Religion and Politics
Before I was Catholic my politics were strictly Libertarian. Active for a while, merely philosophically after that. My politics were a perfect match for my lack of religious beliefs. Indeed, what other political philosophy can be held by a person (of general good will) who doesn't believe in truth? The libertarian creed of "The initiation of force, except in self defense, is the only political or moral wrong" would be ideal, if not idealistic, in a world without God. But then, I came to believe firmly not only in God, but in his Church, a Church that holds itself out as God's arbiter of faith and morals on earth.
So can you be a Libertarian and a Catholic?
For me, Catholicism has both blunted and sharpened my Libertarianism. A paradox, I know, but then this is a religion of paradoxes, started by Jesus, who was and is the ultimate paradox. That's one of the many reasons I love it, by the way.
I believe more strongly than ever in the notion of limited government, and stronger than before in the notion of government assistance to the young, poor and elderly. Not that I don't think the welfare system in this country isn't a disgrace, a legacy of a party which tried, succesfully, to buy the votes of the poor and disenfranchised while simultaneously guaranteeing they would more than likely stay poor and disenfranchised. Not that I don't believe that if all of us who claim to be Christians would help the poor, the government would have precious little to do in the way of welfare. But merely that I recgonize the moral imperative that those in power should truly care for and work for the welfare of those they lead.
One of the things Catholicism has done for me politically is to take away (to some degree, not totally) the bitterness and distrust of government that drove my political beliefs for such a long time. I now see that not only is the government God's agent for good in the world, but that in a democracy, you have to realize the fact of man's sinfulness means making the government actually become an agent of good involves God's presence and participation in politics. That means us, his people, his body, doing what we can to make things better, and being patient enough to give good sufficent time to prevail over evil. Studying the history of the Church itself, in which "revolution" means change occurring over the course of decades and centuries, gives one a perspective of politics that is more broad and hopeful. Our democratic experiment is only a bit more than two centuries old; hardly enough time to have perfected anything. Communism, on the other hand, fell in a relatively swift 70 years or so. Hope springs eternal, but vigilance is always necessary.
So I remain an advocate of limited government, but a promoter of Christian ideals leading all of us to become the citizens that can make for a great country. I don't want Theocracy, I don't want this to be a "Christian Nation", I merely want those who claim the gospel to live by it. If that happened, politics would take its proper place in society. Politics would be a mode of living the gospel, not a pseudo-religion; a place for us to practice charity, not the imposition of a welfare state; a protector of the rights of individuals against force and fraud, not a paternalistic nag and enforcer of picayune and intrusive rules and regulations that take the place of good will and common sense. In short, government would go back to being our servant, not our master.
So can you be a Libertarian and a Catholic?
For me, Catholicism has both blunted and sharpened my Libertarianism. A paradox, I know, but then this is a religion of paradoxes, started by Jesus, who was and is the ultimate paradox. That's one of the many reasons I love it, by the way.
I believe more strongly than ever in the notion of limited government, and stronger than before in the notion of government assistance to the young, poor and elderly. Not that I don't think the welfare system in this country isn't a disgrace, a legacy of a party which tried, succesfully, to buy the votes of the poor and disenfranchised while simultaneously guaranteeing they would more than likely stay poor and disenfranchised. Not that I don't believe that if all of us who claim to be Christians would help the poor, the government would have precious little to do in the way of welfare. But merely that I recgonize the moral imperative that those in power should truly care for and work for the welfare of those they lead.
One of the things Catholicism has done for me politically is to take away (to some degree, not totally) the bitterness and distrust of government that drove my political beliefs for such a long time. I now see that not only is the government God's agent for good in the world, but that in a democracy, you have to realize the fact of man's sinfulness means making the government actually become an agent of good involves God's presence and participation in politics. That means us, his people, his body, doing what we can to make things better, and being patient enough to give good sufficent time to prevail over evil. Studying the history of the Church itself, in which "revolution" means change occurring over the course of decades and centuries, gives one a perspective of politics that is more broad and hopeful. Our democratic experiment is only a bit more than two centuries old; hardly enough time to have perfected anything. Communism, on the other hand, fell in a relatively swift 70 years or so. Hope springs eternal, but vigilance is always necessary.
So I remain an advocate of limited government, but a promoter of Christian ideals leading all of us to become the citizens that can make for a great country. I don't want Theocracy, I don't want this to be a "Christian Nation", I merely want those who claim the gospel to live by it. If that happened, politics would take its proper place in society. Politics would be a mode of living the gospel, not a pseudo-religion; a place for us to practice charity, not the imposition of a welfare state; a protector of the rights of individuals against force and fraud, not a paternalistic nag and enforcer of picayune and intrusive rules and regulations that take the place of good will and common sense. In short, government would go back to being our servant, not our master.
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