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The Pope issued a new encyclical last week. Caritas in verite (Charity in truth).
Upfront, I have some problems with this pope. This encyclical isn't one of them. As you might imagine, it was read. As you might not imagine, it was hotly derided, by more than just the usual suspects.
Why? Because it contradicts a lot of what people think the church is, or ought, to be about.
2. Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine. Every responsibility and every commitment spelt out by that doctrine is derived from charity which, according to the teaching of Jesus, is the synthesis of the entire Law (cf. Mt 22:36- 40). It gives real substance to the personal relationship with God and with neighbour; it is the principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones). For the Church, instructed by the Gospel, charity is everything because, as Saint John teaches (cf. 1 Jn 4:8, 16) and as I recalled in my first Encyclical Letter, “God is love” (Deus Caritas Est): everything has its origin in God's love, everything is shaped by it, everything is directed towards it. Love is God's greatest gift to humanity, it is his promise and our hope.
Seems straightforward.
But, as is the way with such men as become pope, he pondered this, and decided things about what charity requires.
That's where the disagreements come in.
5.... This dynamic of charity received and given is what gives rise to the Church's social teaching, which is caritas in veritate in re sociali: the proclamation of the truth of Christ's love in society. This doctrine is a service to charity, but its locus is truth. Truth preserves and expresses charity's power to liberate in the ever-changing events of history. It is at the same time the truth of faith and of reason, both in the distinction and also in the convergence of those two cognitive fields. Development, social well-being, the search for a satisfactory solution to the grave socio-economic problems besetting humanity, all need this truth. What they need even more is that this truth should be loved and demonstrated. Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation, especially in a globalized society at difficult times like the present.
The pope is saying, in essence, "faith without works is dead," not merely in the sense of religion, but in the world, "social action ends up serving private interests in the logic of power". Sort of sums up what passsed for governance in the last adminstration, and what needs to be rooted out of the House and Senate now (for those who aren't in the US... tell me this doesn't apply to your gov't as well).
7. Another important consideration is the common good. To love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is a good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the good of “all of us”, made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society[4]. It is a good that is sought not for its own sake, but for the people who belong to the social community and who can only really and effectively pursue their good within it. To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity...
More dangerous teachings. Justice requires charity.
All of that can be pretty predictably seen to be at odds with lots of the preachings of the "Religous Right™". That's not the stuff which got Newt (that newly made Catholic... who thinks [or thought] His Holiness was just ducks, a guy to be listened to when we was talking about abortion, and birth control and stuff that affected other people; Newt seems to be something of a "Cafeteria Catholic" when it touches on things which gore oxen of his own).
What has Newt's (and a whole lot of other people's) undies in a bunch is that Caritas in verite makes a big deal out of an older encyclical, Populorum progressivo which was published some 40 years ago.
That letter said, in short... the developed world owes it to the rest of the world to 1: level the playing field, and 2: stop meddling in their affairs.
It speaks against disparities:
19. 19. Neither individuals nor nations should regard the possession of more and more goods as the ultimate objective. Every kind of progress is a two-edged sword. It is necessary if man is to grow as a human being; yet it can also enslave him, if he comes to regard it as the supreme good and cannot look beyond it. When this happens, men harden their hearts, shut out others from their minds and gather together solely for reasons of self-interest rather than out of friendship; dissension and disunity follow soon after.
Thus the exclusive pursuit of material possessions prevents man's growth as a human being and stands in opposition to his true grandeur. Avarice, in individuals and in nations, is the most obvious form of stultified moral development.
Paul VI was making a pretty strong statement. One that Newt, and his ilk, don't like much.
The Scale of Values
21. What are less than human conditions? The material poverty of those who lack the bare necessities of life, and the moral poverty of those who are crushed under the weight of their own self-love; oppressive political structures resulting from the abuse of ownership or the improper exercise of power, from the exploitation of the worker or unjust transactions.
What are truly human conditions? The rise from poverty to the acquisition of life's necessities; the elimination of social ills; broadening the horizons of knowledge; acquiring refinement and culture. From there one can go on to acquire a growing awareness of other people's dignity, a taste for the spirit of poverty, (l8) an active interest in the common good, and a desire for peace.
Benedict continues that, and goes on.
