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Here’s an example. When a teenage boy opens a door for an elderly woman, that’s social justice and working for the “common good”. On the other hand, if a police officer orders an unwilling teenage boy to open a door for an elderly woman, the boy will develop resentment toward that particular authority. He could very well develop resentment toward the elderly, as well. If there are laws ordering such things, and blogs like Think Progress writing articles blaming these unwilling teenage boys of “hatred of the elderly”, well, that just adds fuel to the fires of resentment. Having said that, there is nothing in Catholic teaching that prohibits laws requiring teenage boys to open doors for the elderly. If the country were overwhelmingly in support of such a thing, then the law would reflect the voluntary sense of the country.
Ramming laws down people’s throats, no matter what good they might do in the short term, only develops resentments in people. Can we have laws mandating universal government-run healthcare and be in keeping with the Catholic Faith? Yes….but only if there were overwhelming, undeniable public embrace of such a thing. Otherwise, it’s tyrannical, in the literal sense of the word, and, as such, is destructive of the common good. Further, if we were so willing to have universal health care, well, we wouldn’t need a government mandate at all. Local or state initiatives are best, and an argument could very well be made that national plans are actually immoral. Certainly, the morality of it depends on how voluntary it is. Ironically, the Catholic Left uses a similar argument in pushing anti-Catholic pro-abortion policy, but in this, too, they are wrong. I will leave that argument for another day.
Catholic teaching says that society must be ordered through “voluntary associations and institutions“, as the catechism says, because that’s the formula for creating a society that has universal health care and economic justice — because we will all be more compassionate and actually want to take care of each other. Stoking fears and accusing conservatives of hatred who actually believe what the Church says about the importance of voluntary activity isn’t “Catholic”. It’s just leftist garbage designed to scare poor people and Catholics into voting for Democrats…and frankly, more and more Catholics, for the good of the Church and for the good of America, are calling on the bishops to grow spines and put a stop to it.
The fact that John Boehner will be delivering the main address at Catholic University of America’s commencement is a good sign that the Catholic Church in America is working on getting its act together and standing strong for the Church’s ancient moral teachings. This may give Think Progress a panic attack, but it’s good for America.
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Lisa Graas is a Catholic mom of four and a contributor at The American Catholic. Visit her blog at LisaGraas.com
