Mormonism to Catholicism

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Lemuel

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I left the Mormon church several years ago after finally admitting to myself that it was a total hoax and I knew it. I am now in the middle of RCIA and have been quite enjoying it. Mormons won’t leave me alone. They are relentless. They say, “You can leave the church, but you can’t leave it alone!” Hahaha . . . if only . . . Now that I am getting close to baptism, they are turning up the heat on me. I should be annoyed, but I actually am having fun with it. Is that wrong?

I admit that I’m a bit of an extremist. Finding the perfect fit for someone like me is impossible. I told my wife before I started RCIA that I would undoubtedly have questions and concerns, but to just be patient with me. I think I need to be true to myself and know that I am making the right decision. So far, I haven’t had any significant doubts. The only place where I struggle is on political issues. How does one reconcile their political beliefs and remain in good standing in the Catholic Church? That is where I’m stuck.
 
What do you mean, specifically? The Church is above politics.
 
There are Catholics of all sorts of political beliefs.

Unless there’s a moral question in the politics, I don’t see a problem. Unless you’re concerned about a party spirit.

If you believe in abortion or contraceptives, then that’s an issue.

But if you believe a certain thing about taxes, that’s fine
 
PaulfromIowa said:
What do you mean, specifically? The Church is above politics.
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Taxation. Socialism. Gun control. Health care. The Constitution. Catholics all the time tell me that the Church teaches this and that–things that go against my political beliefs.
 
Kei said:
If you believe in abortion or contraceptives, then that’s an issue.
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Not at all. I believe that only God has the power over life and death. I’m strongly anti on those.

What about the death penalty?
 
I believe the Catechism strongly encourages us to be against the death penalty, and Pope Francis is making that phrase more absolute from my understanding.

The Church is against unbridled socialism and unbridled capitalism as well.
 
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I wouldn’t say so too much.
Some of the good stuff of ie capitalism may be highlighted or the other, probably because many nations are in some way capitalistic and we are not only idealists but very realistic and work within the world we are given.
 
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Lemuel said:
Taxation. Socialism. Gun control. Health care. The Constitution.
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As I noted, the Church is above politics. Christ’s Church does not have a position on specific taxes. The Church opposes atheistic socialism. Gun laws are matters of prudential judgment. Christians believe that all should have access to health care, although how to accomplish this is open to debate.

There is certainly no conflict between Catholicism and the US Constitution. The first US Catholic Bishop, John Carroll, had a brother, Daniel Carroll, at the Constitutional Convention. Bishop Carroll was a trusted friend of George Washington.
 
I don’t have a problem with Capitalism. I don’t see socialism anywhere in the Bible. But others may disagree and I’m okay with that. As far as the church goes I’m okay?
 
Yeah you’re probably fine. Catholics can hold a variety of political opinions so long as they are not against the Faith.
 
I understand what you’re saying. The USCCB has come out with some statements on political matters that are very different from my views. The positive thing is I’m not required to agree with them. At times I feel they go too far into politics in the US, that their time would be better spent working on some of the real issues facing the Catholic Church in the US.
 
in the last election Catholics were split almost 50/50 down party lines. So I think no matter what your political stance you will fit in 🙂
 
Well, I suppose you should decide if your allegiance is to your politics or to your Church, if things TRULY conflict.

The Church does have some positions on some political issues. The big thing is, we must respect the dignity of each person, and see in them the image of God. We must not put ourselves above our neighbor. We ARE our brother’s keeper in many ways. We must look out for the poor, the sick, the “least of these”. We must not make laws that are selfish but seek the common good. HOW we do that is open to debate. But that we ARE to do that, to look out for “the least of these” is NOT open to debate.
 
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As a non-Americans Catholic (and I like other non-Americans on this forum will readily agree), I would be very wary of accepting as “Gospel truth” the consensus of CAF when it comes to Catholicism and politics. There are many positions promoted as “the Catholic position” on this forum that are in reality American Republican talking points on which the Church has no definitive position. Things like abortion are obviously clear cut. Things like gun control? Catholics in most countries don’t get so hot and heavy over it…but here at CAF, as a reflection of American culture, not Catholic faith, you’ll get some pretty passionate answers.
 
If you read the encyclicals of popes going back to Leo XIII, I would say yes… as a simplistic answer. On many social issues recent popes have been much more “left” leaning than the typical American Republican, but more “right” on other issues. The American paradigm of Democrat vs Republican does not fit well within global Catholicism.
 
Lemuel said:
I don’t see socialism anywhere in the Bible.
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I recall somewhere in the NT, the believers pooled their resources and distributed them out. I would call that a form of socialism. And you could say when Jesus fed the 5000 from a few fish and loaves, that is a kind of (miraculous) socialism.
 
Horton said:
The USCCB has come out with some statements on political matters that are very different from my views. The positive thing is I’m not required to agree with them
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Good. Because while my reception into the church by other Catholics has generally been kind, there have been a few here who have judged me as being anti Catholic and anti Christian because I don’t agree with socialism/Marxism. But I guess there are judgmental people everywhere.
 
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@Lemuel

If you want to learn more about Catholic teaching on social issues, I would recommend two books:

First is the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church which is published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. It gives the guidelines for social teaching, including political and economic issues. It also has a section concerning the dignity of the human person, which much of social teaching is based on.

The second book is An Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching, written by Rodger Charles, SJ. It is not as in depth as the Pontifical Council book, but it is a good introduction.

Now neither book may give you precise answers to questions that you might have. What they can give are the principles that must be followed to give a moral solution to a situation. The Church does not usually give solutions to situations. It normally just gives the principles because in any given situation there can be multiple solutions that fit, all of them can be good - it’s a matter of choosing one of them. Sometimes, it is in the choosing of a solution where there can be conflict between good people who are trying to do the right thing. Neither solution is bad, both will fix the problem, and both will have good and bad points. Having said that, as has already been said in this thread, there are certain actions, such as abortion or contraception, that can never be moral.

Blessings
 
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