When Pope Leo XIII wrote Rerum Novarum [1] in 1891, the world had seen the dire impact of unregulated capitalism on working people. It was, therefore, obvious to the Pontiff “that some opportune remedy” needed to “be found quickly for the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class….” (Ibid, §3) A system had developed such that “the hiring of labor and the conduct of trade” were “concentrated in the hands of comparatively few; so... Read more
“Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist.” (Quadragesimo anno, §120) [1] These words of Pope Pius XI seem plain enough, and one might think that the subject is now closed. But today we see many Catholics calling themselves “socialists.” Are these people just “cafeteria Catholics”? Before we rush to judgment, we should consider that Quadragesimo anno was written in 1931, and while truth doesn’t change... Read more
Your humble servant has lately been posting in these pages [1] [2] [3] about right-to-work laws, and the Supreme Court case of Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees [4], and since Janus involved a public employee union, a question has arisen has arisen as to whether such unions should be considered differently than private sector unions in Catholic social teaching. I will make an attempt to address that question here. As is the wont here at Christian Democracy, we... Read more
In my recent post, Hurting Labor Unions is Wrong [1], your humble servant endeavored to demonstrate that the holding of the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees [2], that requiring non-union members to pay an “agency fee” to cover the cost of representation in collective bargaining violates the First Amendment, was in conflict with Catholic social teaching. Now it has been observed that the Janus case has essentially imposed a “right-to-work” regime on all government... Read more
The U.S. Supreme Court has been spending a lot of time on Free Speech cases recently, and one of those cases has served the interests of religious freedom, which has the same importance in Catholic social teaching as free expression does under the Constitution. National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra [1] involved the “California Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency Act (FACT Act)” which required “clinics that primarily serve pregnant women to provide certain notices.” (Ibid,... Read more
In a recent post, The U.S. Is Not a Catholic Country [1], your humble servant endeavored to show how American constitutional principles yield different judicial results than would an application of Catholic social teaching. The case I used to illustrate the point was the recent one of Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees [2], wherein the Supreme Court held that requiring someone who is, by his own choice, not a member of the union, but represented by the union... Read more
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