Conservatism and the Church

I was having a conversation today about politics and Christianity, and I was wondering if you could help me understand something about what was said. (As my favorite right/left wing shill I’m hoping you will.)

I mentioned something about someone who was a Christian and a Democrat, only to be told how incompatible that is (and it can be, with abortion, for instance). When I said that Republicans have problems with staying in line with Church teachings too, they were incredulous. I gave the example of caring for the poor and was told that Republicans give space for the Church (and other charitable organizations) to care for the poor and pulling the government out of that area was the wisest thing to do. “Just because some people don’t want to take care of their kids, should you be forced to work hard and pay for their insurance or food?” I was asked. This doesn’t seem very Catholic, but I’m having a hard time quite articulating why.

Am I off base? Is that the Church’s understanding of the roll of government in caring for the poor?

Conservatism is a fine thing–so long as the thing being conserved is compatible with the Catholic faith. Conserving, say, the practice of bride burning, or human sacrifice, or Jew hatred is merely the worship of old sin. In the case of the chaotic stew of American conservatism, there are a number of things generally present in the soup that are very compatible with the Faith and a number of things, as you note, that are merely the conservation of old sin.

Most obviously, conservatism is the great friend of the pro-life movement and is practically co-terminous with it in the US. That’s not to say leaders of conservatism care about it nearly as much as the rank and file. But beggars can’t be choosers and so pro-lifers should be grateful that at least the cynics in charge of the GOP don’t hold them in the active contempt the Dems do.

On the other hand, when conservatism teaches contempt for the Church’s teaching, as for instance, some pols actively do at a number of levels, Catholics need to place docility to the Church above party loyalty.

The great mistake many Catholics on the Right are making is assuming that opposition to abortion taketh away the sins of the world and excuses rejection of any other aspect of the Church’s teaching. Abortion is the greatest society evil we face. But it cannot be defeated by subordinating fidelity to Jesus Christ’s *whole* gospel to the demands of a cynical political party that looks to exploit the Church, not to submit to Christ.