Just when you think he can't get any more insulting and stupid Glenn Beck manages to pull the Hail Mary of all imbecilic positions:
"I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site," Beck said last week. " If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!"
This issue was diaried today, but with different emphasis. I can only speak as a Catholic and about Catholic Social Justice Issues. I can only help you educate the Catholics among you who may be considering Glenn's erroneous advice. My signature line for posts is I'm a Kennedy Catholic because frankly, based on some embarrassing and sometimes hateful things the church does, it is their social position, as a Church body, that I respect most. And it is "from the inside" that I feel I can make the most difference in opening the political and spiritual eyes of those in the Catholic Faith.
I've been active in promoting and teaching Catholic Social Justice within my community for a few years now. And Glenn Beck, between you and Rush, you both provide me with so much ammunition against Republican punditry I can barely contain myself.
Starting with Rush, and his famous "Health care is not a right, it's a privilege" statement.
http://open.salon.com/...
Limbaugh argued that there is no "morally superior aspect" to the question of the right to healthcare and suggested that it is entirely fair that if someone cannot afford healthcare, they should not have it.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/...
RUSH: All right. I know this is probably going to confound some of you who think, or wish, "Just drop this," or maybe you hope that I will just drop this and stop being provocative on this health care stuff because you think it's a losing issue. It's not who I am. I am hell-bent on as many people as possible understanding the truth, the greatness of this country, how it works and how it is going to be sustained. Health care is not a right, it is a privilege. It's a choice.
So I ask my students and audience...What do you think of that statement? What does our Church think of that statement?
Here I'll make it easy for you:
- Rights and Responsibilities
Human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency – starting with food, shelter and clothing, employment, health care, and education. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities -- to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.
So now we have Glenn Beck, who needs the uberconservative theocratic side of the Catholic church to back up his BS, yet in one fell swoop he manages to have the audacity to tell these same presumably very religious people that in order to be a "Good Conservative Tea Party-er" you must leave the Catholic Religion....He didn't even "imply" it, he said it remember:
Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!
So what's a good Catholic to do? It's simple really. Leave the jerk Beck, not the Church. Because the Church's mission is clear, simple and based on the Christian principles "you" hold so dear.
http://www.osjspm.org/...
Later, Beck held up cards, one with a hammer and sickle and the other with a swastika. "Communists are on the left, and the Nazis are on the right. That's what people say. But they both subscribe to one philosophy, and they flew one banner. . . But on each banner, read the words, here in America: 'social justice.' They talked about economic justice, rights of the workers, redistribution of wealth, and surprisingly, democracy."
But maybe, just maybe Beck is right. Perhaps the Catholic Church is just a bunch of pansy socialists. Something to think about. But the conclusion isn't what Beck is preaching. The Catholic Church, the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members, approximately one-sixth of the world's population (wiki), unequivocally promotes exactly what Beck says it does.
SHARING THE WEALTH?
Justice will never be fully attained unless people see in the poor person, who is asking for help in order to survive, not an annoyance or a burden, but an opportunity for showing kindness and a chance for greater enrichment. Only such an awareness can give the courage needed to face the risk and the change involved in every authentic attempt to come to the aid of another. It is not merely a matter of "giving from one's surplus," but of helping entire peoples which are presently excluded or marginalized to enter into the sphere of economic and human development. The Hundredth Year, #58 p. 108
Catholic Teaching Principles
# Catholic Teaching on the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable: Scripture teaches that God has a special concern for the poor and vulnerable. The Church calls on all of us to embrace this preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, to embody it in our lives, and to work to have it shape public policies and priorities. A fundamental measure of our society is how we care for and stand with the poor and vulnerable. —USCCB Administrative Committee, Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility, p. 15
As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make a fundamental "option for the poor" -- to speak for the voiceless, to defend the defenseless, to assess life styles, policies, and social institutions in terms of their impact on the poor. This "option for the poor" does not mean pitting one group against another, but rather, strengthening the whole community by assisting those who are the most vulnerable. As Christians, we are called to respond to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, but those with the greatest needs require the greatest response.
Economic Justice for All, #16
Option for the Poor
AND UNIONIZING!!
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected--the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.
GLOBAL ISSUES
Solidarity
We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be. Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. Pope Paul VI taught that "if you want peace, work for justice."1 The Gospel calls us to be peacemakers. Our love for all our sisters and brothers demands that we promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict.
Glenn Beck left out the call for environmentalism!! Surely he doesn't support that principle either.
Catholic Teaching on Caring for God’s Creation: The world that God created has been entrusted to us. Our use of it must be directed by God’s plan for creation, not simply for our own benefit. Our stewardship of the Earth is a form of participation in God’s act of creating and sustaining the world. In our use of creation, we must be guided by a concern for generations to come. We show our respect for the Creator by our care for creation. —USCCB Administrative Committee, Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility, p. 15
So, does a staunch Catholic leave the church to reconcile him/herself with the Hollywoodesque bully Glenn Beck Tea Party or stay and reconcile themselves to the progressive, open, liberal social justice principles that are required of Catholics?
It really shouldn't be all that difficult a dilemma if you really are Catholic.
A detailed list and explanation of all the Catholic Social Justice issues can be found here: Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
So thanks, Glenn. Sometimes you provide the most illustrative teaching moments.