On his radio program, Fox News’ Glenn Beck encouraged listeners to leave their church if it proclaims a concern for social justice:
I’m begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!”
Listen to the audio here.
Although many Protestant denomination express concerns about social justice, the term is most closely associated with the social teachings of the Catholic Church. A Jesuit priest, Luigi Taparelli D’Azeglio, coined the term in the 1840s and based the concept on the movie downloads teachings of Thomas Aquinas.
According to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, “a large part of the Church’s social teaching is solicited and determined by important social questions, to which social justice is the proper answer.” Social justice is even given a section in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Could Beck’s claim be construed as “anti-Catholic?” Yes and no. I think if anyone else had made the remark it would have been hard to dismiss the anti-Catholic undertones. But Beck is a special case: He is too prone to say any dumb thing that pops into his head and too ignorant about history and religion to truly understand the implications of his statement. This doesn’t excuse him, of course, but it certainly is reason not to be too shocked when a self-professed “rodeo clown” advises people to leave their churches over Catholic “code words” like social justice.
Still, I’m curious to see how Beck’s loyal defenders will excuse his latest outrageous remarks. If we’re not supposed to take him seriously when he says stuff like this, when exactly are we to take him seriously?
(Via: Patrol magazine)
March 8th, 2010 | 2:02 pm
All of the ‘mainline’ Protestant denominations in the US have significant activities they label as social justice. These activities are often controversial within the churches because they are viewed by some church members as political rather than spiritual.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:03 pm
“Still, I’m curious to see how Beck’s loyal defenders will excuse his latest outrageous remarks. If we’re not supposed to take him seriously when he says stuff like this, when exactly are we to take him seriously?”
Easy really. Beck is saying if your church is like Rev. Wrights, or Farrahkan’s then GTFO and quick.
Jesus was not a socialist, he was not a politician, he was the Son of God and preached how we should be good to each other. Yet even Jesus hated and fought evil, and corruption. Concern for your fellow man (and woman) is an important part of being human. Here is the trick, when that concern is mandated by someone else (IE the Government) then it is no longer a personal choice (God did grant us with free will) and thus not part of what God granted us.
Social Justice is a ‘key-word’ for socialism meaning that it is the job of the government to ensure equality of men from cradle to grave. It is not about uplifting individuals but suppressing the masses. WAKE UP! Stop drinking the cool aid.
As a christian I weep for my country and the world. When freedom dies here Satan has won the world.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:11 pm
Rich Easy really. Beck is saying if your church is like Rev. Wrights, or Farrahkan’s then GTFO and quick.
But he is not just talking about Wright or Farrahkan. Listen to the audio. He says that if your priest talks about social justice report him to the bishop. And if the bishop approves of talking about social justice then you should leave the church.
Although I recognize that he is too ignorant to know what he’s really saying, his implication is clear that no Catholic should remain the in the Church.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:21 pm
Mr. Carter -
Most Catholics who would describe themselves as conservative or traditionalist think that the phrase “social justice,” as it is popularly used (even by bishops and priests), is Progressive “code” that seeks to direct the influence of Church teaching in politics, culture, and morality. That the phrase appears in the Catechism and the Compendium really has nothing to do with Beck’s comments.
His advice to leave the Church is something else, but it is still not outrageous. It is enough to say in response that remaining Catholic isn’t a question of agreeing with a certain interpretation of the Church’s social teaching.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:24 pm
Joe I disagree with you about him being stupid
Everything he does is planned. His first obligation is to get ratings so I am sure he knows what he doing when he says controversal things.
Which is why on the left and right I don’t understand this fasicantion with PUNDITS on Cable news and elsewhere. At least with a politico I can vote them out
March 8th, 2010 | 2:25 pm
As a guy without a TV (I’m not one of those people…I just hated the cable company’s customer service), I haven’t seen much Beck. but I know his schtick reasonably well.
I assume he’s equating social justice with churches that equate following Christ with supporting gov’t redistribution of income, or other such forgotten man scenarios.
Social justice is a pretty broad term, no matter who uses it. Beck might be “prone to say any dumb thing that pops into his head” but I’ll take that over the smart folks talking to a captive audience on Sunday and telling them that following Christ is about supporting President Obama’s health care reform.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:27 pm
Since Beck’s audience is mostly southern evangelicals, who are not keen on Catholics or social justice, there will be very little blowback. But it would be nice if the church advised their flock to turn off FOX and hate radio, for their own salvation.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:35 pm
T. Sifert That the phrase appears in the Catechism and the Compendium really has nothing to do with Beck’s comments.
Do you really think that the way the term is used in the Catechism and the Compendium would cause Beck to rethink his claim? He might back off because of the heat that his statement will generate, but he is quite clear that he considers what the Church teaches to be worthy of his denouncement.
jh Joe I disagree with you about him being stupid
I don’t think Beck is stupid, just ignorant. He strikes me as the type of guy who never read a serious book until he became a national figure. And then when he decided to fill the gaps in his knowledge he read all the wrong books (and misunderstood what he read in the few worthy books that he read).
(His support for Skousen’s “The 5000 Year Leap” is the type of nonsense I’m referring to.)
March 8th, 2010 | 2:39 pm
“His advice to leave the Church is something else, but it is still not outrageous. It is enough to say in response that remaining Catholic isn’t a question of agreeing with a certain interpretation of the Church’s social teaching.”
I think it is outrageous. For those of us that are Catholic and Republican and Conservative that try to encourage more diversity in Catholic Social Justice thought and try to live up to it one broadcast like that sets us back.
It is frustrating.
I am not really sure I want Major Polticial voices on FOX news encouraging people to leave their Churches.
It seems like a line is crossed here. I suspect that Beck will have to crawfish on this soon.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:41 pm
Many Catholics understand that the term social justice is not political but is a response to the call of Christ to feed the hungry, care for the sick and visit prisoners and so forth. It is not ‘code’ for anything other than responding to Christ’s call to love your neighbor as yourself. Unfortunately people on all sides of the political spectrum have hijacked the term.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:42 pm
[First, as a disclaimer, I have never watched the Glenn Beck show even once. The only time that I know it's shown here is at 1am, and since I can no longer function, in my old age, without at least 7 hours of sleep, I'm not up then. - GR]
In my experience, there is a bit of difference between how the great thinkers of the Church would define and seek to implement social justice and how it is often defined and implemented at the local level.
In my brief tenure as Pro Life director at my church back in Orlando, FL, I spent quite a bit of time with the Sister who was head of the Orlando diocese’s Pro Life office. The she spoke often and great length about social justice, but though I was (very) young and naive, I couldn’t shake the sense that something was a bit “off” about her vision of the term meant. Yes, she wanted to help the poor….by securing and lobbying for massive amounts of public funding (i.e. taxpayer money). She believed health care was a “right”, which apparently including the right to have someone else pay for it. She was very devoted to improving the lives of the migrant fruit pickers that picked Central Florida’s citrus, but rather dismissive of the idea that they had any responsibility whatsoever to obey the law. She was rather insistent that gun violence would cease if guns were outlawed, and while I was and am against the death penalty, I had a bit of a hard time agreeing with her that it was the most awful scourge of American society. The abortion issue didn’t seem to interest her much, other than for her to rail against Catholics who are only anti-abortion but do not support other life issues. While I agree with that sentiment, her lack of interest in the issue didn’t seem to be much better. The day she prattled on about how she wouldn’t sing the Star Bangled Banner because of the “bombs bursting” (“People get hurt by those bombs…”) line, followed by a glowing account of the creation spirituality of Matthew Fox, was the day I had had enough.
Even more of a problem were those that were alongside us in the above initiatives, groups that ranged from the moderate left to the far left. I had gotten involved to help the Pro-Life cause; while I understand that Pro-Life does not just mean anti-abortion, I don’t think that working for social justice should necessarily entail being de facto drafted into the Democratic party. Sadly, in my subsequent experience, most often those involved in social justice issues at whatever parish I have called home at any given time are ardent leftists, and I have long grown weary of having to explain over and over again that “working for social justice” does not require me to rally for socialized medicine, or protest the Iraq war, or to be distraught to the point of despair over the execution of a convicted multiple first degree murderer but confine my interest in the murder of thousands of unborn children every year in my diocese to the lobbying for free medical care and public funding for pregnant women.
In summary, the problem that I have had with the various parish- and diocese-level social justice folks is that they do not seem to acknowledge that there are other initiatives that can be taken in working to achieve social justice than whatever is the current prescription of the Democratic party.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:54 pm
You have to be kidding me! Who takes Glen Beck seriously? He is a moron! He is not even entertaining. He spews hate, contradicts himself, has no idea what he is going to spew next. I doubt anyone with any intellect listens to him or gives anything he says any merit.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:56 pm
Glenn Beck was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools, I believe, so it is hard for me to fathom how he could not understand the Catholic Church’s interpretation of “social justice”.
