Sunday, August 31, 2014

The USCCB's Corrosive And Deadly "Social Justice" Teachings With Their Poster Boy John Sweeney

Yesterday John Zmirak published an article called "The Myth Of Catholic Social Teaching".  I commend it to your reading.  He basically states that the Magisterium speaks infallibly on matters of faith and morals.  Some issues such as abortion and contraception involve the direct commission of mortal sin.  Those are intrinsic evils; no amount of debate is permissible.  We do not commit murder - period.

There is also the matter of care for the poor.  That is a charge laid upon us.  However, good people can disagree as to the best methods to implement such care.  Sometimes it's clear that those in high places of the Church are exercising faulty logic in their approaches to matters such as alleviating poverty, etc.  In those circumstances, we are not obliged to give obedience to those directives as they do not carry magisterial weight.  Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said so himself when he attempted to have a letter delivered to a US bishops' meeting.  It said - in part - "not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion."

It is becoming all too clear that the USCCB advocates progressive positions on matters such as illegal immigration, self-defense rights, and even the atrocities being committed by Muslims in the Middle East.  I blogged on the muslim matter last week, chiding the USCCB for urging more useless "dialogue" with thugs.  I've no doubt that the USCCB dismisses my words.  Sadly, they probably also dismiss the words of Archbishop Emil Nona, the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul.  He and four other Mosul bishops have been driven from their dioceses, along with countless thousands of their flocks.  He warns that what we see there could well be a harbinger of things to come in the western world - that means us, folks!  I will quote the archbishops's own words: "Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here. You must consider again our reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger. You must take strong and courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles.  You think all men are equal, but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men are equal. Your values are not their values.  If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your home."  King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has issued his own, very similar warning.

I think there are two things Archbishop Nona is trying to say.  First, the US bishops must stop their simpering and groveling pleas for "dialogue".  They are an abysmal waste of time at best and at worst, they serve to distract us when we should be preparing for real action to protect our families and our very culture.

Second, we must stop "welcoming them in our homes".  That means we must stop the floods of immigrants that pour across our borders.  Make no mistake about it; the bulk of illegals are young men, not helpless little waifs.  How many of these young men are muslim terrorists?  We don't know because there is no effective screening of those who cross the Rio Grande.  But again, we hear the USCCB telling us to "welcome the stranger".  Never mind that these "strangers" may well be murderers awaiting their orders from their muslim commanders.  By the way - there are reports that ISIS groups are in Mexico, planning an attack on the US with car bombs and the such.  USCCB, shall we "welcome those strangers"?

A gentleman named John Snyder posted an article on Crossmap a few days ago, taking the USCCB to task for their stance on gun control, given the threats of terrorism that are looming in the United States.  I quote one salient statement:  "USCCB should terminate its disgraceful support for the criminalization of private handgun possession. Such criminalization would eliminate the ability of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves from criminals, including terrorists.  Catholic clergy should abandon pacifism and see reality for what it is. People need guns for protection. As Christ Our Lord proclaimed, 'The man without a sword must sell his cloak and buy one,' according to Luke 22:36"  Hear!  Hear!

So why, oh why, does the USCCB insist on parroting the Obamanista's talking points on illegal immigration, muslims and gun control?  In a word, follow the money, for the USCCB certainly does.  I wrote an article for Defend Life recently (look on page 7 of this link), detailing the obvious links between the USCCB shilling for porous borders and allowance of everyone crossing the Rio Grande.  The money trail was so blatant; they aren't even trying to hide it.

There you have it.  One consequence of the USCCB's wrong-headed stances on these issues will most likely be an increase of murders, if not outright terrorism - both because they favor unfettered admission through our borders AND the removal of our ability to defend ourselves and our loved ones.

"But that's merely conjecture!" some might say.  Fair enough, but it's reasonable to believe this to be a very solid probability.  AND we have evidence of current corrosion of faith and morals by USCCB-esque social teaching.  That evidence comes from the mouth of the corrosion victim himself - John Sweeney!

John Sweeney
Thank USCCB social teaching for this!
Sweeney was recently honored by the AFL-CIO for his union work.  The erstwhile head of both the AFL-CIO and SEIU, at that award function, credited "Catholic social teaching" for giving him the impetus for his work.  I've detailed a lot of his work here and here.  The second link details the two occasions in which I led pickets of Sweeney public events.  I know I gave you a lot to read, so I'll close with a picture showing the beneficial impact of "USCCB social teaching" on John Sweeney.

