The Religious Police
“Therefore, while we are warned that it profits a man nothing if he gain the whole world and lose himself, the expectation of a new earth must not weaken but rather stimulate our concern for cultivating this one.” Gaudium et Spes (39), Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Second Vatican Council
When I see in print or hear someone say “I’m all for peace and justice but…” I’ve learned to expect a rant from someone who considers himself a devoted Christian, doesn’t appear to be at all for peace or justice, and thinks anyone who actually works for them is either misguided or the devil in disguise. They do usually support pro-life advocacy, pro-birth really, they seem to be uniformly in favor of the death penalty, but they’re opposed to most everything else. They conduct often strident boycott campaigns against some of the most reputable organizations on the planet, including the cancer fighting Komen Race for the Cure, the anti-poverty Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and even Catholic Charities; all because those institutions mix a healthy dose of justice in with their charity and often work with other like minded groups, groups the boycotters don’t agree with on one issue or another.
They reserve special ire for anyone associated with Saul Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation. Alinsky was a mid-twentieth century radical who is considered the father of modern community organizing. He believed among other things that in war the end justifies almost any means, the only way to empower lower income groups is to take power from those who have it, and that a conscience just gets in the way. His methods were effective if controversial. Caesar Chavez was a follower. So is Barack Obama.
Controversial or not, many, many churches, parishes, Jewish congregations, and national religious organizations support IAF financially, and work with local affiliates toward what they see as the common good. My own parish, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Plano, is one of about fifty dues paying institutional members of Dallas Area Interfaith, an IAF affiliate. I attended a DAI monthly meeting this week. About the most subversive thing I heard was a reminder that Social Security, the GI Bill, and Medicare are all government programs. Current projects include lobbying the Dallas City Council to maintain current goals for increasing the ratio of police officers to population, raising public and private funds for a work force development program in Collin and Dallas Counties, and a listening campaign to better understand the top social issues affecting several of our member institutions. Immigration reform is high on the list and our critics won’t like our positions on that, I don’t necessarily like them all either, but it is a human rights issue and we do have a right to organize, don’t we?
I recently came across a blog by a priest, a self described conservative, lamenting that the “peace and justice brigade” have taken over the Catholic Church. He accuses us of reducing the entire church to working for peace and justice, doing away with any concept of sin and redemption, and dismissing faith in the supernatural as “medieval.” Well, I know a lot of people working for peace and justice but I don’t know anybody like that. The blogger, and he has a lot of company, seems to think we can get away with ignoring the needs of the here and now in favor of the far more important hereafter.
My church doesn’t teach anything like that. Popes at least since LEO XIII, the founder of the diocese of Dallas, have written encyclical after encyclical detailing the injustices of this world, and the responsibilities we all have to do something about them. The popes are very explicit. These responsibilities are both temporal and spiritual. They extend well beyond the individual to the family, the community, to nations, and internationally. We have both personal and communal obligations to see that our neighbors, all of our neighbors, have access to the basic needs of life. Those needs include not only food, water, clothing and shelter, but medical care, an education, a job at a living wage, and the opportunity to take time to tend to their own spiritual well being. And Catholics can’t do it alone. We need the good offices of other well meaning men and women, we cannot expect always and everywhere to agree, and agree or not, we have to work together where we can for the common good. That’s what my church teaches.
My blogger critic knows all that but doesn’t seem to think it applies to the church itself. We should focus on salvation; do a little charity work here and there, always voluntary, and always avoiding contact with undesirable groups. He is free to think what he likes but church teaching really is pretty clear on all this. The USCCB web site is full of links to documents and organizations related to justice, including CCHD and Catholic Charities. Presumably American Bishops are well aware and approve of these organizations, their philosophies, activities, and associations. That’s their job.
As for me, I think I might get myself a tee shirt, have “Peace and Justice Brigade” printed on it, and wear it as a badge of honor.
When I see in print or hear someone say “I’m all for peace and justice but…” I’ve learned to expect a rant from someone who considers himself a devoted Christian, doesn’t appear to be at all for peace or justice, and thinks anyone who actually works for them is either misguided or the devil in disguise. They do usually support pro-life advocacy, pro-birth really, they seem to be uniformly in favor of the death penalty, but they’re opposed to most everything else. They conduct often strident boycott campaigns against some of the most reputable organizations on the planet, including the cancer fighting Komen Race for the Cure, the anti-poverty Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and even Catholic Charities; all because those institutions mix a healthy dose of justice in with their charity and often work with other like minded groups, groups the boycotters don’t agree with on one issue or another.
They reserve special ire for anyone associated with Saul Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation. Alinsky was a mid-twentieth century radical who is considered the father of modern community organizing. He believed among other things that in war the end justifies almost any means, the only way to empower lower income groups is to take power from those who have it, and that a conscience just gets in the way. His methods were effective if controversial. Caesar Chavez was a follower. So is Barack Obama.
Controversial or not, many, many churches, parishes, Jewish congregations, and national religious organizations support IAF financially, and work with local affiliates toward what they see as the common good. My own parish, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Plano, is one of about fifty dues paying institutional members of Dallas Area Interfaith, an IAF affiliate. I attended a DAI monthly meeting this week. About the most subversive thing I heard was a reminder that Social Security, the GI Bill, and Medicare are all government programs. Current projects include lobbying the Dallas City Council to maintain current goals for increasing the ratio of police officers to population, raising public and private funds for a work force development program in Collin and Dallas Counties, and a listening campaign to better understand the top social issues affecting several of our member institutions. Immigration reform is high on the list and our critics won’t like our positions on that, I don’t necessarily like them all either, but it is a human rights issue and we do have a right to organize, don’t we?
I recently came across a blog by a priest, a self described conservative, lamenting that the “peace and justice brigade” have taken over the Catholic Church. He accuses us of reducing the entire church to working for peace and justice, doing away with any concept of sin and redemption, and dismissing faith in the supernatural as “medieval.” Well, I know a lot of people working for peace and justice but I don’t know anybody like that. The blogger, and he has a lot of company, seems to think we can get away with ignoring the needs of the here and now in favor of the far more important hereafter.
My church doesn’t teach anything like that. Popes at least since LEO XIII, the founder of the diocese of Dallas, have written encyclical after encyclical detailing the injustices of this world, and the responsibilities we all have to do something about them. The popes are very explicit. These responsibilities are both temporal and spiritual. They extend well beyond the individual to the family, the community, to nations, and internationally. We have both personal and communal obligations to see that our neighbors, all of our neighbors, have access to the basic needs of life. Those needs include not only food, water, clothing and shelter, but medical care, an education, a job at a living wage, and the opportunity to take time to tend to their own spiritual well being. And Catholics can’t do it alone. We need the good offices of other well meaning men and women, we cannot expect always and everywhere to agree, and agree or not, we have to work together where we can for the common good. That’s what my church teaches.
My blogger critic knows all that but doesn’t seem to think it applies to the church itself. We should focus on salvation; do a little charity work here and there, always voluntary, and always avoiding contact with undesirable groups. He is free to think what he likes but church teaching really is pretty clear on all this. The USCCB web site is full of links to documents and organizations related to justice, including CCHD and Catholic Charities. Presumably American Bishops are well aware and approve of these organizations, their philosophies, activities, and associations. That’s their job.
As for me, I think I might get myself a tee shirt, have “Peace and Justice Brigade” printed on it, and wear it as a badge of honor.
posted by Onfoot at 8:30 AM
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