OTOH, this is also a grown man who converted to Mormonism immediately after kicking alcohol and drug addiction and on a whim because his little girl liked the Mormon church they checked out while they were church-shopping one afternoon, so I can see he’s not really all that theologically deep.
Plus…this is Glenn Beck we’re talking about. He’s nuts. Crazy. Batty. Barmy. Loopity-loop.
‘Evs. Guys like that marginalize themselves with their own over-the-top nutso-craziness. At some point, you can’t even top yourself with anything nuttier, and the loons who follow these folks move on to the next whacko-du-jour.
March 8th, 2010 | 2:57 pm
Interesting. I don’t watch Glenn Beck as his hectoring demagogue style gets a little tiresome after the first minute or so.
I guess he’ll be standing at the door of his Mormon church to welcome all these angry ex- Catholics.
March 8th, 2010 | 3:07 pm
Glenn Beck has thrown out strange ideas before, but this one takes the cake.
Every Sunday I am reminded of Jesus’ unconditional love for me. I am also remined of that simple truth by acts of goodness we witness everyday. That kind of love is what drives my desire to address social injustices in the world.
How can preaching love be a bad thing?
March 8th, 2010 | 3:07 pm
Words and terms mean different things to different people.
“Social justice” is one of them. What the Catholic Church teaches and the popes have taught in the encyclicals is certainly different than what so-called secular progressives and religious left-types believe it to be.
Same with “civil rights.” It used to mean recognizing the rights of African-Americans to be free from discrimination. These days, it’s been expanded to include abortion and gay marriage.
March 8th, 2010 | 3:28 pm
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Article 3 – Social Justice
III. HUMAN SOLIDARITY
1939 The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of “friendship” or “social charity,” is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood.
An error, “today abundantly widespread, is disregard for the law of human solidarity and charity, dictated and imposed both by our common origin and by the equality in rational nature of all men, whatever nation they belong to. This law is sealed by the sacrifice of redemption offered by Jesus Christ on the altar of the Cross to his heavenly Father, on behalf of sinful humanity.”
1940 Solidarity is manifested in the first place by the distribution of goods and remuneration for work. It also presupposes the effort for a more just social order where tensions are better able to be reduced and conflicts more readily settled by negotiation.
1941 Socio-economic problems can be resolved only with the help of all the forms of solidarity: solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples. International solidarity is a requirement of the moral order; world peace depends in part upon this.
1942 The virtue of solidarity goes beyond material goods. In spreading the spiritual goods of the faith, the Church has promoted, and often opened new paths for, the development of temporal goods as well. And so throughout the centuries has the Lord’s saying been verified: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well”:
For two thousand years this sentiment has lived and endured in the soul of the Church, impelling souls then and now to the heroic charity of monastic farmers, liberators of slaves, healers of the sick, and messengers of faith, civilization, and science to all generations and all peoples for the sake of creating the social conditions capable of offering to everyone possible a life worthy of man and of a Christian.
IN BRIEF
1943 Society ensures social justice by providing the conditions that allow associations and individuals to obtain their due.
1944 Respect for the human person considers the other “another self.” It presupposes respect for the fundamental rights that flow from the dignity intrinsic of the person.
1945 The equality of men concerns their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it.
1946 The differences among persons belong to God’s plan, who wills that we should need one another. These differences should encourage charity.
1947 The equal dignity of human persons requires the effort to reduce excessive social and economic inequalities. It gives urgency to the elimination of sinful inequalities.
1948 Solidarity is an eminently Christian virtue. It practices the sharing of spiritual goods even more than material ones.
March 8th, 2010 | 3:40 pm
I would be more impressed by “social justice” if anyone managed to explain to me how, exactly, it differs from plain old ordinary justice.
March 8th, 2010 | 3:47 pm
Is it possible? Could Beck really be this hateful? Or he is just “not-bright”?
March 8th, 2010 | 3:51 pm
This man is hateful. Those who listen to him will cause our chruch and this country great harm. His demented rants are laughed at by most countries who believe the average voting IQ is low indeed if we continue to give this man any credence at all. WWJD? Surely not listen to this man day after day.
March 8th, 2010 | 3:55 pm
Give me a break! Regardless of the noble origins of the term “social justice” the term has been abducted by liberals and non-Christian groups as far back as the “social gospel” message that started as early as the 20’s. Talk about not knowing history!
Secondly, can you think of one particular church group that 1) has priests, 2) teaches a “social justice” doctrine and 3) is not Roman Catholic? Let me give you a hint. They have lesbian, female bishops and their distinct purpose in championing this doctrine is to increase government intervention in all aspects of life (i.e. reduce individual freedom) increase abortion and promote gay marriage.
Stop being so sensitive and try doing something productive, like saving our country. May God help us!
March 8th, 2010 | 4:03 pm
Give me a break. Regardless of the noble origins of the term “social justice” the term has been abducted by liberals and non-Christian groups as far back as the “social gospel” message that started as early as the 20’s. Talk about not knowing history!
Secondly, can you think of one particular church group that 1) has priests, 2) teaches a “social justice” doctrine and 3) is not Roman Catholic? Let me give you a hint. They have lesbian, female bishops and their primary objective is to enable to the intrusive nature of government (we can trust government rather than God), increase access to abortion and promote homosexual marriage. Stop being so sensitive and try doing something productive, like saving our country. May God help us!
March 8th, 2010 | 4:16 pm
I like Glenn Beck most of the time. I seem to agree with him more than disagree.I also was raised Catholic with 12 years of Catholic education.I have not been to church in 20 years because of the “social justice” issues that were proclaimed from the pulpit on Sunday. I am a first generation American and my grandparents came here and waited in line to become citizens. They didn’t jump a fence and hide in a church with a priest shielding them. I am pro-life, not one of the many who are Catholic but seem to think they can choose to be pro-abortion. I hate that people are picking what they can believe in in the name of social justice. I will not go back to church until some of these bishops throw out the people who pick and choose their beliefs (Kennedy family and Pelosi and other democrat politicians)
March 8th, 2010 | 4:33 pm
Rich Ahlgrim wrote:
“Here is the trick, when that concern is mandated by someone else (IE the Government) then it is no longer a personal choice (God did grant us with free will) and thus not part of what God granted us.
Social Justice is a ‘key-word’ for socialism meaning that it is the job of the government to ensure equality of men from cradle to grave. It is not about uplifting individuals but suppressing the masses. WAKE UP! Stop drinking the cool aid.”
I believe the above statement is rediculous. If it is true, why do religious people vote for politicians who want to force people to be ‘pro-life’. If God grants us free will then is that not a pro-choice stance by default. It is, by your argument.
There is nothing wrong with voting for social justice issues (such as Social Security, unemployment insurance, food aid, education aid, worker’s rights, and on and on). There is nothing wrong with a government carrying out the will of the people should their votes pass into law.
Rick, under your scheme of things laws against murder would be wrong because “God grants free will” and by imposing ”social justice” the government is not allowing you the personal choice to go kill somenone.
I suspect what you really mean is that you don’t want to serve others with ‘social justice’ as long as you have yours.
God came to the earth as Jesus and His example is what we should all aspire to and yes, social justice was very much a part of His ministry. But don’t believe me, read it for yourself. It’s already highlighted for you in red letters.
March 8th, 2010 | 4:35 pm
As a pastor who preaches social justice, I received good and bad emails from several. So I posted a response on my blog: bit.ly/azclm1
March 8th, 2010 | 4:44 pm
I agree with Sifert and others than anyone truly familiar with Beck’s views realizes that he is talking about progressivism. Note how he emphasizes the word “progress” at the beginning of that audio clip. If Beck does have a problem with the Church, this is not evidence of it.
Beck speaks plainly like an average person, which means he often talks in generalities and is not afraid to make off-the-cuff remarks. He starts with a plan, but allows himself to follow tangents as they come to him.
I agree with Beck that terms like “social justice” and “solidarity”, though they potentially represent admirable values and actions (as codified in Church teaching), more often embody progressive appeals. To say any reference to “social justice” should be ignored is to throw the baby out with the bathwater and to hand progressives a victory in controlling speech. But there is cause to be wary of such references, even from priests and bishops.
Beck might indeed believe some language from Vatican II sprang from progressive philosophies and that the Church has been overtaken by these philosophies. Faithful Catholics, too, can find it difficult to distinguish between what was authored a generation or two ago and the misapplications which soon followed.
In the New Testament, Christ exemplifies love primarily via one-on-one relationships. Saints like Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II demonstrated how groups like the sick and the poor are to be treated one unique individual at a time. One cannot love a group as one can love an individual human being. One can see Christ’s gifts, but not His presence, in a group. Christians should be skeptical of any call to action which emphasizes consideration of groups to the exclusion of seeing individual souls.
