IS AMERICA CATHOLIC?

by Sean C. Vinck

What then is the idea of a Catholic state? Strictly speaking, of course, there is no one vision of the perfect Roman Catholic nation state. The Roman Church has not ordained monarchy, democracy, or oligarchy the “ideal” form of government. Yet, the Holy See is far from silent on the matter.

As the twentieth century comes to a close, we witness a cultural decline that is well documented by critics of all stripes. Yet few have proposed adequate means to confront this decay. A unified front of engagement is hampered by competing and sometimes contradictory ideologies working within the “conservative” movement, loosely described as an alliance of free market libertarians, fundamentalists and evangelical Protestants, and traditional Roman Catholics. These disparate elements have allied together over the past twenty years to effect great change in American society. The legacy of the Reagan Administration in its victory over Communism is a testament to the success of this conservatism. Yet, in the aftermath of defeating Communism threatening abroad and massive budget deficits at home, new challenges present themselves. The present cultural decay has revealed new fragments within the conservative movement itself, as well as in American society as a whole. Some elements of the conservative movement seem to have excessive concern for issues of free-market economics, so much so that their economic ideas conflict with transcendent moral priorities. Capitalism untempered by the duties of charity and virtue stands in conflict with Catholic moral beliefs. Also, Christian philosophies that accept the liceity of contraceptives and the subjective morality of abortion stand to undermine the Catholic system of moral thought. Therefore, Catholic philosophy, the lone systematic, coherent, ontological understanding of the universe and the human person, is beset by differences with its allies on socio-political issues in the American culture war. On the one hand, Roman Catholic must sympathize with attempts to temper the coercive power of the state by universal tax reduction and the simultaneous curtailment of excessive federal regulation. Also, Catholics must support laws to turn back the tide of cultural decay: a ban on all abortion, a renewed effort against illicit drug use, and a sustained effort to remove the immoral atmosphere of the “freedom” associated with the sexual revolution. These political and moral ideologies are not in conflict, rather they are complementary in the sense that they attempt to protect the individual dignity of each human person as well as maintain the good moral order of the society at large.

With the confluence of Catholic social and moral thought, what, then is the appropriate political alignment of the serious orthodox Catholic in America in 1999? The question has been long debated, since the time of the arrival of the first immigrants in the United States. For approximately one hundred and twenty years, American Catholics, for the most part, gave loyalty to the Democratic Party, and for good reason. Democrats paid attention to the plight of the immigrant Catholic population. Democrats also presented themselves as the party of the proverbial “working man.” Catholic loyalty to the Democratic Party, for the most part, was solidified during the Great Depression, wherein the Democrats enacted public works recovery programs never before seen in American history. This massive intervention on the part of the federal government had two primary effects: on the one hand it secured the loyalty of the poor and downtrodden adversely affected by the Great Depression; also, it began a pervasive pattern of the usurpation of authority by the federal government.

Yet, as the twentieth century wore on, the Democratic Party tilted more towards the leftward end of the political spectrum, embracing legalized abortion, contraception, a false spirit of “sexual liberation,” and a myriad of other destructive social tendencies. As a result, since the late 1960’s, Roman Catholics have shifted allegiance from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Republicans have generally adopted more conservative stands on cultural issues like abortion. Also, as Roman Catholics have been assimilated into the mainstream of American society, they have also been more economically successful. Consequently, the free-market economic policies characteristic of the Republican Party have been more beneficial to the assimilated, more economically prosperous Catholics.

Yet, just as singular loyalty to the Democrats conflicts with Catholic morality, so too does blind loyalty to the Republican Party. Republicans, though embracing principles of traditional morality, also advocate economic policies decidedly hostile to some elements of Catholic social teaching. While some of the more rabid libertarians in the Republican Party suggest that the “invisible hand” of the free market is the remedy for all social ills, can Catholics stand silently by? Certainly not. The unbridled free market, while perhaps a fundamental element of societal organization, cannot be the remedy to all of the social ills of a human society. Instead, we must advocate a communitarian approach to social policy—in other words, an approach to the moral ordering of society centered on the primacy of families and communities.

Clearly, it is not possible to reconcile the synthesis of Catholic doctrine with the platform of either political party in a harmonious fashion. What, therefore are Catholic to do as the political paradigm continues to shift?

It is certain that America suffers decay in its social, political, and economic institutions on a daily basis. The ideals upon which America was founded-constitutionalism, federalism—are no longer operative in modern American society due to the subversion of state’s rights by the Supreme Court and its willing accomplice, the United States Congress. Also, it must be recognized that those same constitutional principles are not themselves necessarily Catholic principles, the ideas on which a Catholic nation state would be founded; the underlying principles of the American Republic include an almost maniacal emphasis on radical individualism and the moral code of the Puritan faith. Those ideas, which strongly influenced the fathers, are, in and of themselves, decidedly disharmonious with Catholic positions.

A brief historical musing supports this notion. It was the Puritanical philosophies governing England in the seventeenth century that resulted in vitriolic anti-Catholicism. Also, the most American of philosophies —individualism—is itself is a philosophy strongly advocated by Enlightenment thinkers, who were certainly not sympathetic to Catholic thought. This is not to say that American constitutionalism is totally hostile to Catholicism. It is merely to assert that the principles that provide the underpinnings for Americans government most certainly do not coincide with Catholic positions.

