I listened to this in the car on my home this evening and just nodded along. Not that I read up on politics like I used to, it just got a little ugly and stressful for my tastes. But I haven't heard a lot of people besides myself (http://allisonmayer.me/3-reasons-why-i-am-a-christian-and-a-republican/) one other and now you mention what a welfare state takes away from the rich in terms of their rights and the respect of their life as humans also.
I was raised in the Church....this is exactly what I was taught in the 50's, in Catholic school. Over and over again, I've been proclaiming this to everyone I know...WE THE CHURCH care for the poor better than a godless government. THANK YOU for this teaching. I'll be sending this to all my Catholic family and friends in hopes it will set the record straigth for the "social justice" folks who have missed the boat and keep making the government God and relinquishing responsibility for caring for the poor.
What people forget, though, is that the government gives a lot of money to Catholic Charities which helps it operate. Re: http://www.usmessageboard.com/religion-and-ethics/207538-67-of-catholic-charities-money-comes-from-government.html
67 percent of Catholic Charities money comes from the government. And Pope Benedict and the tradition of social teaching in the Church upholds the responsibility of individuals AND government for distributive justice (which would include, presumably, welfare).
From Caritas en Veritate: "In the global era, the economy is influenced by competitive models tied to cultures that differ greatly among themselves. The different forms of economic enterprise to which they give rise find their main point of encounter in commutative justice. Economic life undoubtedly requires contracts, in order to regulate relations of exchange between goods of equivalent value. But it also needs just laws and forms of redistribution governed by politics, and what is more, it needs works redolent of the spirit of gift. The economy in the global era seems to privilege the former logic, that of contractual exchange, but directly or indirectly it also demonstrates its need for the other two: political logic, and the logic of the unconditional gift."
That section is just one example of Church teaching suggesting that the government (political society) holds a responsibility to care for the poor and vulnerable. Do we hold an individual responsibility as well? Of course. But the fact of the matter is it would be very difficult for Catholic Charities, and many other charities, to function without the benefits it receives from the government (including its tax exempt status).
The reason there is government money going to Catholic Charities is that the government recognizes that the Catholic Church is better at helping the poor than they are, and b) if the government wasn't taxing everyone to the hilt, then people would be able to give the money to Catholic Charities themselves!
To act like it is the government giving "the government's money" to Catholic Charities is a complete distortion - it is the government taking our money and giving our money to Catholic Charities. The Church is saying that it would be better off if people were able to help people directly with their own choices and charity than having the government take their money and then decide to "bequeath" it to Catholic Charities.
This passage you are reading is from Centesimus Annus and it also states the following:
"The State could not directly ensure the right to work for all its citizens unless it controlled every aspect of economic life and restricted the free initiative of individuals. This does not mean, however, that the State has no competence in this domain, as was claimed by those who argued against any rules in the economic sphere. Rather, the State has a duty to sustain business activities by creating conditions which will ensure job opportunities, by stimulating those activities where they are lacking or by supporting them in moments of crisis.
The State has the further right to intervene when particular monopolies create delays or obstacles to development. In addition to the tasks of harmonizing and guiding development, in exceptional circumstances the State can also exercise a substitute function, when social sectors or business systems are too weak or are just getting under way, and are not equal to the task at hand. Such supplementary interventions, which are justified by urgent reasons touching the common good, must be as brief as possible, so as to avoid removing permanently from society and business systems the functions which are properly theirs, and so as to avoid enlarging excessively the sphere of State intervention to the detriment of both economic and civil freedom."
When JPII wrote about the Welfare State, he was mainly referring to Communism, which was, as we all know, a very corrupt system that actually didn't help anyone. He is not advocating for NO welfare state; he is advocating for a balance between help from individuals and community (i.e. government). As is stated in the quote above, the government does have a role in supporting individuals in times of economic hardship (I'm thinking of unemployment benefits here). As with many other things, it's not one or the other, either government or individuals. It has to be both in order to effectively take care of the poor.
"MOMENTS of crisis" is much different than "decades of continuous welfare". The first quote mentioned is from the Church, the second is not, but the second IS what our government has had in place.