March 8th, 2010 | 4:54 pm
Social justice is an aspect of the Catholic faith named by a Catholic. There are those who try to throw out everything except social justice, who confuse their politics with their religion. I’m not surprised there exists a pundit who wants to throw out social justice while keeping “the rest”, whatever “the rest” is. Catholicism is bigger than either school.
And as to being educated in Catholic schools, I doubt that a high school education, however seriously grounded in the Faith, provides more than a foundation for learning. I’m 60, a cradle Catholic, and continue to discover that the well is deeper than I ever imagined.
March 8th, 2010 | 5:02 pm
Which day is it Glenn? Last week you had “COME BACK HOME, CATHOLICS”. commericals. Typical Fox, typical Glenn. Spew one thing then run ads saying just the opposite.
March 8th, 2010 | 5:04 pm
Glenn “anti social justice” Beck today’s worst person in the wooooooorrrrrllllllllllldddddd
March 8th, 2010 | 5:15 pm
R Hampton – Look to sections of the Catechism which precede those relating to solidarity, particularly those relating to the principle of subsidiarity:
“1883. Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co- ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.”
and:
“1885 The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.”
As Geronimo Rumpelstiltskin aptly described above, the principle of subsidiarity is ignored by some who believe that Church social teaching justifies the state’s use of force to compel compliance with (or surrender to) activities purportedly established for “the common good” which some of us believe actually harm the common good while also victimizing individual human beings. At times, social justice programs squander surplus by conpletely divorcing its distribution from the wise judgment that helped produce it in the first place.
Certainly, the Church cannot justify taking from some who have surrendered themselves to wisdom only to enable continued dysfunction on the part of others who refuse to.
March 8th, 2010 | 5:23 pm
It is amazing how the world gets hold of a Catholic concept and within a couple of years, turns the concept on its head. The Church has been teaching concepts of social justice long before there was America. Just five years ago one did not very much hear of “social justice” in the secular culture; all of a sudden, it is co-opted by Evangelicals, the print and visual media, often without recognizing the origin of the concept and often without attaching the correct meaning to the concept. It is pathetic.
March 8th, 2010 | 5:29 pm
Glenn Beck is an entertainer, not a pundit; he merely *plays* being a pundit. But why anyone would listen seriously what that man says is beyond me.
March 8th, 2010 | 5:53 pm
Sounds like some typical Beck hyperbole. Though as a Catholic myself it usually sends up warnings when I see the term “Social Justice” since so often it is hijacked by groups who have a narrow vision of the Church’s teaching on Social Justice such as excluding being pro-life. To often the words Social Justice are used by groups that bear no distinction between any typical group of liberals and rarely is their idea of social justice really informed by the Gospels and by what the Church teaches.
As for Beck as an ex-Catholic I doubt he realizes the Church’s use of the term. Though being prejudiced I would say any ex-Catholic does not know what the Church really teaches.
March 8th, 2010 | 6:07 pm
I think Becky’s comments are rich, coming from a guy who wears magical underwear, and goes to a temple founded by a con-artist.
March 8th, 2010 | 6:24 pm
re: jh who thinks Beck is “not stupid, just ignorant”.
To my mind, he is both. It seems not a great leap to understand that when a man makes pronouncements on a subject of which he is obviously ignorant, he is being seriously stupid.
I am reminded of the saying we have all heard attributed variously to George Elliot, Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain but would seem to be rooted in the Bible, Proverbs 17:28. “Better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”
http://forum.quoteland.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=586192041&f=099191541&m=4711984673&r=9181964673#9181964673
March 8th, 2010 | 6:49 pm
re: Peggy Coffey “I hate that people are picking what they can believe in in the name of social justice. I will not go back to church until some of these bishops throw out the people who pick and choose their beliefs.”
I cannot surmise from your writing if you currently belong to any congregation or religious affiliation but you do imply you would return to church under certain conditions. My dear Ms Coffey. You left your church for a reason. By your own words, you would apparently return if that reason was altered to your liking. If that is not the very definition of “picking and choosing”, I can’t imagine what is!! Thus, if indeed the bishops would “throw out the people who pick and choose their beliefs”, I daresay you wouldn’t have a church to return to, for do we all not, bottom line, pick and choose our beliefs, even those beliefs we are TOLD to believe by religious leaders who, of course, have a handle on truth? Your initial decision to leave your church was itself an act of “picking and choosing”.
Perhaps you would do well to remove the beam from your own eye before criticizing the mote in another’s. Oh, and share my advise to Mr Beck to think about what he says before he says it.
March 8th, 2010 | 6:56 pm
Diane in WA,
The Catholic Church is fiercely opposed to Communism and any other economic/politicial system that does not protect individual autonomy. However the Church is supportive of social programs and social justice within ‘free’ states. Pope John Paul II gave a very thorough defense (and expansion) of this stance in marking the 100th Anniversary (1991) of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum. As such, it seems that Glenn Beck finds the Catholic Church to be on the wrong side of the fence.
…Rerum novarum is opposed to State control of the means of production, which would reduce every citizen to being a “cog” in the State machine. It is no less forceful in criticizing a concept of the State which completely excludes the economic sector from the State’s range of interest and action. There is certainly a legitimate sphere of autonomy in economic life which the State should not enter. The State, however, has the task of determining the juridical framework within which economic affairs are to be conducted, and thus of safeguarding the prerequisites of a free economy, which presumes a certain equality between the parties, such that one party would not be so powerful as practically to reduce the other to subservience.
…Pope Leo, however, acknowledged with sorrow that the ideologies of his time, especially Liberalism and Marxism, rejected such cooperation. Since then, many things have changed, especially in recent years. The world today is ever more aware that solving serious national and international problems is not just a matter of economic production or of juridical or social organization, but also calls for specific ethical and religious values, as well as changes of mentality, behaviour and structures. The Church feels a particular responsibility to offer this contribution and, as I have written in the Encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis, there is a reasonable hope that the many people who profess no religion will also contribute to providing the social question with the necessary ethical foundation
From the 1987 encyclical mentioned above:
…For as we know the tension between East and West is not in itself an opposition between two different levels of development but rather between two concepts of the development of individuals and peoples both concepts being imperfect and in need of radical correction. This opposition is transferred to the developing countries themselves, and thus helps to widen the gap already existing on the economic level between North and South and which results from the distance between the two worlds: the more developed one and the less developed one.
This is one of the reasons why the Church’s social doctrine adopts a critical attitude towards both liberal capitalism and Marxist collectivism. For from the point of view of development the question naturally arises: in what way and to what extent are these two systems capable of changes and updatings such as to favor or promote a true and integral development of individuals and peoples in modern society? In fact, these changes and updatings are urgent and essential for the cause of a development common to all.
…Rerum novarum is opposed to State control of the means of production, which would reduce every citizen to being a “cog” in the State machine. It is no less forceful in criticizing a concept of the State which completely excludes the economic sector from the State’s range of interest and action. There is certainly a legitimate sphere of autonomy in economic life which the State should not enter. The State, however, has the task of determining the juridical framework within which economic affairs are to be conducted, and thus of safeguarding the prerequisites of a free economy, which presumes a certain equality between the parties, such that one party would not be so powerful as practically to reduce the other to subservience.
…In particular, I wish this teaching to be made known and applied in the countries which, following the collapse of “Real Socialism”, are experiencing a serious lack of direction in the work of rebuilding. The Western countries, in turn, run the risk of seeing this collapse as a one-sided victory of their own economic system, and thereby failing to make necessary corrections in that system. Meanwhile, the countries of the Third World are experiencing more than ever the tragedy of underdevelopment, which is becoming more serious with each passing day.
…Love for others, and in the first place love for the poor, in whom the Church sees Christ himself, is made concrete in the promotion of justice. Justice will never be fully attained unless people see in the poor person, who is asking for help in order to survive, not an annoyance or a burden, but an opportunity for showing kindness and a chance for greater enrichment. Only such an awareness can give the courage needed to face the risk and the change involved in every authentic attempt to come to the aid of another.
It is not merely a matter of “giving from one’s surplus”, but of helping entire peoples which are presently excluded or marginalized to enter into the sphere of economic and human development. For this to happen, it is not enough to draw on the surplus goods which in fact our world abundantly produces; it requires above all a change of life-styles, of models of production and consumption, and of the established structures of power which today govern societies. Nor is it a matter of eliminating instruments of social organization which have proved useful, but rather of orienting them according to an adequate notion of the common good in relation to the whole human family.
