Posted on 06/17/2021 3:39:12 PM PDT by MurphsLaw
If Catholicism, in the end, managed to elude the political hatred it engenders, I have almost no doubt that this same spirit of the age which seems so opposed to it would become supportive and that it would suddenly achieve extensive conquests. —Alexis de Tocqueville
Almost two centuries ago, Alexis de Tocqueville predicted that Americans would either totally abandon Christianity or convert to Catholicism, writing, “our descendants will tend increasingly to divide into only two parts, some leaving Christianity entirely and the others embracing the Church of Rome.”
He predicted a smaller Church—of which Pope Benedict XVI agrees—saying, “Nowadays, more than in previous times, we see Catholics losing their faith and Protestants converting to Catholicism.” He went on to write that in a post-Christian liberal democracy, Catholicism would be the only viable remaining option:
America is the most democratic country on earth while, at the same time, the country, where, according to reputable reports, the Catholic religion makes the most progress…Men who live in democratic times are, therefore, predisposed to slide away from all religious authority. But, if they agree to obey such an authority, they insist at least that it is unique and of one character for their intelligence has a natural abhorrence of religious powers which do not emanate from the same center and they find it almost as easy to imagine that there is no religion as several…
I think de Tocqueville’s prediction is coming to fruition. The Left has entirely abandoned Christianity and fully embraced secular liberalism. I believe the Right, though still deeply influenced by liberalism—especially classical liberalism—will more and more find its way toward the Tiber. This is at least what I have observed in the last three years since my own conversion to Catholicism and in the witness of conversion among my peers. My friends, including fellow graduates of Liberty University (the epicenter of American evangelicalism) and other Washington, D.C., conservatives, have either returned to the Catholic Church after going through a Protestant phase or are seriously flirting with the idea of converting to Catholicism themselves.
Even among conservative intellectuals, there is a growing trend toward Catholicism. Consider clinical psychologist and post-modern critic Jordan Peterson, who said, “Catholicism is as sane as people can get.” Though he’s not yet Catholic, some would argue he’s well on his way. Or consider the Catholic conversion of likely U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance, or even the extremely interesting theological evolution of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.
But perhaps the most interesting prospect to Catholicism among those in conservative circles is Charlie Kirk, who in an interview with Church Militant admitted, “The world is a better place because of the Catholic Church, and that needs to be said more.” He went on to express that he has “so much respect for the Catholic Tradition and Church.”
When asked if he’s considered converting to Catholicism, he reveals “my friends try to convince me to become Catholic all the time.”
“Some of my greatest friends in the world are Catholic…I go to Catholic Mass every once in a while. I don’t take the Eucharist, don’t worry you don’t have to report me…The joke is that serious evangelicals become Catholic. And I’ve seen that happen. I’m open-minded, but I’m not there yet.”
There were two things that struck me in the Kirk interview. The first was my gut telling me that Kirk is well on his way to becoming Catholic (which is the True, the good, and the beautiful that he alludes to). The second was that by the nature of his answers, social conservatism needs Catholicism just as much as Christianity does.
Which brings me to my own prediction: conservatism, in its quest for identity post-Trump, will eventually convert to Catholicism and be deeply influenced by Catholic integralists. A political philosophy and ideology needs an intrinsic telos. It was Cardinal Manning who once said that “all human conflict is ultimately theological.” What then is conservatism but a commitment to conserving tradition? And what is Western tradition? Christianity, The Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
In the midst of his responses, Kirk reveals the weaknesses of Protestantism and conservatism. Protestants and conservatives share the same dilemma: They have competing traditions and interpretations, and are thus fractured and splintered in a way that harms their cause. They have no unified authority, and with a lack of consensus and ultimate source of Truth, debate inevitably devolves into personal interpretation and preference. The Catholic Church is the solution for both groups theologically and philosophically.