I listened to this in the car on my home this evening and just nodded along. Not that I read up on politics like I used to, it just got a little ugly and stressful for my tastes. But I haven't heard a lot of people besides myself (http://allisonmayer.me/3-reasons-why-i-am-a-christian-and-a-republican/) one other and now you mention what a welfare state takes away from the rich in terms of their rights and the respect of their life as humans also.
ReplyDeleteI was raised in the Church....this is exactly what I was taught in the 50's, in Catholic school. Over and over again, I've been proclaiming this to everyone I know...WE THE CHURCH care for the poor better than a godless government. THANK YOU for this teaching. I'll be sending this to all my Catholic family and friends in hopes it will set the record straigth for the "social justice" folks who have missed the boat and keep making the government God and relinquishing responsibility for caring for the poor.
ReplyDeleteSo great to get something more authentically Catholic which encourages real personal charity. Please let me know where I may download your MP3s.
ReplyDeleteWhat people forget, though, is that the government gives a lot of money to Catholic Charities which helps it operate. Re: http://www.usmessageboard.com/religion-and-ethics/207538-67-of-catholic-charities-money-comes-from-government.html
ReplyDelete67 percent of Catholic Charities money comes from the government. And Pope Benedict and the tradition of social teaching in the Church upholds the responsibility of individuals AND government for distributive justice (which would include, presumably, welfare).
From Caritas en Veritate: "In the global era, the economy is influenced by competitive models tied to cultures that differ greatly among themselves. The different forms of economic enterprise to which they give rise find their main point of encounter in commutative justice. Economic life undoubtedly requires contracts, in order to regulate relations of exchange between goods of equivalent value. But it also needs just laws and forms of redistribution governed by politics, and what is more, it needs works redolent of the spirit of gift. The economy in the global era seems to privilege the former logic, that of contractual exchange, but directly or indirectly it also demonstrates its need for the other two: political logic, and the logic of the unconditional gift."
That section is just one example of Church teaching suggesting that the government (political society) holds a responsibility to care for the poor and vulnerable. Do we hold an individual responsibility as well? Of course. But the fact of the matter is it would be very difficult for Catholic Charities, and many other charities, to function without the benefits it receives from the government (including its tax exempt status).
The reason there is government money going to Catholic Charities is that the government recognizes that the Catholic Church is better at helping the poor than they are, and b) if the government wasn't taxing everyone to the hilt, then people would be able to give the money to Catholic Charities themselves!
DeleteTo act like it is the government giving "the government's money" to Catholic Charities is a complete distortion - it is the government taking our money and giving our money to Catholic Charities. The Church is saying that it would be better off if people were able to help people directly with their own choices and charity than having the government take their money and then decide to "bequeath" it to Catholic Charities.
This passage you are reading is from Centesimus Annus and it also states the following:
ReplyDelete"The State could not directly ensure the right to work for all its citizens unless it controlled every aspect of economic life and restricted the free initiative of individuals. This does not mean, however, that the State has no competence in this domain, as was claimed by those who argued against any rules in the economic sphere. Rather, the State has a duty to sustain business activities by creating conditions which will ensure job opportunities, by stimulating those activities where they are lacking or by supporting them in moments of crisis.
The State has the further right to intervene when particular monopolies create delays or obstacles to development. In addition to the tasks of harmonizing and guiding development, in exceptional circumstances the State can also exercise a substitute function, when social sectors or business systems are too weak or are just getting under way, and are not equal to the task at hand. Such supplementary interventions, which are justified by urgent reasons touching the common good, must be as brief as possible, so as to avoid removing permanently from society and business systems the functions which are properly theirs, and so as to avoid enlarging excessively the sphere of State intervention to the detriment of both economic and civil freedom."
When JPII wrote about the Welfare State, he was mainly referring to Communism, which was, as we all know, a very corrupt system that actually didn't help anyone. He is not advocating for NO welfare state; he is advocating for a balance between help from individuals and community (i.e. government). As is stated in the quote above, the government does have a role in supporting individuals in times of economic hardship (I'm thinking of unemployment benefits here). As with many other things, it's not one or the other, either government or individuals. It has to be both in order to effectively take care of the poor.
"MOMENTS of crisis" is much different than "decades of continuous welfare". The first quote mentioned is from the Church, the second is not, but the second IS what our government has had in place.
Delete