Recall what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said - there are areas regarding prudential judgment in which we can disagree with Church leaders.  Many times, particularly with the USCCB, we must oppose them outright.

6 comments:

  1. "It is an intolerable abuse, and to be abolished at all cost, for mothers on account of the father's low wage to be forced to engage in gainful occupations outside the home to the neglect of their proper cares and duties, especially the training of children." - Pope Pius XI Quadragesimo Anno

    That is doctrine that no Catholic may dissent from without jeopardizing his salvation. Period.

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    1. How does one implement that? Minimum wage laws don't work; they simply cause employers to eliminate the lower-level jobs are perhaps even leave the area, or this http://youngcons.com/mcdonalds-response-to-democrats-threatening-to-raise-the-minimum-wage-is/.
      One problem might well be confiscatory tax rates. If the taxpayer weren't funding ridiculous "income redistribution" schemes through his nose, he would have more "take-home" pay from which he and his family could live.

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    2. Actually minimum wage laws work just fine. In fact, the states that have raised their minimum wages have actually created more jobs than those that didn't. See here: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/19/job-growth-picks-up-in-states-that-raised-minimum-wage/

      As far as confiscatory rates go, I'm sure you know that one of the chief complaints of Mitt Romney during his run for the presidency was that 47% of low wage Americans don't pay any federal income taxes at all so I'm not sure how that fixes the problem.

      Probably the best solution is more unionization as the Popes going all the way back to Leo XIII called for. Labor/Corporation cooperation works very well in places like Catholic Austria for example.

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    3. Here's other takes on the impact of minimum wage: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/02/18/cbo-minimum-wage-jobs/5582779/; http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/10/21/raising-the-minimum-wage-kills-jobs-for-low-skill-workers

      Obviously we could go back and forth about the merits/demerits of minimum wage. That merely illustrates what I said in my second paragraph, that good people can debate what constitutes the best possible means for providing for the benefit of workers. As for the unions, they may well have served laudable purposes generations ago, but now they're way too big for their britches. No worker should be coerced to pay union dues so that John Sweeney can carry an AFL-CIO sign that shills for Obama.

      This comment box will not morph into a "back-and-forth" forum. But I do want to reiterate that while good people can differ about minimum wage, etc, they cannot differ about intrinsic moral evils such as the deliberate taking of innocent human life and the perversion of marriage.

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  2. The USCCB and their CCHD, Catholic Charities, and CRS partner with the US government and receive approx. $ 63 Million each year in Federal Grants.
    As others have stated: "follow the money".

    The Obama administration supports: Abortion, Same-sex marriage, and contraception. In fact they have tied our tax dollar / foreign aid to force pro-abortion and contraception laws in poor Countries.
    (Also see: 'Mexico City Policy' on the internet.)

    All our required beliefs are contained in the: "Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition".
    Have you ever wondered why many US Bishops do not encourage literate Catholics over age 15 to read the CCC at home?
    Could it be because they do not want Catholics to know that -
    1) The Catholic Church does NOT support ILLEGAL immigration. Immigrants are required to "obey the laws" of the host Country (and this does not exclude immigration laws). CCC: 2241.
    2) The Catholic Church does NOT teach or forbid gun ownership, but it does teach about self defense. CCC: 2263 and 2264.
    3) The Catholic Church teaches SUBSIDIARITY, not dependence upon the government. CCC: 1883, 1884, 2209.
    4) The Catholic Church teaches against all forms of 'collectivism'. CCC 1885.
    5) The Catholic Church teaches 'COMMUTATIVE Justice' "without which no other form of justice is possible". CCC 2411.
    6) The Catholic Church does teach about the Seven Capital Sins which include: Envy, Sloth (laziness) etc. CCC 1866.
    7) The Catholic Church does not ALWAYS forbid the death penalty. CCC 2267.

    These are just a few of the required Church teachings that Bishops should teach and might teach if they did not get money from the Federal Government.

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  3. For quotes from Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis on the "Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition" go to: "What Catholics REALLY Believe SOURCE"
    http://whatcatholicsreallybelieve.com/

    Spread the word about the CCC. It contains the truth.

    ReplyDelete

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