March 8th, 2010 | 7:40 pm
Glen:
You’ll have to leave your own church now…even Mormons are “agitating” for social justice…yikes!!
http://www.gomakecontact.com/mesj/
March 8th, 2010 | 7:47 pm
Conservative Catholics (like me) don’t have to be concerned with blowhards like Beck, O’Reilly, Hannity and Limbaugh because we have the teaching office of the church to guide us. Nor do we have to be concerned with the “News for Adolescents” gang: Maddow, Stewart, Maher, etc. Besides the catechism, there are many fine books on Catholic social teaching. Just visit your local Catholic bookstore.
March 8th, 2010 | 7:48 pm
Glen Beck is a Mormon. One of the Apostles of the Mormon church, Bruce R Mc Conkie claimed the Catholic Church was the Church of the Devil. It was edited out in later editions after complaints by the Catholic Bishops in Salt Lake City.
“The Roman Catholic, Greek, and Protestant church, is the great corrupt, ecclesiastical power, represented by great Babylon….” (Orson Pratt, Orson Pratt, Writings of an Apostle, “Divine Authenticity,” no.6, p.84).
“Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the “whore of Babylon” whom the lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness.” (Pratt, The Seer, p.255)
So nothing near in this tirade by Beck
March 8th, 2010 | 7:58 pm
The excerpt up above conveniently leaves out the few sentences before where he is talking clearly about progressive, and then leaves out the part where he mentions churches like Jeremiah wright. But then it wouldn’t be as easy to paint Beck the way you want to.
March 8th, 2010 | 8:21 pm
i think what beck is saying is that if you see “social justice” preached in a vacuum…you should run. “social justice” in a Catholic sense can only properly be understood in the context of the dignity of man and Love of God. Social justice without the true nature of God and man is secular humanism.
btw when disagree with someone its best to challenge their ideas not their person. I think its reasonable to believe that beck is a person of goodwill seeking the good.
March 8th, 2010 | 8:22 pm
YES, GLEN BECK!!! YES!!
March 8th, 2010 | 9:29 pm
I would agree that anyone who has watched or listened to Beck for any amount of time knows that he is not hateful. He is talking about progressivism hijacking traditional terms and turning them on their heads.
As a devout Catholic, I have issues with the current political usage of “social justice.” Christ did not seek to set up one specific type of political system; His call for us to love our neighbors as ourselves was a personal call that we each need to answer individually, with our own hands, hearts and resources, in our own little corners of the world — imagine if we all truly got our hands dirty and answered that call! — not a command to give more money to a government to do it for us.
While I would not call myself a loyal defender of Beck, I do defend his continued questioning of issues, such as the socialist/communist views of many of the current administration’s picks.
And as for his mormonism, instead of spraying vitriol, I pray for him. After all, isn’t that what we Catholics do?
March 8th, 2010 | 9:34 pm
While he’s doing a good job of exaggerating what our reaction to the Church’s leadership should be, I think his comments are fairly accurate with regard to what some clergy seem to believe and ask us to believe.
How many times have I heard a bishop or priest say something that wasn’t wholly in line with the Church’s teachings? Dozens!
Sad to say, many have attempted to earn their name by gaining political recognition, not by prayer, fasting, and humble challenges to their flocks to live their faith more fully.
It’s entirely conceivable that our episcopate may lead us straight toward economic disaster in the name of “justice”. Some seem to think that’d be fine.
In the end, just remember: This too shall pass.
March 8th, 2010 | 9:46 pm
As a conservative Catholic who holds firmly to Catholic teachings, I am actually inclined to agree with Beck. Anyone who listens to his show on a regular basis knows that groups who place “social justice” first really are just code words for promoting class warfare, abortion, contraception, gay marriage, liberation theology and a whole other myriad of things antithetical to the Church. If you have been following the ongoing crisis at the USCCB you would know what he and I are talking about.
March 8th, 2010 | 9:58 pm
Hi,
Glen Beck didn’t read all the Catechism says. Social Justice in the liberal Catholic Church does man something different. I know that first hand. I did leave the “liberal” Catholic Church I attended for 45 years. I literally moved from California so that I could be around obedient Catholics. Most of the Catholic Church is Protestant, just like Glen Beck!
John
March 8th, 2010 | 10:01 pm
But I should also say that leaving the church is not the way to go. One should instead seek to bring that church back to a true focus on Christ and a True sense of Justice, based on Diving Law.
March 8th, 2010 | 10:34 pm
Ummm….Here’s the point. It’s no one else’s job to tell you what church to join or to leave. Beck is doing the very thing he claims to be against. Keep in mind also he is a Mormon, not a Protestant or Catholic so why would I want to take his criticism of my religion????
March 8th, 2010 | 10:35 pm
As a practicing Catholic, I consider “social justice” a political term and not a teaching of Christ. Social justice has more to do with feminist issues, gay rights issues, capital punishment, legislation and the like and less to do with actually going out and feeding the hungry face-to-face, volunteering at food banks, visiting the incarcerated, providing shelter for the homeless and clothing for the naked as declared in Matthew 25:34-46.
March 8th, 2010 | 10:36 pm
As Caithness and Angus said of Macbeth, Beck is but a dwarfish thief in a giant’s robe. This poor player will strut and fret for his metaphorical hour and then disappear, joining Joe Pyne and Fr. Coughlin as embarrassing memories.
March 8th, 2010 | 11:25 pm
Who has time to watch Glen Beck?
March 9th, 2010 | 12:03 am
As a Christian, I weep for Rich Ahlgrim.
March 9th, 2010 | 12:20 am
I believe I’m called to be a nun, so I’ve been reading the web pages of various religious orders. The congregations that mention “social justice” prominently on their front page are usually dreadful, by which I mean that they seem to hate the Catholic Church and they embrace a mixture of feminism, environmentalism, and secular humanism as their de facto religion.
Now, I’ve also seen “social justice” used in good ways, as in the Catechism. But it’s true that many people do use it as a kind of code for something far from benign.
I don’t defend everything Glen Beck said, but he was on to something.
March 9th, 2010 | 12:31 am
If by “social justice” Beck means “an equalizing welfare state”, then it is ironic indeed since in its earlier incarnation (no pun intended) the COJCOLDS itself was highly “socialistic”. During the Great Depression, thousands of starving “Okies” and others from the Dust Bowl flocked to Utah because strictly-enforced tithing meant the Mormon bishops’ warehouses had a surplus of food. And if you had to convert to Mormonism to qualify… well, for many, Paris was worth a Mass, so to speak.
March 9th, 2010 | 12:43 am
Glen Beck is essentially right here. And Catholics would do well not to leave their Church but at least stop giving it money. Social Justice is a code phrase for supporting many Bad Things: as a former Methodist now Catholic, I know that first hand from decades of experience. So does anyone else in those churches paying attention.
March 9th, 2010 | 12:49 am
The ignorance on display by Beck and his listeners is simply astounding. Look at the life of Jesus. Look at it closely. How, in ANY way does it resemble the way today’s “conservatives” act?
“And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Mt. 19:24)
Good luck with all of that, Glenn.
March 9th, 2010 | 1:50 am
The concept of Social Justice has been hi-jacked out of reasonable perspective. It is about helping other human beings retain dignity in their life. Not as an entitlement which encourages sloughfulness, but as an opportunity to show love of neighbor through generosity. This nation is the most generous in the world. We give from our abundance.
Social justice as practiced by the misguided is demeaning to dignity. The big give away. The social justice as advocated by radicals destroys dignity and denies the industriousness needed to generate that abundance.
The role of the Catholic Church in social justice is responding to the corporal works of mercy. More important it responds to the Spiritual works of mercy which help guide that generosity with a purpose for our existance. We do not desert the Church for its’ moderation. Where else can anyone go to find truth?
March 9th, 2010 | 5:22 am
Beck is referring to the U.S.C.C.B. supporting and funding so called “social justice organizations, to numerous to mention, whose ideology is pro abortion, homosexuality, and democrat. Our sisters, for the most part left the true teaching of the Holy Catholic church, especially, woman in the priesthood, and all in the name of “social justice”. Our Bishops are behind the scenes promoting the health care bill by funding many, many organizations that are in there fighting for its passage, to provide so called “social justice” to the poor and ILLEGAL immigrants, and of course national health will mean a big pay day for catholic health institutions. Beck is always right on the money, and so is the U.S.C.C.B. “right on the money” that is.
March 9th, 2010 | 6:11 am
George
“Many Catholics understand that the term social justice is not political but is a response to the call of Christ to feed the hungry, care for the sick and visit prisoners and so forth. It is not ‘code’ for anything other than responding to Christ’s call to love your neighbor as yourself. Unfortunately people on all sides of the political spectrum have hijacked the term.”
George hit it spot on…this is what “social justice” means to the Catholic church. I love the way people have made comments on this subject, and have no clue what their talking about. There are a few Glen Becks on here. God love you all.
March 9th, 2010 | 6:52 am
[...] have certainly riled the Catholics, here and here. Come to think of it, as a hard-shell Protestant, I believe that picking on Glenn Beck is [...]