In a religious context, without an infallible Church (that gave us the infallible word of God) there is no final authority on its interpretation. Kirk makes this case, ironically, by his answer in regard to progressive Christianity, saying, “They’re misrepresenting the Gospel, they’re misrepresenting biblical truth and the biblical text—I guess they have a right to do that. I’m not going to disallow them from doing that obviously in a pluralistic society in that sense. However, I will say that a true interpretation of the Scriptures cannot possibly lead to the public policy decisions they’re coming to.”
But who decides which interpretation is correct? And why should they, or anyone, have a right to misrepresent the Truth? Error has no rights.
One practical example of division in the realm of social issue policy is birth control. Kirk admires the Church for its commitment to life and marriage, saying, “I love the uncompromising Catholic social teaching when it comes to abortion and marriage. I absolutely love it.” But, assuming he’s like most modern evangelicals, he will totally miss the boat on contraception as the obvious legal precursor to the “right to privacy” that gave way for abortion. Kirk has said he’s against the public funding of contraception because of rights to religious conscience, though he is most likely fine with the legalization of it and the use of it within marriage (even though Protestants were against contraception too, until very recently).
While integralism will certainly not be the Republican Party platform for 2024, it will be the new libertarianism of the present-day Right, the thorn in the side of non-purists. But rather than champion a hyper-individualism, their focus will be on facilitating the common good and establishing a society ordered toward objective Truth that aids in human flourishing. The closest example modern conservatism has to anything “integral” is Catholic Senator Marco Rubio’s “Common Good Capitalism,” an address he gave at The Catholic University of America where he quoted Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, which ironically also speaks to the present-day dilemma of conservativism:
When a society is perishing, the wholesome advice to give to those who would restore it is to call it to the principles from which it sprang; for the purpose and perfection of an association is to aim at and to attain that for which it is formed, and its efforts should be put in motion and inspired by the end and object which originally gave it being. Hence, to fall away from its primal constitution implies disease; to go back to it, recovery. —Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum
Conservatism needs to heed de Tocqueville’s prophecy and take advantage of our post-Trump moment in an effort to redirect the Party toward its true end. Perhaps what is next needed is an institute for integralism—much like libertarianism’s Cato Institute—to further flesh out these ideas and reorient what we’re trying to conserve.
[Image Credit: J.D. Vance, Charlie Kirk, and Marco Rubio (Public Domain)]
Except the eastern churches were more important than Rome and would have continued with or without them, just as they did when the roman church went schismatic.
“Well the Catholic Church was the only “Christian” church until the schism and reformation in 1521”
The Eastern Orthodox Church would be fascinated to know that.
Not a chance. Other way around.
I know there are quite a few Catholics who are conservative. I see them every day here at Free Republic.
But when you look at their voting record, when you look at their pope, and when you look at the sleazy dirtbag president who claims to be a Catholic, then politically Catholics are worthless.
Thus the only option is ?
Ummmmmmmmm no
Holy crack pipe. Someone’s been into the Sacramental wine. This is the most amazing crock of crap I’ve ever read in a long time.
I don’t agree with de Tocqueville’s premise due to the fact that America will not naturally look to a foreigner as their supreme leader and generally reject strict hierarchical structures that closely mirror monarchy.
He likely felt that way since he himself was Catholic, so honest mistake.
It is happening in Protestant faiths as well. Everywhere is infiltrated. 🙁
And what is Western tradition? Christianity, The Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
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I just cannot believe someone is stupid enough to spout such nonsense. This is almost as abhorrent as when Obama said America was built on Muslim traditions.
True, very true. It’s almost remarkable and noteworthy today to find a western Christian group that is not infested with globalism, socialism, and woke perversion. Protestant or not.
I could say the same about the SBC that just happened. They have seemed to go full apostate. However, there are so many good people who are not.
We Protestants and Catholics (we are all the Body of Christ) have to unite to fight regardless of scriptural differences. There is evil out there...and they want Christ GONE.
JMO.
The fag priests are no longer molesting. The 2002 crisis brought down the iron fist. The American church realized they could no longer let this go on. Massive changes were made, I saw it up close. A Catholic church is probably one of the safest places today for a child to be.