What then is the idea of a Catholic state? Strictly speaking, of course, there is no one vision of the perfect Roman Catholic nation state. The Roman Church has not ordained monarchy, democracy, or oligarchy the “ideal” form of government. Yet, the Holy See is far from silent on the matter. The foundational document of Catholic social teaching, Rerum Novarum, addresses this very matter:

those governing the state ought primarily to devote themselves to the service of individual groups and of the whole commonwealth, and throughout the entire scheme of laws and institutions to cause both public and individual well-being to develop spontaneously out of the very structure and administration of the State . . . . Now, States are made prosperous especially by wholesome morality, properly ordered family life, protection of religion and justice, moderate imposition and equitable distribution of public burdens, progressive development of industry and trade, thriving agriculture, and by all other things of this nature, which the more actively they are promoted, the better and happier the life of the citizens is destined to be. (Rerum Novarum, 48)

The Church gives a bold vision of the ideals towards which a modern state should aspire. The systems that exercise governing authority must conform to a set of principles, especially those regarding “wholesome morality,” and “properly ordered family life.” It is apparent that the thinking of Leo XIII, whose encyclical has laid the foundation for over one hundred years of Catholic social thought, believed that well-ordered moral status of both individual souls and families is absolutely necessary for the functioning of a Godly society. Consequently, those governmental systems that safeguard those elements, morality and good family life, qualify as just states under the above-mentioned standards.
   
The question then becomes, does the American system of government meet this test? As was stated, it is certainly not the case that the Enlightenment principles that were the basis of the Founding Fathers’ philosophy were Catholic principles. However, we can see that many of the ideals, the proverbial promise of America, have many distinctly Catholic features. In the early years of the American Republic, the governing authority of the nation was lodged in states, towns, and communities. The institutional autonomy of each individual state, and each individual community within the state, was a fundamentally important factor in the early success of the United States. The fact that families and communities were the building blocks of the larger nation served to check the coercive power of the centralized state. Also, since individual families and especially religion possessed such preeminent roles, moral order was preserved. The fear of shunning and disgrace, as well as the enactment of what now would be described as stringent moral regulation, were effective counter-measures to lascivious behavior.
Yet, from that promising start, American society has gone terribly awry. No longer are there effective barriers to wicked behavior. Indeed immorality is not only legal, it is glorified by the media and university elite. How did such chaos stem from what can be looked upon as a harmonious, largely moral society? There are two general answers to this. The first is that the centralization of the authority of the federal government undermined the very institutions, states, and communities that were effective in maintaining the social and moral order. Centralization began with the American Civil War, and was progressed by the judicial authority of the Supreme Court, assisted through legislative means. Second, the almost maniacal emphasis that the judiciary has placed on the rights of individuals has changed the mindset of individual Americans. At one time, the principle of organization in the United States was a desire to improve the common good, the shining city upon a hill. More recently, less focus seems to have been placed on this notion of the common good than on the primacy of individual rights within the society.

Because American society is falling into chaos in a rapid fashion, the all-important question of restoration presents itself. Can American society reform itself so as to restore order, virtue, and morality? And, if so, what is the means by which this will be achieved? Since the institutions of American government are corrupted—the institutions themselves and many of the people operating them- it is imperative that people of God seize control of them. This is achieved through a two-fold approach. On the one hand, Catholic Christians must seek out positions of leadership at every level of government, federal, state, and local, working for the devolution of centralized power, their efforts informed by faith and directed toward the greater glory of God. The secularization of government has to be recognized as a destructive influence, for it is only men and women of God who possess the wisdom, confidence, and strength to direct the society at large. Yet, the only means by which Christian leaders will be trained is through the reinvigoration of the family unit. In order to ensure that all members of society will live and vote in a just fashion, the traditional family must be restored to a preeminent status in the society, it being recognized that families are the cradle in which consciences and intellects are formed. With a two-fold approach, the aggressive formation of children, and the seizing of governmental power, society can be reformed and restored to the allegorical City of God, a society of goodness and justice, wherein virtue is preserved, and the salvation of souls is the ultimate end of all man’s efforts.
The task of winning elections and reshaping public policy is indeed a daunting task, yet the reinvigoration of the institution of the family is an even more monumental undertaking; it involves the conversion of individual hearts and minds, the redirection of the energies of a self-centered population from perversion to the work of salvation. It is a battle that must affect each human person, directing each soul to the goodness of God. Indeed, it will not be possible to change the policy of government to something more reflective of God’s law until the family is re-invigorated as the fundamental building block of society. Our laws are a reflection of our communal soul, and the laws of a nation are indicative of the collective consciences of the citizens that they govern-only when our souls and consciences are properly formed can we hope to have a system of laws that upholds morality and dignity.

Therefore, an expeditious effort must be made on the part of all orthodox Roman Catholics to promote the institution of the family; this is accomplished through more intense spiritual lives and a renewed effort to educate children through catechetics and parochial education. The reinvigoration of the family unit demands a renewed attempt to construct a spirit of communitarianism—building individual communities throughout America united by a common faith in God and in God’s law. This is the spirit of evangelization that is central to the message of the Pope’s Apostolic Letter, Tertio Millennio Adveniente.

Assuming that these efforts are undertaken in a prayerful spirit, there is no reason to believe that Catholic Restoration cannot be achieved. It must be remembered that in this society which is ruled by chaos, disorder, and greed, people are yearning for truth, order, and goodness. There is only one philosophy, one faith, and one means to order, decency, morality, and the fullness of God’s truth. There is only one faith possessing a full, complete ontological understanding of the human person and human society, and that is the Catholic Church. Catholic philosophy, in its moral, political, and social branches, is uniquely equipped to respond to this culture of death and perversion, for it fully whets the irrepressible appetite that each person possesses deep within his soul for truth and order. By harnessing the appetite that each American possesses for truth, Catholicism can be the means by which our society is rescued from oblivion and brought forth to the light of God’s goodness.


Sean C. Vinck is a student at the University of Notre Dame and editorial assistant for Catholic Dossier.

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