March 9th, 2010 | 7:08 am
Looks like an awful lot of Catholics here have bought into the Protestant notion of a “personal relationship” with Jesus, as if that were the one and only thing that matters. Whatever happened to corporate responsibility? I don’t mean sins by corporations, I mean the idea that people in community with each other are inextricably connected. When one person sins, it affects the community. When one person does good works, that affects the community, too. No man is an island.
March 9th, 2010 | 7:52 am
I am beginning to think that Beck is just another “shock jock” and will say and do anything to get attention from the public.
I sure skip over any program that showcases him and his ridiculous ideas.
“Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear or a fool from any direction.” Good advice and applies to Beck.
March 9th, 2010 | 8:22 am
[...] categories can be found in many different kinds of people claiming to be Christians, but Glen Beck recently put his on display for all to see: I’m begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read [...]
March 9th, 2010 | 9:33 am
This reminds me of when Brit Hume encouraged Tiger Woods to convert to Christianity because Buddhism did not offer forgiveness. However, I Tiger was a devout Buddhist (I don’t believe he is), his self examination might have prevented him from seeking multiple mistresses.
As soon as someone speaks negatively of someone else’s religion, the speaker should be considered suspect. Especially when that speaker is heavily engaged in politics.
March 9th, 2010 | 10:29 am
Kremfresch, the word “camel” is the same in Hebrew as “cable”, so it could be cable or camel passing through the needle’s eye.
I watch Beck on & off, and I find many of his points make a great deal of sense, once you get past some of the theatrics. One of the reasons for his high ratings, as that he like Palin, seem to strike a deep resonance chord in people. One can’t always put a finger on it, but it’s there.
To often terms like “social justice” and “common good” start off nice, and have high ideals, but later they are catch phrases to exploit. Witness the “common good” statement by the bishops, and how it has been used to justify supporting abortion. In fact, the term now leaves me with a negative effect, especially when I see politicians who openly support abortion march up the asile, and receive Holy Communion. Or worse, prominent “Catholic” universities honor abortion proponents, infanticide supporters, and are will to cover up the symbols of their faith. And how many of the U.S. bishops publicly condemned this? Not the majority.
March 9th, 2010 | 10:41 am
Everyone read mr.geronimo rumplestilskin’s comments (GR). He said it best and if so,
Beck is guilty of his usual showmanship, but
onto something (late in the game) of all the
nutcase moves to the left in our church. He will never be as extreme right as the “esteemed Catholic Author” Garry Wills is to the left.
My deceased father in law (an extreme anti-Catholic until I came along…how most views
are really changed…by some ONE you know and DO with) always said the priests and bishops can’t know much about business and married life because they never “done any of it”. Some truth that experience should dictate our views,not idealism. I would include career government and academics.
Our Company founder was even more simple.
Winners win and losers lose. Doers do and talkers talk. We need more doers and less talkers, especially in the “social justice” part of
the Catholic Church.
March 9th, 2010 | 10:46 am
As a devout Catholic, I AGREE with Beck. Read Malachi Martin’s book Windswept House and you will know exactly what he’s referring to. It will scare the heck out of you. Beck has GUTS to say what he did. Most christians nowadays are asleep as to what’s going on.
March 9th, 2010 | 10:54 am
I knew Beck would have his Catholic defenders (though I’m surprised that so many people put politics ahead of their Church) but I’m not sure they really understand what he is saying.
If we take Beck’s words seriously then he is saying that Catholics should not only leave their local parish but leave the Catholic Church. Are they really willing to do that?
March 9th, 2010 | 10:57 am
[...] “social justice” is a secret code word for Communofascism. First Thoughts writes that this can be understood as specifically anti-Catholic, but it seems to me it actually cuts against nearly every strain of Christianity (and essentially [...]
March 9th, 2010 | 11:26 am
You can call Beck nuts but we need to listen and discern what he said before sentencing him to moron prison. Christ formed the Church to bring about Spiritual change not economic and health care change. If we change spiritually, we will effect change in these other areas in a moral, ethical, and Christian way. The healthcare “reform” issue, which I believe was part of what he was referring to, is not reform at all, far from it and it’s not a one issue problem. Abortion funding is the main road block for most of us, but the issue of subsidiarity is the secondary reason to oppose the bill. Real reform to lower costs can be had without 2,400+ pages of government takeover. If your church is pushing government run healthcare as a “social justice” issue, then you need to look real hard at who is pushing this point of view. The Church is clear on social justice and we need to step up and ensure that the poor are taken care of, rather than letting the government take over our obligations.
March 9th, 2010 | 11:34 am
My, my what hatred has been spewed out in these postings. You call yourselves christians. For shame.
March 9th, 2010 | 12:23 pm
>>he is saying that Catholics should not only leave their local parish but leave the Catholic Church.>>
The church has changed much since I was young. I find that my local parish preaches a number of things I don’t support as I was taught differently about them.
The problem is…what to do about it? This _is_ the Catholic Church, after all. One doesn’t demonstrate against the local pastor, or the bishop, or especially – the national council of bishops. The Church is not and never was a democratic organization. But…the command is to keep holy the Sabbath. That hasn’t changed. Can one be a practicing Catholic, believe in the doctrine of the Church, and still not agree with the teachings of the American Bishops’ council? That’s the problem. You can be a non-participant in the local parish but still attend Mass…but to be honest, I find it problematical.
As for Beck…although his theatrics are a bit much, I think the man is the voice of one crying in the wilderness when it comes to American politics. We are faced with those Progressive who are undermining our nation in order to turn it into a Socialist country. Most of his shows are less bombast than education about things which as citizens we _should_ know, but haven’t been taught because the Progressives have been in charge of education for the last 50 years. Even my Mother railed against Dewey…and my Mother taught in the ’30s! She saw it even then!
March 9th, 2010 | 12:55 pm
It does not matter what “social justice” or “economic justice” means to Beck or in secular politics. The Catholic Church’s teachings on social justice and economic justice are an integral part of the whole of the Catholic faith. To say that you should run from the church if those words are used is no different than saying that you should run if the priest talks about infant baptism or confession. So, yes, what Beck says at least borders on anti-Catholicism.
March 9th, 2010 | 1:22 pm
Joe,
So, a Catholic defender of Glenn Beck is putting politics ahead of his/her Church? Perhaps that person merely recognizes that religious teachings are sometimes taken into the public square and co-opted by those who would distort those teachings to support their own intentions which actually violate the dignity of individual human beings and corrupt the larger community of human beings – including many of those in the pews. I think that is what Glenn Beck was talking about.
Our welfare state currently rewards some of its beneficiaries for dysfunction without any call to become functional – I know this intimately as some members of my own family have been so corrupted; they have been convinced by some of these “social justice” practitioners that they are entitled to free food, shelter, medicine, education (and drugs that many of us would consider illicit) while doing nothing to work for them and without gratitude to God or to those whose lifeblood is spent working to provide these things. For them, it is as though these things grow on trees and are merely ripe for the picking – just as the “social justice” practitioners have taught them. Of course, these family members are not interested in the rest of the Church’s social teaching (about responsibility to others and participation in human community); they prefer the company of the “social justice” practitioners over their own family who ask them to consider the impact on others. “Yes” is so much more appealing than “no” when protected from any natural limits and “Hey, if I work, I’ll lose my benefits.”
Where is the “social justice” in this situation? I know of one couple who had a severely disabled baby. They knew this would happen prior to the pregnancy because the mother suffers from a severe genetic condition which worsens with each generation. No matter. After suffering several miscarriages, the mother managed to carry a baby to term.
Given the mother’s physical and mental limitations, only the husband works, only sporadically and without obtaining medical insurance. The hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs to treat the baby so that it would survive beyond birth were covered by the state. Future costs will be high, as there will be many special needs. Welfare and Medicaid continue to provide for this family’s basic needs, but they want more, so they consider their opportunities for greater resources and what do they come up with? Well, the first disabled baby provides around $600 a month in disability income, so if they have another disabled baby, they figure they can double their income. They do not consider the impact to society, the impact to family members who very often take up the slack for them when they need a break, or the impact on the first disabled child. Another child is another source of income and that income will buy the latest gimmicky cellphone, video game or camping trip (alone, with the kids pawned off on whoever will take them).
By rewarding dysfunction without at the same time teaching responsibility, the state (and the social justice practitioners who work for them) has built a little bubble of unreality in this family that will collapse if the state ever reduces its contribution. Where will those social justice practitioners be then? Will THEY bear responsibility for what they have built? And, what do they have to say to these children, whose worth is too much measured in terms of mere utililty by their own parents? They are squandering the gift of life.