Economic science tells us that structural insecurity generates anti-productive attitudes wasteful of human resources, inasmuch as workers tend to adapt passively to automatic mechanisms, rather than to release creativity. On this point too, there is a convergence between economic science and moral evaluation. Human costs always include economic costs, and economic dysfunctions always involve human costs.
It should be remembered that the reduction of cultures to the technological dimension, even if it favours short-term profits, in the long term impedes reciprocal enrichment and the dynamics of cooperation. It is important to distinguish between short- and long-term economic or sociological considerations. Lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers, or abandoning mechanisms of wealth redistribution in order to increase the country's international competitiveness, hinder the achievement of lasting development. Moreover, the human consequences of current tendencies towards a short-term economy — sometimes very short-term — need to be carefully evaluated. This requires further and deeper reflection on the meaning of the economy and its goals[84], as well as a profound and far-sighted revision of the current model of development, so as to correct its dysfunctions and deviations. This is demanded, in any case, by the earth's state of ecological health; above all it is required by the cultural and moral crisis of man, the symptoms of which have been evident for some time all over the world.
33. More than forty years after Populorum Progressio, its basic theme, namely progress, remains an open question, made all the more acute and urgent by the current economic and financial crisis. If some areas of the globe, with a history of poverty, have experienced remarkable changes in terms of their economic growth and their share in world production, other zones are still living in a situation of deprivation comparable to that which existed at the time of Paul VI, and in some cases one can even speak of a deterioration. It is significant that some of the causes of this situation were identified in Populorum Progressio, such as the high tariffs imposed by economically developed countries, which still make it difficult for the products of poor countries to gain a foothold in the markets of rich countries. Other causes, however, mentioned only in passing in the Encyclical, have since emerged with greater clarity. A case in point would be the evaluation of the process of decolonization, then at its height. Paul VI hoped to see the journey towards autonomy unfold freely and in peace. More than forty years later, we must acknowledge how difficult this journey has been, both because of new forms of colonialism and continued dependence on old and new foreign powers, and because of grave irresponsibility within the very countries that have achieved independence.
The principal new feature has been the explosion of worldwide interdependence, commonly known as globalization. Paul VI had partially foreseen it, but the ferocious pace at which it has evolved could not have been anticipated. Originating within economically developed countries, this process by its nature has spread to include all economies. It has been the principal driving force behind the emergence from underdevelopment of whole regions, and in itself it represents a great opportunity. Nevertheless, without the guidance of charity in truth, this global force could cause unprecedented damage and create new divisions within the human family. Hence charity and truth confront us with an altogether new and creative challenge, one that is certainly vast and complex. It is about broadening the scope of reason and making it capable of knowing and directing these powerful new forces, animating them within the perspective of that “civilization of love” whose seed God has planted in every people, in every culture.
Buried in that are reminders that "the worker is worth his hire," and from those who have much, much is asked.
But Newt others have addressed this better than I. Nope, I am just confused at how some of the RTCs in the world are reacting.
Ignoring the people who think they know when the hour will come (Wow...how awesome it is to be living in the end times witnessing prophetic words/occurrences. ... and you know this is the end time because...? You know this isn't one of the countless times of tribulation warned of in the "wars and rumors of wars,? because?).
No, it was the comment I can't decipher (we can ignore the one's which say Obama is the cause of all ills, because he's not a "committed christian", and that he and the pope are using the environment to take over the world... we can even try to ignore the cognitive dissonance of, "OMG, he's bringing about the end of the world... it will be awful.../Please let me be raptured soon"... if the stuff you are bitching about is what God needs to see happen to get your miracle... why the Hell aren't you out there working on it?).
Quote:
He would move toward markets geared to "redistribute" wealth from advanced to poorer countries and sees "urgent need of a true world political authority" to, among other tasks, "manage the global economy." Pope Benedict's encyclical on economic justice, delivered amid the global financial meltdown, is an extraordinary document, both in its tough challenges and in the remarkably radical solutions it prescribes. The pontiff focuses on moral dimensions of markets, globalization, consumerism, environmental protection, the role of technology, workers' rights and more.
Followed with a "bible verse of the day"
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing
I can't tell if it's subversive (someone actually being contrary to the people explaining how the pope isn't aware of how "God's people aren't of this world") or somehow that verse is supposed to show the pope to be lacking in charity.
