Book Review: Papal Teaching on Private Property – 1891 to 1981
I take exception to the first two paragraphs:
Before I express my own thoughts about the upcoming election, let me begin with a couple of obvious, but nonetheless vital, observations. First of all, reasonable people – and certainly the reason-endowed sheep of Christ’s flock – can disagree about political philosophies and the relative virtues and vices of particular candidates. I do not believe that there is one “Orthodox” answer to some of the questions that I will raise below. In other words, I will question neither the purity of your faith nor the sincerity of your commitment to Christ if you disagree with my thoughts.
Such circumspection is necessary because our Lord did not deliver to us any particular “political philosophy.” When the Pharisees tried to trap Him with a question about money He replied simply, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.” Later, the Pharisees accused Him of trying to put Himself in the place of Caesar. When Pilot asked Him about this He replied, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” St. Paul admonished Christians to obey those in civil authority – even though they were pagans – but later writers, living under intense persecution, were somewhat less enthusiastic about their allegiance to the Roman Empire . . .
There is a greater truth to reality, and it can and should be derived using natural philosophy and Christ’s example. I do think there is an absolute set of principles that apply to how humans live, and this is extendable to the political sphere. I don’t believe any man is to have complete power over another, as the kingship of God means that there is but One to whom we are subject. But more than government systems, I just want to very briefly touch on economics. I heard that groan. Don’t even…
There are natural laws that create the basis for economics. Supply and demand, scarcity, and incentives are three such examples. There are no possible ways around these truths, and any economics that is practical and useful should take into account each of them, because they are facts that are a result of not living in the Garden of Eden. If our God is all-powerful, he could definitely ensure that the world was such that there was never any scarcity. But He did not. There is a reason we have a limited amount of stuff, and we need to live prudently and virtuously with that in mind. There is an economic school of thought for that. It is not the one that the government exploits to take from the people and feed into the war machine. It is not the one that the government uses to justify the creation of trade barriers that ensure people in 3rd world countries do not have enough to eat every day. A correct and God-ly economics needs to be based on natural law, as does any political theory. And I don’t mean some of the principles. I mean all of them. What exactly that natural law is, is what I strive on this blog to try and encapsulate into understandable thoughts. But the prevailing economic and governmental doctrines that relieve people of choice, personal responsibility, economic means un-dictated by scarcity, and their rights is not the correct path, even according to God Himself. There is a right answer. We need to find it.
why are you deleting other peoples comments? if so why even have that option
What is happening…..? Dan?
I deleted my own comments.
I had made a comment and then thought basically: "I know Kev better than this. I'm being uncharitable." The other comment had something more substantial to say but I felt like withdrawing that as well.
Dan, thanks for the foresight. I actually read your comments in my email last night. And had very little to bicker about, as I did very little here but denounce a certain type of economics (Keynesianism). Thanks for the consideration though, because it was true. "Tread lightly"… and all that!
Have a great Christmas, buddy.
Yeah, I'd thought about just Facebooking them to you instead, so I'm glad you got them. Merry Christmas indeed!