The state has built an entire industry of these “social justice” practitioners who sell entitlement to provide themselves incomes while they tell themselves and others they are doing something good. They are destroying families and building dependency instead.
Charity must be accompanied by the truth and the state sells the notion that you can have one without the other. To the extent the Church does not speak out about this (not just the Pope, but the Bishops and the people in the pews too… and with clarity), it is supporting it. It is not enough to just teach the functional to share their wealth; they must be allowed the opportunity to share their wisdom and the dysfunctional must be called to responsibility as well. Otherwise, the portion which would reasonably and lovingly be provided the truly poor and widowed are taken by those who are masquerading as poor while merely indulging their weaknesses with the sanction of the “social-justice” practitioners. In the end, that builds resentment and inability to distinguish the truly unfortunate poor from the indulgently needy.
Poor should not be a chosen occupation, but too often that is what the concept of “social justice’ as it is widely understood has created.
March 9th, 2010 | 1:41 pm
[...] overheated rhetoric has already drawn fire from Catholics and Protestants. But it’s not just Protestants and Catholics who are in trouble. In fact, if [...]
March 9th, 2010 | 2:10 pm
I think very possibly Glenn Beck may be the Anti-Christ!
March 9th, 2010 | 2:15 pm
And Jesus wept. I think he would weep if he saw and heard what was said in his name. It is so very very hard to read what even Catholics are saying about Social Justice which is after all a corner stone of our beliefs. But it is twisted and turned into a political statement by someone who has made a career of hate. So I weep for our church our country and for those taken in by a side show carnival act.
March 9th, 2010 | 3:20 pm
Geez, and to think that all of these years I’ve been wasting my time volunteering in my Parish soup kitchen and Diocesan organizations for the homeless rather than listening to Glenn Beck and his conspiracy theories….
March 9th, 2010 | 3:34 pm
I think that Glenn Beck’s proclamation is actually indicative of a larger movement within American Christianity. Free-Market conservatism has always been held in check and balanced by Christianity in our country. Now, conservatives are beginning to resent the restraints. The online Conservative Bible Project is another example of how conservative ideologues are frustrated by the Biblical and ecclesiological concerns for social justice. They want Christianity to withdraw from the social sphere into a realm of private piety.
March 9th, 2010 | 3:47 pm
“I knew Beck would have his Catholic defenders (though I’m surprised that so many people put politics ahead of their Church) but I’m not sure they really understand what he is saying.”
Look, Mr. Carter, disagreeing with your take on Beck’s comments on a particular term (that they are outrageous and, save Beck’s ignorance, anti-Catholic) does not require putting politics before faith. It simply requires recognizing that the popular meaning of “social justice” is not necessarily the same thing as the “social justice” mentioned in official Church documents (whether Beck is making that distinction or not). You (and Mark Shea and Dreher) have not addressed that difference, which is the source of most “defenses” of Beck in this comments section, and which is the only discussion worth having regarding Beck’s comments (e.g. what does it mean to give someone their due? who is responsible for such giving? how is such giving accomplished?). It is understandable, however, because I doubt you attended a Jesuit high school and, under the banner of “social justice,” watched Michael Moore films in “Gospel Action” class and heard teachers tell you that Jesus would have been a Communist. That experience should be the extent of Beck’s persuasiveness for conservative Catholics in this discussion.
“If we take Beck’s words seriously then he is saying that Catholics should not only leave their local parish but leave the Catholic Church. Are they really willing to do that?”
In short, no. I don’t know why you want these comments to be more important than they are. If anyone actually leaves the Catholic Church over those comments, they have other problems. His comments will only affect people who are actually looking through Church websites in order to decide their creed.
March 9th, 2010 | 3:48 pm
Glenn Beck is a Mormon. He is not a believer in Christ the same as the people of Christian and Catholics religions. He is putting forth his agenda, but I think a lot of people forget he is a Mormon.
March 9th, 2010 | 3:53 pm
Yo, got yer social justice right here.
Matt 12: The Lord thy God is one God. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment.
And the second is like to it: THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. There is no other commandment greater than these.
March 9th, 2010 | 4:12 pm
[...] but a footnote hints at the “pain” the phrase causes in some of the reports drafters. Glen Beck encouraged listeners to leave their church at the first mention of “social justice.” The United Methodist [...]
March 9th, 2010 | 4:23 pm
Just as Easter has been overtaken by the easter bunny and Christmas has been overtaken by naked consumerism so has the term “social justice” been appropriated by secular society to mean progressive/leftist/statist programs to “help” the poor. Many well intentioned Christians confuse Christ’s command to care for our brothers with supporting large Government programs.
March 9th, 2010 | 5:33 pm
There is a conflict between unbridled capitalism and the Catholic Church’s social teaching. This is why Beck opposes the Church’s insistence on social justice. I think this is also why no one in this forum has squarely responded to R Hampton’s extended quotations above from the encyclicals. To reiterate: “The State, however, has the task of determining the juridical framework within which economic affairs are to be conducted, and thus of safeguarding the prerequisites of a free economy, which presumes a certain equality between the parties, such that one party would not be so powerful as practically to reduce the other to subservience.” Private charity notwithstanding, measured economic regulation is a legitimate state activity in protecting the dignity of human beings. I think we can honestly say that Beck, and some commentators here, are at odds with the Catholic Church on this question.
March 9th, 2010 | 7:42 pm
Let’s not forget that in 1848 (it was actually written earlier) Blessed Antonio Rosmini-Serbati published a book with the title “The Constitution Based on Social Justice.”
How many Catholics even know of Rosmini, not to mention that he was recognized by Pope John Paul II in the encyclical Fides et Ratio, as one of 5 philosophers in the western philosophical tradition whose work in reconciling faith and reason are noteworthy and worthy of further study? The others are Gilson, Maritain, Newman (to be beatified later this year) and Edith Stein (already a saint). All to some extent are building on the Thomist foundation.
Some of Rosmini’s works can be obtained online here (his collected works would fill almost 100 volumes!!).
http://rosmini-in-english.org/
Rosmini’s first major work establishing him as a major philosopher is the “New Essay” (under philosophical works at the site above). Be forwarned, its long and complex, as it’s basically a “do-over” of all major themes advanced in philosophy up to Rosmini’s time.
Other of his works (and those about Rosmini) can be downloaded from the Internet Archive.
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=rosmini
This article argues why Bl. Rosmini is mentioned in Fides et Ratio.
http://rosmini-in-english.org/Studies/LifeRosminiPDF/ReasonAndFaith.pdf
The book I mentioned can be ordered through the Acton Institute.
Beck styles himself as a Hayekian type. If he were he would be content with just using the term collectivism and not get into the various stripes of collectivist schemes (he likes using socialism alot) that have popped up since the mid-19th century. “Social Justice” was hijacked by Marx and now has a negative connotation, but the concept dates back to Aristotle (his Ethics and Politics).
Rosmini also wrote against socialism and communism (as did Pius IX) , as well as promoting the concept of “social justice” (as did Pope Leo XIII who wrote on both topics).
Beck is just flat uneducated concerning these facts. If he were more knowledgable about them, the intellectually honest response would be to come back home to the Catholic Church and Faith.
March 10th, 2010 | 6:20 am
Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. Our Caesar is the people. We live by majority rule–government of the people, by the people, and for the people. If the people decide to socialize healthcare, then they should rule, and not let insurance companies rule. It has nothing to do with religion. Christianity has to do with spiritual health and healing. Physical health and healing is up to the people. There’s nothing wrong with the people’s government deciding that large private companies should not profit from human physical suffering.
March 10th, 2010 | 11:46 am
Glenn Beck is always talking about “educating himself” and being “shocked at what he’s found.” The truth is, he talks about socialism, public policy, and religion the way that some high school kids do: he knee jerkingly reacts to everything as caricature, thinks he’s found out something new, and imagines he is offering some profound insight that has escaped adults. He doesn’t seem to know that most serious adults already ARE aware of these issues he’s “discovering” and its not that we don’t understand them, its that critical thinking brings us to to see things like nuance, paradox, or complexity (which elude Mr. Beck.)
Glenn Beck’s religious views are pretty typical of his handling of most things. When you really analyze what he is presenting you find nothing of value or depth. To say “social justice” is simply code for socialism is frankly stupid. To say it should be no concern for Christians, or is anti-Christian, is frankly ignorant.
March 10th, 2010 | 12:15 pm
“There’s nothing wrong with the people’s government deciding that large private companies should not profit from human physical suffering.”
There WILL BE when the government bureaucrats tell you or someone you love that (s)he is too old or unproductive for the latest cancer treatment, that vial of insulin, the twice weekly dialysis, that hip surgery, etc. Their is nothing “just” about giving a federal bureaucracy CONTROL over CARE. There will lots of control and very little care. It seems to me that my fellow ItalianAmerican Catholic, Mother Cabrini, did more for true social justice by raising the funds privately and building hospitals, schools and orphanages, than all the blowhards at the USCCB have done since their inception.