I got nothin'
Upfront, I have some problems with this pope. This encyclical isn't one of them. As you might imagine, it was read. As you might not imagine, it was hotly derided, by more than just the usual suspects.
Why? Because it contradicts a lot of what people think the church is, or ought, to be about.
2. Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine. Every responsibility and every commitment spelt out by that doctrine is derived from charity which, according to the teaching of Jesus, is the synthesis of the entire Law (cf. Mt 22:36- 40). It gives real substance to the personal relationship with God and with neighbour; it is the principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones). For the Church, instructed by the Gospel, charity is everything because, as Saint John teaches (cf. 1 Jn 4:8, 16) and as I recalled in my first Encyclical Letter, “God is love” (Deus Caritas Est): everything has its origin in God's love, everything is shaped by it, everything is directed towards it. Love is God's greatest gift to humanity, it is his promise and our hope.
Seems straightforward.
But, as is the way with such men as become pope, he pondered this, and decided things about what charity requires.
That's where the disagreements come in.
5.... This dynamic of charity received and given is what gives rise to the Church's social teaching, which is caritas in veritate in re sociali: the proclamation of the truth of Christ's love in society. This doctrine is a service to charity, but its locus is truth. Truth preserves and expresses charity's power to liberate in the ever-changing events of history. It is at the same time the truth of faith and of reason, both in the distinction and also in the convergence of those two cognitive fields. Development, social well-being, the search for a satisfactory solution to the grave socio-economic problems besetting humanity, all need this truth. What they need even more is that this truth should be loved and demonstrated. Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation, especially in a globalized society at difficult times like the present.
The pope is saying, in essence, "faith without works is dead," not merely in the sense of religion, but in the world, "social action ends up serving private interests in the logic of power". Sort of sums up what passsed for governance in the last adminstration, and what needs to be rooted out of the House and Senate now (for those who aren't in the US... tell me this doesn't apply to your gov't as well).
7. Another important consideration is the common good. To love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is a good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the good of “all of us”, made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society[4]. It is a good that is sought not for its own sake, but for the people who belong to the social community and who can only really and effectively pursue their good within it. To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity...
More dangerous teachings. Justice requires charity.
All of that can be pretty predictably seen to be at odds with lots of the preachings of the "Religous Right™". That's not the stuff which got Newt (that newly made Catholic... who thinks [or thought] His Holiness was just ducks, a guy to be listened to when we was talking about abortion, and birth control and stuff that affected other people; Newt seems to be something of a "Cafeteria Catholic" when it touches on things which gore oxen of his own).
What has Newt's (and a whole lot of other people's) undies in a bunch is that Caritas in verite makes a big deal out of an older encyclical, Populorum progressivo which was published some 40 years ago.
That letter said, in short... the developed world owes it to the rest of the world to 1: level the playing field, and 2: stop meddling in their affairs.
It speaks against disparities:
19. 19. Neither individuals nor nations should regard the possession of more and more goods as the ultimate objective. Every kind of progress is a two-edged sword. It is necessary if man is to grow as a human being; yet it can also enslave him, if he comes to regard it as the supreme good and cannot look beyond it. When this happens, men harden their hearts, shut out others from their minds and gather together solely for reasons of self-interest rather than out of friendship; dissension and disunity follow soon after.
Thus the exclusive pursuit of material possessions prevents man's growth as a human being and stands in opposition to his true grandeur. Avarice, in individuals and in nations, is the most obvious form of stultified moral development.
Paul VI was making a pretty strong statement. One that Newt, and his ilk, don't like much.
The Scale of Values
21. What are less than human conditions? The material poverty of those who lack the bare necessities of life, and the moral poverty of those who are crushed under the weight of their own self-love; oppressive political structures resulting from the abuse of ownership or the improper exercise of power, from the exploitation of the worker or unjust transactions.
What are truly human conditions? The rise from poverty to the acquisition of life's necessities; the elimination of social ills; broadening the horizons of knowledge; acquiring refinement and culture. From there one can go on to acquire a growing awareness of other people's dignity, a taste for the spirit of poverty, (l8) an active interest in the common good, and a desire for peace.
Benedict continues that, and goes on.
