Skip to main content

I'm On Your Side

I may spout any number of political ideological heresies from this space, as is my right and duty. Yet I think it is important to say that I like Republicans; I think like them, and talk like them. I am them.

As Catholics wishing to adhere to all that the Church teaches, we may find ourselves at odds with deeply-held ideological commitments; if we do it well, we can articulate a bold, truly humanist conservative vision that will be compelling to the body politic; if we do it poorly, we alienate the very people we want to reach, and we unwittingly reinforce the piecemeal approach to ethics and political engagement that we abhor.

The very first rule of effective communication is to connect with the audience; dispose them to hear what you are saying. If a faithful Catholic is indeed compelled to question the philosophical basis for the broad economic vision of his political party, for example, he can do this more easily by frankly acknowledging the things the listening or reading audience finds compelling about that vision. In short, you don't persuade an audience by insulting them.

When a person makes a party identification, he's probably doing one of 2 things: he's indicating to members of his own tribe that he'd like to discuss something with them, or he's attempting to broaden his own appeal beyond the tribe, based on a shared commitment across the party identifications.

I think a person who doesn't connect with his audience, who appreciates nothing of their points of view, and who thinks ad hominem suffices for argument deserves a dwindling audience. I say this as someone who knows a thing or two about snark, to my great regret.

If I say to you, "Ayn Rand's vision of society does not comport with Catholic social doctrine" I'd better be able to say why. And frankly, I've read and appreciated enough of her to know why a reasonable person could pick her up and say, "I like this; I find this compelling!" If that makes you uncomfortable, you don't read enough. If you think insulting a person who likes Ayn Rand and exalting yourself as a better Christian is all you need to do, you probably write columns for the National Catholic Register, or (ironically) the Acton Institute. I read "Anthem" at least once a year. I've read parts of "Atlas Shrugged," and the last time I read "The Fountainhead," I was too young to remember it. In short, I don't think it makes you a bad person to read her books, and even to like them. The fact that she was a raving atheist who hated Christianity and C.S. Lewis (the nerve!) is actually immaterial to the merits or demerits of the case. If Joe Carter knows this, it sure doesn't show. She may well have been a vile person, but again, that doesn't really help us intellectually.

I think writing column after column about The Donald, and insulting the GOP primary electorate (most of which isn't paying attention) is simply pride, plain and simple. Somebody is either too proud of their own ability to receive the social doctrine, despite the ideological challenge it poses, or lazy, or both.

Personally, I'm just getting tired of gearing up, waiting to see if we get "Martin Luther at the pub" Mark Shea, or "Reasonably articulate, serviceable Catholic apologist" Mark Shea. If politics makes you this angry, don't write about it. Sheesh. 

I take the risk of blogging about him again, though it could be vanity on my part, because I think it's important to cultivate the best voices we can for the faith, and for political engagement. I don't think the Register is helping us right now. Maybe they really fear the "right-wing Catholic" charge they get from the left; I don't know. I only know that this song of, "I'm fiercely independent!" sounds like sneering to me.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Friend I Once Had, And The Dogmatic Principle

 I once had a friend, a dear friend, who helped me with personal care needs in college. Reformed Presbyterian to the core. When I was a Reformed Presbyterian, I visited their church many times. We were close. I still consider his siblings my friends. (And siblings in the Lord.) Nevertheless, when I began to consider the claims of the Catholic Church to be the Church Christ founded, he took me out to breakfast. He implied--but never quite stated--that we would not be brothers, if I sought full communion with the Catholic Church. That came true; a couple years later, I called him on his birthday, as I'd done every year for close to ten of them. He didn't recognize my number, and it was the most strained, awkward phone call I have ever had. We haven't spoken since. We were close enough that I attended the rehearsal dinner for his wedding. His wife's uncle is a Catholic priest. I remember reading a blog post of theirs, that early in their relationship, she told him of the p
Hilarious Com-Box Quote of The Day: "I was caught immediately because it is the Acts of the Apostles, not the Acts of the Holy Spirit Acting Erratically."--Donald Todd, reacting to the inartful opposition of the Holy Spirit and the Magisterium. Mark Galli, an editor at Christianity Today, had suggested that today's "confusion" in evangelicalism replicates a confusion on the day of Pentecost. Mr. Todd commented after this reply , and the original article is here. My thoughts: By what means was this Church-less "consensus" formed? If the Council did not possess the authority to adjudicate such questions, who does? If the Council Fathers did not intend to be the arbiters, why do they say that they do? At the risk of being rude, I would define evangelicalism as, "Whatever I want or need to believe at any particular time." Ecclesial authority to settle a particular question is a step forward, but only as long as, "God alone is Lord of the con

Just Sayin.' Again.

One interesting objection to this chart has been to say that one gets stuck in a "loop" that doesn't resolve. This is a thinly-veiled way of putting forward the argument that we don't need absolute certainty in religious dogma. But Fred Noltie already dealt with this in the comments on another post. And to the specific objector, no less. I'll be blunt: The only principled thing to do is put down your Bible, resign your pulpit, and lead tours in Europe. Because a man must be able to distinguish dogma from human opinion, and this epistemology doesn't allow us to do that. One of dogma's distinguishing characteristics is infallibility; another is certainty. Without this, essential characteristics of God Himself are put into question. If we say that the most important Person any person could know is God, and the content of that knowledge (doctrine) is the means by which we know Him, it must be certain. This Reformed argument that certainty is a dangerous or un