Sunday, May 18, 2014

Are Catholic libertarians heretics?

Catholics Divided on Libertarianism as ‘Heresy’ | TheBlaze.com - Fred Lucas:

May 9, 2014 - "Is libertarianism 'heresy'? That question prompted a theological and political debate among writers for three major Catholic publications....

"A recently published Catholic argument for libertarianism showed a 'complete lack of human solidarity,' wrote Michael Sean Winters, author of the 2008 book, Left at the Alter. 'Callous and cold and, just so, not very Christian let alone Catholic'....

"The specific piece Winters was so angry about was written by Joe Hargrave, an adjunct professor of political science at Rio Salado Community College in Tempe, Arizona, in the magazine Crisis.

 "'Among the poorest areas of the United States one will find high rates of crime, drug abuse, educational failure, sexual deviance, illegitimacy, and so on,' Hargrave wrote.

"This is not to say that people in these areas ought to be written off, but it is to say that no employer is obliged to subsidize their moral failings – and neither are we, the frugal, well-behaved wage-earners to whom Leo XIII refers.... This is not just about the moral failings of the poor, as libertarians do not want to pay for the birth control pills of middle class college students or provide massive bailouts and subsidies for major banks and businesses either'....

"Hargrave’s piece was itself a response to a Catholic blogger that insisted libertarianism was absolute heresy.

"'Catholics influenced by libertarian ideology (aka heresy) need to .. instead of ransacking Catholic teaching for the subsidiarity bits that happen to comport with libertarian heresy, instead embrace the fullness of Catholic teaching, including the Church’s teaching on solidarity, the common good, and the legitimate role of the state,' wrote Mark Shea, a writer for the Catholic publication Patheos."

Read more: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/05/09/catholics-divided-on-libertarianism-as-heresy/
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