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization is a virtual compendium of recent research and theory on the indispensable role of the Church in European history. This is a book that should be in the home of every Catholic and anyone interested in defending and understanding the undeniably great contributions of Western Christendom and European civilization.”
-Ryan McMaken, LewRockwell.com
“Dr. Woods has provided a great service not only to the Church, but also to students of Western civilization…. Woods carefully documents his refutation of the detractors of the Church by providing an extensive bibliography and references for his work….
“Highly recommended for those studying Western Civilization, for Catholics who want to know more about what the Church has done for civilization, and especially recommended to those who are tired of the Church being denigrated and dismissed as irrelevant. A great pleasure to read!”
–Catholic Exchange
“Woods’ book will fascinate, delight and instruct in a manner worthy of the 20th-century historian and polemicist Hilaire Belloc, showing us how to look backwards to transform the future.”
-Rev. Fr. C. John McCloskey III, National Catholic Register
“Offers important original research (including unassailable non-Catholic sources) in a concise and intelligent manner…. Even the most zealous of the faithful will find much that will inform, challenge and delight.”
-Homiletic & Pastoral Review
“This is a book that all Catholics should read.”
-Catholic World Report
“The world, perhaps more than ever, needs books such as the one Thomas Woods has graciously written.”
-Bradley J. Birzer, Crisis
“Reminds readers of the phenomenal contribution the Church has made to the world in existence today…. Offers readers ample reasons to be proud of their Catholic heritage and provides important history in the process.”
-Our Sunday Visitor
“We know that the Church is the ark of our salvation to the next world. Thanks to Thomas Woods’ new book, we are now more familiar with the Church’s accomplishments in this world as well.”
-The Latin Mass
“Do you have the slightest evidence that Jefferson used any Catholic thought to form his opinions”.
Tell me that statement is a joke.
Commodore Barry was a Catholic, and a large number of Catholics served in the Continental Navy, to the extent that can be determined.
When the United States was formed, the formation of an American Apostolic prefecture was requested, and duly established with the permission of Pope Pius VI. There was no Catholic conspiracy to undermine the US, no Papacy campaign to foment rebellion against the US, even in the face of Catholics still being barred from public office, in total defiance to the Founding Documents. It just didn't happen. Those who imagine such a thing are informed more by their own prejudices than by reality. Catholics served in the Revolution in disproportionately large numbers, especially considering the persecution they faced, but their tiny numbers ensured that their large contribution were still small in comparison to that of much larger populations.
The left has it all over us. They band together despite differences, the right just pecks at each other. I find it amazing that any of these people would think that I would leave the Holy Roman Catholic Church to enter theirs.
I mean really! Just feel the love! /s
The last thing Jefferson wanted, was Catholic anything.
What state was Fitzsimmons from because he is not listed as a signer.
Sorry, I clicked on wrong link.
Pennsylvania.
“The last thing Jefferson wanted, was Catholic anything.”
But that’s what he got when he realized Catholics were right all along.
Your statement erroneous, because Maryland had to be taken over by Huguenots and run properly.
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