IDEOLOGY VERSUS FAITH

 With the elections coming up.  I decided to take a look at why we vote the way we do and does this have anything to do with Catholic Teaching or the Gospels of Jesus Christ.

What is your worldview and where did it come from? This is a question that few people take the time to ask. Americans like to think that we are free thinkers but in reality we are not. There are very few free thinkers in history. Most people get their worldview, how we look at the world, our society and what we hold as our core principles, from other people and other groups. This is true of Catholics as much as it is of everyone else. As the political ideologies become more and more polarized, it has become apparent to me that many Catholics do not get their worldview from the teachings of the Church or even the Gospels. They get their worldview from our political parties and our acceptance of liberal or conservative principles.

 

This is truly unfortunate because it renders the “Catholic vote”, if there is such a thing, moot and unimportant. Many Catholics run to the conservative Republicans because they at least pay lip service to anti-abortion causes. Many others run to the liberal Democrats because they seem to live up to, at least verbally, the corporal works of mercy. (see Matthew 25: 31-46) A Catholic worldview is not something in the middle of the conservatives and liberals, the Republicans and Democrats. A Catholic, Christian, worldview will at times seem radically conservative and other times radically liberal. A person with a Catholic, Christian, worldview will feel uncomfortable being labeled a conservative or a liberal. Part of the problem is that most Catholics don’t really have a firm grasp of what the Church teaches on most social issues. There will always be Catholics who pick and choose which teachings to adhere to, but it is a failing on the part of those of us who are charged with presenting the teachings of the Church that so many Catholics are not familiar with all the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

 

Therefore, over the next few weeks in this forum I will be presenting the social teachings of the Catholic Church. I will use as my approach the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching as presented by the Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops. http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm.

 

The seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching are:

Life and Dignity of the Human Person;

Call to Family, Community, and Participation;

Rights and Responsibilities;

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable;

The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers;

Solidarity;

Care for God's Creation.