{"id":918,"date":"2016-02-04T11:02:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T11:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/02\/the-left-and-the-parable-of-the-two-sons.html"},"modified":"2016-02-04T11:02:00","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T11:02:00","slug":"the-left-and-the-parable-of-the-two-sons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/02\/the-left-and-the-parable-of-the-two-sons.html","title":{"rendered":"The Left and the Parable of the Two Sons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m sorry, but it\u2019s still a fact.\u00a0 Americans are among the most generous people on the planet<\/a>.\u00a0 Again.\u00a0 As in almost every case in every year.\u00a0 This is individual generosity by the way.\u00a0 And in America, religious people seem to be more giving than non-religious people.\u00a0 And some argue that more conservative leaning individuals tend toward a more generous spirit than liberals. <\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure the stats can be fought over.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure they will be.\u00a0 The great thing about statistics is that with a little golly-gee-wiz, you can make them say almost anything you want them to say.\u00a0 But at best, conservatives are no less giving on the whole than their liberal neighbors<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

And yet we have today, where the narrative is that liberalism and liberals are simply the default good people who care and worry and want to help the poor.\u00a0 As opposed to those rascally right wingers who don\u2019t like the poor and beat up on teddy bears and everything.\u00a0 Yet time and again, pesky stats and studies and surveys suggest that conservatives actually give more, are more generous, and donate more time to helping the poor and the needy.\u00a0 How is that?\u00a0 Easy.\u00a0 I give you the parable of the two sons:<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, \u2018Son, go work today in the vineyard.\u2019 And he answered, \u2018I will not\u2019; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, \u2018I will, sir\u2019; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?\u201d They said, \u201cThe first.\u201d Jesus said to them, \u201cTruly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.<\/em><\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n

The answer is obvious.\u00a0 The son who did the Father\u2019s will was the one who may have said no, but then went out and actually worked.\u00a0 The one who simply barked the bark, but didn\u2019t actually do anything, did not do the Father\u2019s will.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Nonetheless\u00a0we have an interesting trend starting up in Catholicism as it swings more and more to the left of center.\u00a0 In a way similar to the antiracism witch hunts, we\u2019re seeing a new crop of Catholics who insist that they care about the poor more than anyone else.\u00a0 They care a thousand times more than anyone else.\u00a0 And they back it up with endless appeals to books and letters and writings and theories and Democratic proposals and, of course, Pope Francis.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

But what of those who don\u2019t agree with them?\u00a0\u00a0Could it be that they merely disagree with the solutions, but actually do care about, and work to help, the poor?\u00a0 I give you an oldie but a goodie: Mark Shea\u2019s Facebook page<\/a> (I know, I know).\u00a0 He posts on the Bernie Sanders\u2019 cry of \u201cRevolution!\u201d.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t give a nod to Sanders as much as he uses it to blast conservatives under the false premise that those on the Right don\u2019t want to solve the problems of the poor and the struggling.\u00a0 Which is odd, given that stats suggest those on the Right are more willing to actually help the poor and the struggling.\u00a0 Lesson: reread parable of the two sons. <\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not the focus of this post.\u00a0 The focal point\u00a0is one of Mark\u2019s regular readers Dan Conway.\u00a0 Dan has a very simple worldview: to the left of center are the beautiful people, to the right of center are stupid and hateful people who suck and are wrong about everything.\u00a0 So Dan comments on this in his usual fashion.\u00a0 But then someone else asks Dan, \u201cBut have you considered [Father] Barron?\u201d\u00a0 That is, Father Barron who apparently didn\u2019t live up to snuff when compared to their own concern for the poor. <\/p>\n

Why no, he doesn\u2019t, explains Mr. Conway.\u00a0 A blind spot no doubt.\u00a0 Someday Fr. Barron might actually visit the Catholic Worker in LA (I guess those who minister to the poor anywhere else don\u2019t matter, or I guess Fr. Barron has never actually visited the poor?).\u00a0 Then, of course, Fr. Barron will get his mind right:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Did you see that?\u00a0 Fr. Barron, who is loved and adored by Mark Shea, is called out on the carpet for not caring enough about dealing with the poor.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t handle Day well enough.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t speak the words.\u00a0 How much Fr. Barron actually cares about the poor or actually has done for the poor doesn\u2019t even\u00a0matter.\u00a0 In fact, it is almost assumed that since he didn\u2019t speak to the issues the way Mr. Conway and friends demand, he couldn\u2019t possibly have done enough or even exposed himself to those who do. <\/p>\n

And that is the New Fundamentalism, leftist style.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter what we do, it only matters that we support the correct ideas<\/a>, and embrace the correct writings in the correct way.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t, it must mean something is wrong, no matter how many poor we\u2019ve helped or aided in times of need.\u00a0 I have no problem with ideas and solutions.\u00a0 I\u2019ll listen to anything.\u00a0 But when we act as if only having the correct interpretation of the correct ideas matters, and if we don\u2019t then it necessarily means we don\u2019t care\u00a0 enough about the problem, then there are issues.\u00a0 It might be a staple strategy for the modern Left, but it goes down hard for the reputation of Catholicism when Catholics follow suit. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m sorry, but it\u2019s still a fact.\u00a0 Americans are among the most generous people on the planet.\u00a0 Again.\u00a0 As in almost every case in every year.\u00a0 This is individual generosity by the way.\u00a0 And in America, religious people seem to be more giving than non-religious people.\u00a0 And some argue that more conservative leaning individuals tend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Left and the Parable of the Two Sons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I'm sorry, but it's still a fact.  Americans are among the most generous people on the planet.  Again.  As in almost every case in every\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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