Should Catholics meddle in politics? 20 yo?

[EmmaSowl]

Esieffe, I signed in for the sole purpose of liking your “meddling kids” post. Thanks!

 

[pulchraesamicamea]

Most students in university start when they are around 18 to 19.
I started my English degree when I was just 18.
A lot of my program is similar to political science. Liberal art majors do not get directly involved with politics when they enter the program; they start with foundations first. It depends on where the university is located, but it usually starts with one of those basic programs, or 101 programs as some people call them.

 

[niceatheist]

Politics uninformed by religion leads to great evil. The problems in Iran and Saudi Arabia stem from Islam being a heresy. Not because a joining of church and state is inherently wrong.

I would refer you to the Thirty Years War, not to mention the Test Acts in Britain and the Papal States in Italy. The entire point of the First Amendment was because the Framers of the US Constitution understood all too well that the melding of Church and politics poisons both.

 

[niceatheist]

Papal States weren’t always terribly nice to Jews and heretics, and as I recall, the Catholic Powers were just as nasty during the Thirty Years War. I could give you an even nastier example; post Reconquista Spain, which was so anti-anyone-but-Catholics to the point that even Papal legates who visited the court were shaken by how the Spanish crown treated its minorities.

 

[niceatheist]

Well, I’m certainly glad I don’t live in your ideal country. I can only imagine the tortures I’d have to go through to maintain my own conscience. I’d like to think I’d stand up to your Inquisitors, but I’d probably fold like so many Jews and Moors in Spain did (not that it did them any good, the Spanish Crown quickly deciding that forced conversions weren’t reliable, and driving all the converts out of Spain).

What is strange, however, is that even the Church supports religious freedom n Dignitatis humanae. So it would appear that your views run counter to the Catholic Church.

 

[otjm]

And a careful study of the Church from the time of Constantine to the 1900’s, where the Church weighed in on, and often directed the politics of various tribes, thencity states and countries is at best one that is rocky; this is not to say that there was no need; but that issue became clouded as the church exercised more and more influence and control in politics which had, often, little or nothing to do with the Gospel.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Just don’t allow your ego to get you attached to a political party, for they’ll always let you down.

In fact, it’s best to mature spiritually before engaging in politics, so you can see through the messages they try to feed you with,.

Jim

 

[YourNameHere]

I identify as an independent.

 

[niceatheist]

Well, I’ve since determined the poster basically objects to Dignitatis humanae, or at least chooses to ignore it, so at that point what’s there to say? He doesn’t believe in religious freedom as a basic right, wants a theocracy of some degree or another, but believes it will work out just fine because apparently a Catholic government would be immune to all the evils that have befallen other governments that have melded themselves with religion, because they are either Protestant or Islamic heretics.

I’ll be charitable and suggest the poster is rather naive. Ironically, the most successful Christian governments were the Christian-era Roman regime and the Carolingian Empire, but in the former case, the Emperor basically sat astride the Church, and while individual bishops might bristle under the overarching governance of their Imperial benefactors, it did prove quite successful at ousting heretics, creating Orthodoxy and merging state institutions and the Church (or rather, the Church was effectively a state institution).

The Carolingian Empire was a bit of a delicate balancing act, but basically Charlemagne and Rome found equal ground; Charlemagne had enormous influence over the appointing of Bishops within his Empire, but in effect worked in a sort of a political alliance with the Papacy. It was an elegant system, what I’d probably call the high point of Christian civilization as a largely united governing institution, but it didn’t long survive Charlemagne, and when later Emperors tried to strike the same bargain with Rome, they found the Papacy less willing to share power, and Rome made it clear it was at the top of the heap. This lead to all sorts of strife, and I’d say the Papacy’s increasing intransigence is at least partially responsible for the ill will among many German princes that lead to the eager adoption of Martin Luther’s ideas.

 

[angel12]

An acquaintance of mine is now studying political science. I do not know of a better time than to study when you are young

What exactly do you mean by “meddle in politics?” Studying political science isn’t being involved in politics.