M
Mort_Alz
Guest
What I am talking about is difficult to put to words. I can’t call it “capitalism” because that word means different things to different people and I can’t call it the “prosperity gospel” because I don’t think that the taint I’m referring to manifests itself in Catholics as a true belief that people don’t prosper because of sin.
Rather, I think it is simply a disconnect between Catholic social justice issues as they are practiced in America. From what I have observed, American Catholicism is just a little too friendly with the American attitude towards economics. What I mean is that there is an entrenched ignorance in the way American economic attitudes interact with social justice issues and that manifests in a very specific way with Catholicism.
As a starting point, let’s take the holy, Catholic view of human sexuality. (I don’t say “holy” sarcastically. The Catholic view is the holy view.) Human sexuality’s primary end is the procreation of children in marriage. Married sexuality’s secondary ends are the union of the spouses, and, lastly, a means to curb the corrupted sexual appetite in a mercifully holy way. (See 1 Corinthians 7:9).
Now, fast-forward to the current situation in America. There is a culture war going on between liberals and conservatives regarding what sexual behaviors we want to encourage or discourage. Catholics tend to fall in with the conservatives on these issues, largely because the conservatives tend to take a healthier, truer view of human sexuality. But it is precisely here where I’ve noticed a problem.
A side effect of joining our voices with American conservatives on sexual ethics is that we have unconsciously adopted some very non-Catholic (and even morally reprehensible) viewpoints on economics; at least in our attitudes that manifest during consideration of economic issues.
The only way I can clarify what I’m getting at is to illustrate by example. Take a young, unwed Catholic couple who are sincere in their faith. They love each other. They are in their biological prime for procreation which means their sexual appetites for one another are very strong. This also means, by American standards, that they are unusually young for marriage. No matter, they know that society’s standards can be mistaken and they know that God has designed marriage to facilitate their sexuality in a holy way. They get married. They quickly have kids. They quickly have a lot of kids because they are sincere Catholics. They start to have money issues. The husband is a hard worker, but he is unfortunate enough to be a part of the majority of Americans who can work 60 hours a week and still not make enough money to support a large family. They talk to their priest. Their priest gives them permission to practice nfp. They meet with success in practicing nfp, but they have nevertheless managed to have two more children while trying to use nfp to indefinitely postpone further pregnancies. They try to share the emotional hardships that come with this with their Catholic friends, but they shockingly receive unspoken judgment from them. They can tell they think things like, “If you make so little money, then why did you have so many kids?” “Why did they get married so young without being first financially stable?”
They dare not apply for government assistance because even their Catholic friends don’t think anything positive about anyone on welfare. They know they will be looked at as lazy freeloaders and irresponsible, lustful people with no self-control even though the father works 60 hours a week and they are only following their religious convictions on sexuality.
They want to send their kids to a Catholic school, but they cannot afford it. They apply for scholarships to be eligible, but it is a very shame-based process and they are made to feel like they are being an inconvenience to everyone who can afford to pay their own way.
They had dreams of adopting children in addition to their own because they wanted women to feel like they could give their unwanted children a decent home through adoption instead of feeling like they had to get an abortion, but they know they are not eligible. They first don’t have the money and they also don’t meet the necessary criteria to even be eligible. They don’t have the house space.
So, they live out the remainder of their lives even being scorned by their Catholic friends who view them as lazy, irresponsible, and burdens to the more fortunate.
This is all very backwards and counterproductive thinking to the promotion of good Catholic sexual ethics in American society. And I am scandalized every time I see a total lack of effort to transform our economic culture to that which accompanies a right view of sexuality. An economic attitude that welcomes children as much as the individual couple are called to and one which won’t penalize young Catholic couples for trying to remain chaste and diligent in their faith.
I posted this to Traditional Catholicism only because no other forum seemed to fit and the Traditional Catholicism forum seems to deal a lot with Catholic culture in he context of American culture. I did not post this here because I think it’s an issue inherent with Catholics who prefer older Catholic praxis and the Latin Mass.