Yes, he’s still a bishop and a cardinal. Those don’t disappear when a man becomes pope. He’s a retired pope.
Good point.
I disagree with the article completely and will use a different Kirk, Russell Kirk, to be my exhibit. Originally citing religion more directly he later changed to cite the First Conservative Principle as “Belief in an Enduring Moral Order.” Thereby admitting serious moral atheism as well as agnostics. Now Kirk was a formal Catholic at the end of his life but I will cite another source.
Thomas Oden wrote a wonderful book called “The Rebirth of Orthodoxy: Signs of New Life in Christianity”. Oden was a Methodist theologian but mainly a small “o” orthodox champion.
Amazon’s blurb
The neglected fact is that there are more classic Christian believers now than at any previous time in human history. Orthodoxy has been understood and espoused without diminution by ever-unfolding communities of faith for 200 generations. That steady stream of faithful consent has not dried up or faltered amid these times. It does not need to be improved upon by modernity but more so it needs to be preserved for the sake of the healthy rejuvenation of modern cultures.
The sustained and growing vitality of Catholic, Orthodox, and Evangelical worshipping communities around the world has not been reported by a press fixated on secular change. What s happening now for believers is a fresh recognition of the faithfulness of God that has endured over human history.
The challenges in North America that brought forth this book in 2003 have relevance now for readers especially in the global South, as well as in Europe, and in Eastern Christianity. Christians of the global South are presently passing through the fiery consequences of modern western consciousness that have accompanied the sad history of colonialism. Parts of the text that pertained primarily to the American situation have been displaced in the interest of showing the vitality of orthodoxy as a rising worldwide phenomenon. Since it is being offered digitally as well as in print, it will be more accessible to international readers than if it remained merely a North American topic.
The core confession has not diminished. The promise of the faithful Christian life not been altered. Believers everywhere can look around them and see that orthodoxy is persisting in liturgy, hymnody, and worshipping communities of prayer that are thriving in the midst of their own developing cultures. But many have not seen reasons set forth for why it will continue to persist into the future. This book will give these reasons clear expression.
The central event of this surprising story is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the promises of the prophets and apostles. Even though it may seem as if our efforts are failing, God the Spirit is tireless in bringing to fruition the work of God the Father through God the Son without coercing human freedom.
Many world-wide believers in their varied cultural situations have heard and understood the good news of God the Son who died for us and rose anew to give us new life.
But many have not yet recognized the beautiful ways in which providence is working amid human conflict toward greater ends than we can imagine.
The Spirit has been forming the one body of Christ worldwide for all of these centuries and is certain to continue. The Spirit continues to awaken an enduring community of free consent to the apostolic testimony that has lasted twenty centuries and persists in and beyond modern life.
Why has it been so durable? Why has it penetrated almost every human culture since the good news was first heard? This is what we are seeking to understand.
End quote.
He advocates the appreciation of orthodox practitioners of all denominations and points out that within each are those that don’t practice their faith in an orthodox manner and sees them as the Hillary Clintons of the world. I admire him for many other items and I am not a Methodist but his writing has given me great appreciation for serious evangelicals and others that I developed interest in after some research.
So my opinion is that serious Christians and Jews of all denominations — the orthodox practitioners — are the true conservatives destination.
I love most Catholics as fellow Christians but my own study of Roman Catholicism convinces me that the Catholic Church is apostate.
Too bad Catholicism isn’t Catholic anymore.
I could say the same about the SBC that just happened
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No you can’t. Politically Catholics are far more liberal here in this country than Baptists.
For example. There are 25 Catholic US senators. Only 10 of those Catholic senators are Republicans. Murkowski and Collins are perfect examples of Republican Catholics.
There are a 11 Baptist US senators. Nine are Republicans and two are Democrats.
One could go to the House of Representatives and see similar results. And one could go to the population at large and see similar results.
As I said, Catholics are generally liberal and as such are politically worthless.
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