Politics and religion

[Pianoman]

Surprised at the difference in attitudes between U.S & U.K. on many Catholic topics/themes.

Many postings seem to view the world as if all issues are very black and white. I find, in life, many grey areas that I have to deal with as a pracising Catholic. For instance, my politics are to the left because I believe in the teachings of Jesus concerning the poor and the way they should be treated. On the other hand, but for the same reason, I believe that the most vulnerable members of our society, those who cannot speak for themselves, i.e. the unborn, deserve protection from those who would take their lives.
I therefore have to make some compromises to try and make sense of the world and follow the word as closely as I can. This means not accepting either the left or the right’s view of the world, but accepting that there are battles to be taken to both perspectives.

 

[SteveT]

I strongly recommend Pope John Paul II’s encyclical “Centessimus Annus”, that you read it, meditate on it and pray about it. In particular, pay attention to the “principle of subsidiarity” the pope speaks about. There is no question that Jesus taught us to have concern for the poor and down trodden, etc… The key question is, who should be the conduit for expressing this concern? The social welfare state applies the power of the state to addressing these problems. Unfortunately, the defining characteristic of the state is power, while the central need of the poor and other less fortunate is compassion. The state, in short, has virtually unlimited resources (since it can compel resources from the population), but is unsuited to the job. Paragraph 48 summarizes the pope’s insight into this situation:

“In recent years the range of such intervention has vastly expanded, to the point of creating a new type of state, the so-called “Welfare State.” This has happened in some countries in order to respond better to many needs and demands, by remedying forms of poverty and deprivation unworthy of the human person. However, excesses and abuses, especially in recent years, have provoked very harsh criticisms of the Welfare State, dubbed the “Social Assistance State.” Malfunctions and defects in the Social Assistance State are the result of an inadequate understanding of the tasks proper to the State. Here again the principle of subsidiarity must be respected: a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.[100]
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 by concern for serving their clients, and which are accompanied by an enormous increase in spending. 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. It should be added that certain kinds of demands often call for a response which is not simply material but which is capable of perceiving the deeper human need. One thinks of the condition of refugees, immigrants, the elderly, the sick, and all those in circumstances which call for assistance, such as drug abusers: all these people can be helped effectively only by those who offer them genuine fraternal support, in addition to the necessary care.”

See entire encyclical here:
newadvent.org/library/docs_jp02ca.htm