Rather, I think it is simply a disconnect between Catholic social justice issues as they are practiced in America. From what I have observed, American Catholicism is just a little too friendly with the American attitude towards economics. What I mean is that there is an entrenched ignorance in the way American economic attitudes interact with social justice issues and that manifests in a very specific way with Catholicism.
As a starting point, let’s take the holy, Catholic view of human sexuality. (I don’t say “holy” sarcastically. The Catholic view is the holy view.) Human sexuality’s primary end is the procreation of children in marriage. Married sexuality’s secondary ends are the union of the spouses, and, lastly, a means to curb the corrupted sexual appetite in a mercifully holy way. (See 1 Corinthians 7:9).
Now, fast-forward to the current situation in America. There is a culture war going on between liberals and conservatives regarding what sexual behaviors we want to encourage or discourage. Catholics tend to fall in with the conservatives on these issues, largely because the conservatives tend to take a healthier, truer view of human sexuality. But it is precisely here where I’ve noticed a problem.
A side effect of joining our voices with American conservatives on sexual ethics is that we have unconsciously adopted some very non-Catholic (and even morally reprehensible) viewpoints on economics; at least in our attitudes that manifest during consideration of economic issues.
The only way I can clarify what I’m getting at is to illustrate by example. Take a young, unwed Catholic couple who are sincere in their faith. They love each other. They are in their biological prime for procreation which means their sexual appetites for one another are very strong. This also means, by American standards, that they are unusually young for marriage. No matter, they know that society’s standards can be mistaken and they know that God has designed marriage to facilitate their sexuality in a holy way. They get married. They quickly have kids. They quickly have a lot of kids because they are sincere Catholics. They start to have money issues. The husband is a hard worker, but he is unfortunate enough to be a part of the majority of Americans who can work 60 hours a week and still not make enough money to support a large family. They talk to their priest. Their priest gives them permission to practice nfp. They meet with success in practicing nfp, but they have nevertheless managed to have two more children while trying to use nfp to indefinitely postpone further pregnancies. They try to share the emotional hardships that come with this with their Catholic friends, but they shockingly receive unspoken judgment from them. They can tell they think things like, “If you make so little money, then why did you have so many kids?” “Why did they get married so young without being first financially stable?”
They dare not apply for government assistance because even their Catholic friends don’t think anything positive about anyone on welfare. They know they will be looked at as lazy freeloaders and irresponsible, lustful people with no self-control even though the father works 60 hours a week and they are only following their religious convictions on sexuality.
They want to send their kids to a Catholic school, but they cannot afford it. They apply for scholarships to be eligible, but it is a very shame-based process and they are made to feel like they are being an inconvenience to everyone who can afford to pay their own way.
They had dreams of adopting children in addition to their own because they wanted women to feel like they could give their unwanted children a decent home through adoption instead of feeling like they had to get an abortion, but they know they are not eligible. They first don’t have the money and they also don’t meet the necessary criteria to even be eligible. They don’t have the house space.
So, they live out the remainder of their lives even being scorned by their Catholic friends who view them as lazy, irresponsible, and burdens to the more fortunate.
This is all very backwards and counterproductive thinking to the promotion of good Catholic sexual ethics in American society. And I am scandalized every time I see a total lack of effort to transform our economic culture to that which accompanies a right view of sexuality. An economic attitude that welcomes children as much as the individual couple are called to and one which won’t penalize young Catholic couples for trying to remain chaste and diligent in their faith.
I posted this to Traditional Catholicism only because no other forum seemed to fit and the Traditional Catholicism forum seems to deal a lot with Catholic culture in he context of American culture. I did not post this here because I think it’s an issue inherent with Catholics who prefer older Catholic praxis and the Latin Mass.
I wish I could wholeheartedly put my backing behind whichever party happened to have the best economic ideas for the time, but I just can’t accept the Democratic moral policy. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to speak them.