Traditions of Men

A reader writes:

Seen this? Not sure what to make of it. Good, valid points, but also a bit unnecessarily incendiary. Or am I being too sensitive and afraid of offending others?

No. You’re right. This is a classic example of elevating a tradition of men to equality with the Tradition. The achievements of the American economic system are enormous (especially in comparison with the catastrophe of the Commies) and it is easy to take that or some other great human good like, say, the Constitution and elevate it to a status of equality with the deposit of Faith. The temptation has been felt in many different ways, with the divine right of kings, or the theory that Russia was the Christ of Nations, or the notion of a Holy Roman Empire or the theory that America is Chosen as a Light to the Nations. But the fact is, arguments about the merits of socialism vs. capitalism, while they certain are informed by Catholic teaching, do not consist of simplistic notions that the Church condemns anything that might partake of socialist thinking.

Now there are lots of reasons to critique socialism and it is the business of economists, pols and various others with the proper competence to do so (not forgetting to critique capitalism too). But speaking of some monolithic thing called “socialism” as though it is categorically condemned by the Catholic Church is not one of them. Sweden is a socialist state (not one I’d care to live in) but it is neither the Third Reich nor the Soviet Union. Numerous European states have various socialist arrangements for dealing with matters of the public good. A lot of these mechanisms work badly. Some of them work better than our systems. As far as the Faith goes, much of how men ordeer their economic and internal affairs is highly malleable and no particular system has the Kiss of God (though, of course, the Church is concerned that the claims of justice, subsidiarity and solidarity be respected. similarly, the Church has existed long before western democracies and will still be here if democracy follows totalitarianism to the ash heap of history. His Kingdom is not of this world.

So it is just not so that “the Church” has some one size fits all program for economics and politics which categorically condemns everything Obama wants to do or categorically blesses capitalist economic models. Still less is the preposterous connection of Obama with Nazis and Communists even remotely reflective of sane rhetoric, let alone “Real Catholicism”. This video is ultimately talk radio blather parading in a bishop’s mitre. So, for instance, if an American politician like Obama says that the political community has a duty to honor the family, to assist it, and to ensure (among other things) the right to medical care, assistance for the aged, and family benefits, this is generally greeted with cries of “socialism” by the talk radio crowd.

The thing is, that’s actually what the Church says (CCC 2211). That’s not to say Obama’s plans for how to run the medical industry conform to what the Church calls for. It is, rather, to note that talk radio cultists tend to automatically reject *any* notion that everybody has a right to health care. Here’s the logic, such as it is:

Obama has declared that he believes every person has a “right” to health care. The Socialist Party USA believes every person has a “right” to health care.

Ahem–and the Catholic Church. At this point, the Talk Radio cultist needs to ask himself, “Am I going to reject what the Church has to say as “socialist” or am I going to consider the possibility the simplicities of the talk radio universe may need to be supplemented by guidance from Holy Church as I contemplate these matters?”

Once again, I think it would be a good idea if Catholics (especially those styling themselves “RealCatholics” would pause and actually contemplate the Tradition rather than simply reflexively assume that parroting talk radio cliches constitutes a considered look at Catholic social teaching. There are a *ton* of problems with Obama’s agenda and Americans badly needs thoughtful Catholics to speak to these issues–from the Tradition. These will not be dealt with by calling him a Nazi, nor by confusing whatever it is Rush Limbaugh said today about socialism and capitalism with what the Church says about the dignity of the human person, solidarity, subsidiarity and the rest.