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September 05, 2005
Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching by William Byron
Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching by William Byron
Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching by William Byron
I think the general message is one of tolerance and unity. It’s impossible to decipher which political party they lean toward because they have such clever wording and a nice balance of both (The Principle of Respect for Human Life – pro-life, The Principle of Participation – pro-union).
I’m confused about the principle of subsidiarity (spell check doesn’t seem to like the word one tiny bit, by the way – I think it prefers “subsidiary”).
“The principle of subsidiarity puts a proper limit on government by insisting that no higher level of organization should perform any function that can be handled efficiently and effectively at a lower level of organization by human persons...”Can they really do anything about it though? They’re a church. If they feel the government is getting too powerful, what could they do about it?
Well, to sum up: Catholic Social Teaching = common courtesy and not hating people because they exist. Or, that’s what I got out of it anyway. I’m sure there’s something more profound that I’m missing entirely.
“Human Person Human Life Association Participation Preference for the Poor Solidarity Stewardship Subsidiarity Equality Common GoodPeople who enjoy coming up with acronyms could rearrange the order to construct an easily remembered set of capital letters.”
(I tried, but couldn’t come up with anything.)
Posted by Kayla Sawyer at September 5, 2005 06:36 PM
Comments
"They’re a church. If they feel the government is getting too powerful, what could they do about it?"
Why don't you ask the Poles?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28398-2005Apr5.html
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at September 5, 2005 11:05 PM
As far as which political party it leans toward, well the Church is quite down the middle. But when you mention "subsidiarity" you are talking about a strictly conservative way of thinking. It's always been a Republican belief that the less government the better, and this was really driven home by President Reagan.
But as far as everything else goes, it's pretty issue by issue.
Posted by: Mike Rubino at September 5, 2005 11:20 PM
Not necessarily the less government the better, it's not about anarchy or anything, it is just about less "big" or national government. Things should be handled at a more local level because that is where more people can have more control over what directly affects them.
Also, it seems like these principles are rather drawn out and repetitive...respect people and treat them equally, work for the common good, people are social beings...all the other specifics could be put under one of those 3 categories, then maybe the reading wouldn't be so tedious
On a more positive note, I do believe the majority of the ideas are good principles to put into practice as we each live out our lives, whether we are Catholic or not.
Posted by: Lorin Schumacher at September 6, 2005 11:45 PM