Economic science tells us that structural insecurity generates anti-productive attitudes wasteful of human resources, inasmuch as workers tend to adapt passively to automatic mechanisms, rather than to release creativity. On this point too, there is a convergence between economic science and moral evaluation. Human costs always include economic costs, and economic dysfunctions always involve human costs.
It should be remembered that the reduction of cultures to the technological dimension, even if it favours short-term profits, in the long term impedes reciprocal enrichment and the dynamics of cooperation. It is important to distinguish between short- and long-term economic or sociological considerations. Lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers, or abandoning mechanisms of wealth redistribution in order to increase the country's international competitiveness, hinder the achievement of lasting development. Moreover, the human consequences of current tendencies towards a short-term economy — sometimes very short-term — need to be carefully evaluated. This requires further and deeper reflection on the meaning of the economy and its goals[84], as well as a profound and far-sighted revision of the current model of development, so as to correct its dysfunctions and deviations. This is demanded, in any case, by the earth's state of ecological health; above all it is required by the cultural and moral crisis of man, the symptoms of which have been evident for some time all over the world.
33. More than forty years after Populorum Progressio, its basic theme, namely progress, remains an open question, made all the more acute and urgent by the current economic and financial crisis. If some areas of the globe, with a history of poverty, have experienced remarkable changes in terms of their economic growth and their share in world production, other zones are still living in a situation of deprivation comparable to that which existed at the time of Paul VI, and in some cases one can even speak of a deterioration. It is significant that some of the causes of this situation were identified in Populorum Progressio, such as the high tariffs imposed by economically developed countries, which still make it difficult for the products of poor countries to gain a foothold in the markets of rich countries. Other causes, however, mentioned only in passing in the Encyclical, have since emerged with greater clarity. A case in point would be the evaluation of the process of decolonization, then at its height. Paul VI hoped to see the journey towards autonomy unfold freely and in peace. More than forty years later, we must acknowledge how difficult this journey has been, both because of new forms of colonialism and continued dependence on old and new foreign powers, and because of grave irresponsibility within the very countries that have achieved independence.
The principal new feature has been the explosion of worldwide interdependence, commonly known as globalization. Paul VI had partially foreseen it, but the ferocious pace at which it has evolved could not have been anticipated. Originating within economically developed countries, this process by its nature has spread to include all economies. It has been the principal driving force behind the emergence from underdevelopment of whole regions, and in itself it represents a great opportunity. Nevertheless, without the guidance of charity in truth, this global force could cause unprecedented damage and create new divisions within the human family. Hence charity and truth confront us with an altogether new and creative challenge, one that is certainly vast and complex. It is about broadening the scope of reason and making it capable of knowing and directing these powerful new forces, animating them within the perspective of that “civilization of love” whose seed God has planted in every people, in every culture.
Buried in that are reminders that "the worker is worth his hire," and from those who have much, much is asked.
But Newt others have addressed this better than I. Nope, I am just confused at how some of the RTCs in the world are reacting.
Ignoring the people who think they know when the hour will come (Wow...how awesome it is to be living in the end times witnessing prophetic words/occurrences. ... and you know this is the end time because...? You know this isn't one of the countless times of tribulation warned of in the "wars and rumors of wars,? because?).
No, it was the comment I can't decipher (we can ignore the one's which say Obama is the cause of all ills, because he's not a "committed christian", and that he and the pope are using the environment to take over the world... we can even try to ignore the cognitive dissonance of, "OMG, he's bringing about the end of the world... it will be awful.../Please let me be raptured soon"... if the stuff you are bitching about is what God needs to see happen to get your miracle... why the Hell aren't you out there working on it?).
Quote:
He would move toward markets geared to "redistribute" wealth from advanced to poorer countries and sees "urgent need of a true world political authority" to, among other tasks, "manage the global economy." Pope Benedict's encyclical on economic justice, delivered amid the global financial meltdown, is an extraordinary document, both in its tough challenges and in the remarkably radical solutions it prescribes. The pontiff focuses on moral dimensions of markets, globalization, consumerism, environmental protection, the role of technology, workers' rights and more.
Followed with a "bible verse of the day"
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing
I can't tell if it's subversive (someone actually being contrary to the people explaining how the pope isn't aware of how "God's people aren't of this world") or somehow that verse is supposed to show the pope to be lacking in charity.
I got nothin'