March 10th, 2010 | 12:59 pm
I have worked at the grass roots and systemic levels of advocating and providing for social justice in a number of forms from government support to community action and programs, often within progressive Catholic organizations. I am very familiar with the applications as well as the theory and rhetoric of this often massive scam in much of Western society. The progressive Catholics with whom I worked, including many religious, were living scandals of heterodoxy, apostasy and syncretism under the cover of the Church itself. They were contemptuous of the Pope, the Magisterium, and traditions of the Church. They continue to populate many parishes as both pastors and female religious assistants. They have intimidated a number of our prelates into silence for fear of the larger ostracism that would come from our hostile mainstream media.
Unlike some of our bloggers (Dreher, Shea, et al) I have put in three decades in the trenches of social justice–from homelessness to child care, and from hands-on social work to top organizational administration.
I am no great fan of Glenn Beck whose annoying presentations and pervasive hysteria sabotage some of the good that he tries to do. But he is also a creature what the late Neil Postman would term, “amusing ourselves to death.” Not unlike so much that fills the brain damaging format of television. Not unlike most of our Sunday homilies.
March 10th, 2010 | 5:36 pm
I think that “social justice” is a great part of being a Catholic. Sure, it does hold people in the Church who might otherwise be inclined to leave it, but I don’t know that it is such a bad thing. The more people that turn to the Church the better.
There was a time in my life when I had a hard time believing in a lot of things, but I never stopped believing that it was good to feed someone or help them get back on their feet. Doing work, even when I didn’t believe in the Church the way that I do now was an important part of experiencing the Body of Christ.
And though I am solidly in line with the Church today… I still am most inspired when I see the Church address the fundamental injustices of our day. And I don’t care if I break bread with apostates, priests, saints or sinners, true things are true things…. and true things are good things. And they will always lead us closer to the Christ.
March 11th, 2010 | 12:44 am
This is supposed to be a Christian community, it sounds pretty vile, if you ask me. Yes, Mr. Beck is a Morman, SO. Mr. Carter is Evangelical, SO, does that make a difference? I am a Roman Catholic, SO, which Beck was also before falling away. Yes, fallen away Catholics do have a tendency to be anti-catholic for a while and some come back after fining the Truth. He may not have been taught properly, by his parents, teachers, priests, bishops, etc and there are tons of former Catholics like that our there. Give him time, if he is truly searching for the Truth, he will come back in, if it is GODS will not yours.
Now let’s get down to brass tax about “Social Justice” in the words of the Church vs “social justice” in the words of a small group of radicals in the USCCB & else where, who support radical environmentalism (say the 40 days of green lent – to save the planet), radical abortion organizations, radical feminist who want to be woman priest, etc, etc, etc.
Check out the article at http://www.all.org/newsroom_judieblog.php?id=2903
Start looking into the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is doing. I think this is what Mr. Beck was talking about. There are a few Catholic organizations doing investigations into funding that is totally option of what the Catholic faith teaches. This is the stuff we as Catholics hate and we don’t want it in the country as well. We need to root all of it out.
Do some research on social justice, Soros funded organizations like the “Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good” and “The Center for Progressive Christianity”. You have Cardinal Roger Mahony and Fr. William Byron, S.J., who are both liberals.
If you don’t think that the times are changing because the meaning of words are changing, please check out the article from the Acton Institute (http://blog.acton.org/archives/15023-two-cheers-for-the-bishops-of-england-and-wales.html) about what the Bishops Conference of England and Wales just published. This document is called “Choosing the Common Good” which was published for the upcoming general elections in England. This document in stark difference compared to the document they published in 1996 called “The Common Good and Catholic Social Teaching” for the 1997 general elections.
This is all from some of the articles in the past couple months I have read. I will try to post more later, after I have gained more sources.
March 11th, 2010 | 8:52 am
[...] seems pretty simple to understand, but no one out there seems to grasp it. From First Things (a fantastic Catholic paper) comes the not-at-all sensationalist headline “Glenn Beck Thinks [...]
March 11th, 2010 | 10:56 am
Although Mr Beck seems to hold the term “social justice” in no high regard, his own church embraces the concept warmly.
In their religion, however, they use terms like “Fast Offerings”, “Bishop’s Storehouse”, and “The United Order.” But the concept is the same – ensuring that all among them are cared for, those who have giving so that those who have not go not without their needs.
But it’s all irrelevant. He wants attention, his church wants more followers, and even his wanton and broadcast ignorance helps feed both those bottomless maws.
March 11th, 2010 | 11:20 am
Wow. The most-commented-upon post on First Thoughts in at least the last couple of years is not in response to a post about:
* universe/life/human origins, followed by subsequent debate between proponents of evolution by natural selection, ID, Biblical Creationism, and all points in between
* any latest document from Evangelicals and Catholics Together, with Catholic and Protestant commenters comparing and contrasting their views
* any bioethics issue, over which even the most careful-thinking people can disagree
* a weighing of the moral good – or lack thereof – of Obamacare as a whole or of the various aspects of it
…but in response to something said by Glenn freaking Beck, a media figure that not a single sane person would take marching orders from on matters concerning the theological soundness of their chosen church.
To my current list of elements sure to attract a large blog response:
“Sarah Palin”
“Obama”
“abortion”
“sex scandal”
“Notre Dame”
I suppose I can add “Glenn Beck”.
March 11th, 2010 | 11:29 am
There are so many reasons why I left the Catholic church and social justice is not one of them.
March 11th, 2010 | 11:30 am
It’s a bummer that Catholics are so quick to judge other Catholics through the stupid lens of contemporary American politics. I don’t give a flip if a Catholic is a “conservative” or a “liberal,” provided they put love of God first and love of neighbor second. (Of course, there is such a thing as theological “liberalism,” which is quite different, and a different topic altogether).
In my book, if you care enough to consider yourself a Catholic and receive the sacraments on a regular basis, you are Catholic enough for me. Now, you might stand to be educated on theological and doctrinal issues (In fact, we ALL could do with an education, from the most ignorant fool all the way up to the Pope, have to be open to the Truth, wherever it may be found)…. but I have a hard time listening to lay people decide which religious orders and bishops aren’t Catholic enough because they don’t conform to the political soup of the day.
In my mind, anyone who puts their conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican, national, or really any ethnic identity above the Creed that unites us needs to ask themselves what they really and truly believe in.
There is ONE faith, and we all must embrace it. And insofar as we let someone like Glenn Beck split us up based on our petty biases, we fail to be faithful.
March 11th, 2010 | 11:40 am
Sydney, wherever you are, seek the Truth to the best of your ability and using the best available resources.
The Church is an institution filled with people, and thus prone to the failings that we all share.
But if you seek the Truth earnestly, you are on the right path. I cannot comment on what you know or do not know, but as someone who has been at times an agnostic and an active seeker, I can say with certainty that the fundamental root of Catholicism is undeniable. God created us in love.
March 11th, 2010 | 1:48 pm
One of the trickiest things about discussing “social justice” today is its diverse meanings. Many in the progressive camp do equate social justice with economic leveling by the government. Many others, though, including both Catholics and Protestants, promote social justice as a broad-based approach to helping the poor. The most helpful site I’ve found in dealing with this issue is http://www.seeksocialjustice.com, which articulates proper roles for families, churches, businesses and government in meeting needs and pursuing a just society.
March 11th, 2010 | 3:47 pm
Beck says Christians should leave their social justice churches, so I say Christians should leave Glenn Beck. I don’t know if Beck is just strange, just trying to be controversial, or just trying to make money. But in any case, what he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and Christians should no longer watch his show. His show should now be in the same category as Howard Stern. Stern practices pornography and Beck denies the central teachings of Jesus and the Bible. So Christians should stop watching the Glenn Beck show and pray for him and Howard Stern.
Passing these thoughts along. All Christians should boycott this show and write to the Fox Network to post their thoughts and demand he cease and destist.
March 11th, 2010 | 5:52 pm
Its ironic that if Jesus was alive today he would be called a socialist. He told his followers that they should give away all of their possessions to the poor. If that isnt redistribution of wealth i don’t know what is. His followers lived in communes with shared property. “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44-45)
Its true that Jesus might have opposed state enforced redistribution of wealth. But many on the christian right who strongly oppose the enforced redistribution of wealth happily accept enforced taxes that fund wars and other policies they support, and accept tax breaks for religious institutions. Are they against enforced taxation in general or specifically the redistribution of wealth? I think its obvious
March 11th, 2010 | 7:28 pm
[...] includes the Roman Catholic Church. And more: Glenn Beck continued his attack on “social justice” today, arguing that it [...]
