Holy Mother Russia

It’s curious to not how many alleged Catholics who live in America are so hostile to Catholic political thought.

It points to the political and philosophical dependence of the Catholic Church in the United States, just as much as the Russian Church ever was under the Czars, on the American political system.

Even the Bishop’s response to NHS mandate is taking place almost exclusively through an American political paradigm.

Of course the first question is what is Catholic political thought” Perhaps I am wrong but my understanding is there is no “Catholic political thought.” There is Catholic social teaching which is often hijacked to support one political position or another (see http://vox-nova.com/2012/03/20/santorum-and-opus-dei/#comments). And there is political thought by varied Catholics.

But there is no one, vast “Catholic political thought.” It is in fact a firm teaching of the Church that it does not offer technical solutions to the problems of society. This because politics is the domain of the laity who, informed by the principles of Catholic social teaching, are to apply Catholic social principles to contingent problems. As such there are necessarily a variety of legitimate opinions and options that a Catholic in the political domain may adopt – even one of a nebulously labelled “American political system.” Such is in fact the teaching of the Church.

Tancreed

You typed.

Even the Bishop’s response to NHS mandate is taking place almost exclusively through an American political paradigm.

The “American political paradigm”, which may or may be what we would hope for in a country that is 100%, is not anti-Catholic or a violation of Catholic teaching. But the HHS proposals violate both the American political paradigm and Catholic teaching.

Do you think it is possible that are Bishops have the sense, when addressing an audience that is mostly not Catholic, to use arguments from the common “political paradigm” of the country?

Is the point to persuade enough people that we change an unjust policy, or just loudly voice disapproval as the noose is being tightened?

Donald: What you say about the Orthodox Church in Russia being subservient to the czarist state is true. On the emblem for Russia is a shield with St. George the Dragon Slayer. Czarina Alexandra, wife of Nicholas II, the last czar, was Queen Victoria’s granddaughter. In Germany, the Kaiser, was Alexandra’s cousin. Seventy-nine people led by Lenin inflicted the Bolshevic Revolt and atheism on Russia. Lenin did this by promising his men FREEDOM OF RELIGION. When his men had succeeded in assassinating the Czar’s family and overthrowing the government, Lenin’s men came to him for FREEDOM OF RELIGION. Lenin laughed them out of his office. I am so reminded of HOPE and CHANGE, the promise made by Obama.
The emblem for Poland is a single falcon. Legend has it that two brothers came to a cross roads and chose to follow the road taken by the falcon to establish Poland. There are two falcons on the Russian emblem, holding the orb with the cross, symbol of sovereignty and the scepter, the iron rod to rule the nation. (The American eagle is the symbol for the swiftness of God’s JUSTICE. The American eagle holds the olive branch for peace in the world and the arrows and armament for JUSTICE)
Czar Nicholas II was building himself a seventh palace. His people were starving in the roadway. The starving people, too, were promised HOPE and CHANGE, and FREEDOM OF RELIGION.

“God, save the Tsar!
To the glorious one,”
Man, fully alive, is the GLORY of God. Woman, fully alive, is the GLORY of man.
Alexi, son of Czar Nicholas II, heir to the throne of Orthodox Russia was a hemophiliac.

This is pretty but musically speaking, I still like the Soviet-era anthem better. (The only time average Americans like me used to ever hear it was during Olympic medal awarding ceremonies.)

Speaking of national anthems, apparently, some boneheads in Kuwait really, REALLY messed up recently when they attempted to play the Kazakhstan national anthem for a winning athlete… they played the parody version from the movie “Borat” instead:

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/borat-national-anthem-accidentally-played-kazakh-athlete-video-224008124.html

Phillip: Yes, Phillip, I will read the church documents on the Catholic Laity. I have been struggling with my role as a lay person in the church, or rather as a lay person who is a woman. It seems to me that if a wife is treated subserviantly by her husband she should look to her mother in law for redress. Jesus gave us all to His Mother before He died so we would have a free choice about going to hell with HIm or staying with HIs Mother…the Mother Whose Son I murdered.

Thank you, Ivan.