March 11th, 2010 | 7:51 pm
[...] Their Church” Filed Under: ? by stephenmcclenahan — Leave a comment March 11, 2010 Glenn Beck Thinks Catholics Should “Leave Their Church” Monday, March 8, 2010, 1:42 PM Joe [...]
March 11th, 2010 | 8:39 pm
[...] (a term, by the way, that was not coined by any Nazi or Communist or even a wide eyed Liberal, but by Jesuit priest over 160 years ago) are quite familiar to. But I do not know how familiar they are to Protestants or Evangelical [...]
March 11th, 2010 | 10:05 pm
Has anyone considered the grain of truth in Beck’s words? Hold his warning up against this essay by Michael Novak, and tell me that Beck doesn’t have a point:
http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/01/defining-social-justice-29
March 12th, 2010 | 10:15 am
[...] an editor at the liberal Jesuit magazine America, to Joe Carter, at the conservative magazine First Things, took Mr. Beck’s decree as possibly an attack on Catholic teaching, and definitely an affront to [...]
March 12th, 2010 | 10:32 am
Matthew 25:34
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
March 12th, 2010 | 11:25 am
Communist:
http://www.svspress.com/product_info.php?products_id=4154&osCsid=t0j0tss20mlccctbau4pmnhjv0
March 12th, 2010 | 11:46 am
[...] this matter, I am calling out Glenn Beck. He has no idea what he is talking about in the area of “social justice.” Don’t [...]
March 12th, 2010 | 1:20 pm
[...] Powered by Max Banner Ads On his radio show recently, Glenn Beck controversially warned his audience to leave churches that care about social justice: I beg you, look for the words [...]
March 12th, 2010 | 2:12 pm
Can’t you guy’s just go directly to the source of the contravesy and ask for clarification or at least get transcripts.
Let’s talk content and the actual subject and not degrade or discredit people just because others are doing it.
Why do we have to go to thehitjob or thinkprogress to get extra commentary? Here is Donohues release:
http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1793
The video link above is from media matters were more opinion comes from.
Here is a link from the Catholic Catechism.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a7.htm
2442 It is n
ot the role of the Pastors of the Church to intervene directly in the political structuring and organization of social life. This task is part of the vocation of the lay faithful, acting on their own initiative with their fellow citizens. Social action can assume various concrete forms. It should always have the common good in view and be in conformity with the message of the Gospel and the teaching of the Church. It is the role of the laity “to animate temporal realities with Christian commitment, by which they show that they are witnesses and agents of peace and justice.”231
I like the Michael Novak Column above.
Avery Cardinal Dulles talked about Religious Freedom, a needed read at this time in history.
http://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/08/003-religious-freedom-innovation-and-development-41
Here is a document from Homiletic & Pastoral Review, July 2002.
http://www.catholicculture.org/search/searchResults.cfm?querynum=1&searchid=594606&showCount=10&CFID=31172266&CFTOKEN=59348669
I am going to determine where my money goes and for what I believe in. If my priest and /or parish priest dictates that we need to contribute to a specific organization or group in the church or government, I WILL willing leave that parish and go to another one. If that one preaches the same thing, I will move on to another one. Not all Roman Catholic parishes, priests, bishops, cardinals, believe in Social Justice as defined by Fr. Coughlin. In fact, my priest and the parishes in my area all did not take up the collection for the CCHD, directed by the diocese and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). So is my parish and the parishes around me anti-poor or anti-Social Justice? I don’t think so!
I personally contribute to organizations where I now 90% – 100% of all the money goes to the people who need the help. I don’t want to give it to a organization who has a ton of overhead.
I work hard for the money I have and I NEED it to go as far as I can to survive myself. I am the one who chooses where my money goes. If I don’t like the places where my church sends it, I will give it to the places I think it is better.
March 12th, 2010 | 2:37 pm
In the Catechism link in the original article take you to Paragraph’s 1928 – 1942 in which it has the actual words of “social justice”.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a3.htm
Has anyone read the actual paragraph’s.
1948 Solidarity is an eminently Christian virtue. It practices the sharing of spiritual goods even more than material ones.
March 12th, 2010 | 2:45 pm
Here is the correct link to the Homiletic & Pastoral Review, July 2002 article by Stephanie Block (Parish Social Justice).
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=4543&repos=1&subrepos=0&searchid=594606
Also read this article by Ms. Block (Catholics and Socialism) http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8551
March 12th, 2010 | 3:58 pm
“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.”
-Proverbs 21:13
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
-Proverbs 31:8-9
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
-Matthew 6:24
“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.”
-Deuteronomy 15:11
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.”
-Hebrews 13:5
“Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’”
-Matthew 19:21
“He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.”
-Proverbs 28:27
“People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
-1 Timothy 6:9-10
March 12th, 2010 | 4:43 pm
[...] an editor at the liberal Jesuit magazine America, to Joe Carter, at the conservative magazine First Things, took Mr. Beck’s decree as possibly an attack on Catholic teaching, and definitely an affront to [...]
March 12th, 2010 | 4:50 pm
[...] [...]
March 12th, 2010 | 5:06 pm
Unfortunately for you who refer to yourselves as Christians, Glenn Beck is correct on all counts. Social Justice is Socialism. Socialism is Communism, and you have all fallen into the trap. Christians can be charitable without engaging in a socialistic government. Christians are giving and nurturing because we try to emulate Jesus Christ. However, when a government, or a church for that matter forces one to be charitable, that’s socialism. I challenge you all to throw off the yoke of governmental control you are under. You see, your church has been given a tax exempt status by the government, throw that away, and see how many true Christians there are among your congregations when they find out that their tithes are nolong tax deductable. Will they leave your church, or will they stay and tithe anyway? Socialism has been a way of life for organized religions for many many years. I know, I was born and raised Catholic, I have since attended Evangelical Free, and Baptist churches. Bottom line, if you tithe because it’s tax deductable, you are in bondage to the government. Jesus freed me from bondage, I give freely, when I am forced to give, I submit to bondage once again. I will pray that you at least try to see how far down the socialist road you have gone. Jesus was not a socialist, but if you think Glenn Beck is so wrong, then I’m afraid you have been indoctrinated. Pray for forgiveness, and turn back to Christ. God Bless You All
March 12th, 2010 | 6:11 pm
Has anyone actually heard the radio clip (link above)? In defense of Glenn Beck’s running off at the mouth, he DID NOT suggest Catholics leave The Church. He DID suggest that if a “priest” is pushing social justice then leave that particular PARISH. If “your church’s website has social justice stuff on it” then find another church, i.e., parish.
I wholeheartedly agree. My family did just that. I have traumatic memories from St. C___ parish in Portland OR.
Now, if we can only convince Beck to leave The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints!
March 12th, 2010 | 6:16 pm
Jesus was not concerned with the material (social and economic issues). Jesus was here to prepare the faithful for the life that is coming after this earth. He was SPIRITUAL!!! Beck is right. Some preachers and churches have jumped the rails, and have changed the purpose of Jesus’ coming to earth as a Man.
There is NO SUCH THING AS A RIGHT in all actuality. ALL THINGS ARE A PRIVILEGES!!. This FACT has been hijacked by the left and liberals to encompass ideas that were never meant to be. But then, what else is new. The Dems keep makking new laws and trying to change the Constitution. No wonder things are falling apart. Man and the Church has lost it’s way. It will continue to devolve until people realize what they have done. God sees and knows everything. Either change, or suffer the consequences in the hereafter.
March 12th, 2010 | 6:33 pm
If the Devil told you the real meaning of social justice is oppression, would you believe him?
There was a snake up in the tree, telling lies to keep us from good. Sounds like there’s one up in the air now.
March 12th, 2010 | 7:35 pm
This appears to be another example of liberal
“selective” outrage. I heard the entire broadcast segment, not just the little snipet played here for the grounds of this boycott.
Glen defined “social justice” as the belief that you need to take from one group of people and give to another who are deemed less fortunate.
Liberals refer to this frequently as the “redistribution of wealth.” As usual, another conservative taken out of context. This playbook is so predictable and old. People, please research and study for yourself, instead of taking the word of those who have an agenda.
March 12th, 2010 | 7:39 pm
Social justice is a biblical concept. It is not limited to the actions of the State, since the Church is called to act justly as the Body of Christ in the world, and to perform both spiritual and corporal acts of mercy, such as providing education and health care to the poor, as Jesus Himself gave for free. But the State can and should promote social justice, and sometimes this requires taxation on the basis of ability to pay, and redistribution of resources on the basis of need. Call it what you like, but Joseph advised Pharaoh to impose a 20 percent income tax to support a government nutrition program to counter the famine in Egypt (see Genesis 41). It is not theft for the State to provide assistance to meet the basic needs of the people, when those needs cannot be addressed adequately through private efforts, including the efforts of the churches.