Burn of the Day
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Social teaching is determined by social questions to which social justice is the answer? That’s word salad.
I’ll tell you what social justice is: not raping the taxpayer’s take-home income for illegal immigrants and those addicted to the public treasury who won’t work. Bishop Barron specifically mentioned corruption as a violation of social justice, a concept that eludes godless Democrats.
Somalis preying on tax payers in Minnesota aided by Politicians who look the other way for votes is criminal -twice over, three times over when you consider letting a culture in that refuses to assimilate .
Social Justice is a weasel phrase that helped this criminality succeed.
David WS, I’m sure it wasn’t just for votes … There’s probably a good deal of palm-greasing involved too.
Someone who puts a modifier other than ‘substantive’ or ‘procedural’ in front of ‘justice’ is telling you their concerns have nothing to do with justice.
A few observations:
1. JP2’s “Compendium” is not an infallible document. It is subject to discussion, discernment, and debate as are all such Papal utterances that do not invoke the infallibility formula of Vatican I.
2. This might be unfair, but based on recent experience, I assume that any argument offered by a Jesuit (with a very few notable exceptions) from any Church document is misleading, taken out of context, or both. Admittedly, I have not tested this hypothesis in the present case by reading said Compendium, because I have better things to do.
3. FWIW, the term “social justice” does not appear anywhere in Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII’s oft-referenced (but seldom read, it would seem) encyclical on Catholic “social teaching.”
4 It seems to me that the concept of “social justice” derives from the notion that there is something called “collective sin.” This is an entirely Modernist concept that has no foundation in any of the writings of Aquinas, Augustine, or any other Doctors or Fathers of the Church. I believe it is an invention of the same people who concocted the equally non-Catholic idea of “liberation theology.”
5. I disagree with some of Bishop Barron’s theological writings, especially his suggestion that Hell may be empty. But anyone who wants to take him on had best be more intellectually astute than Jeremy Zipple, Ess Jay, appears to be, based on his X posts.
Rant over.
When someone says “social justice”, I reach to see if my wallet is still in my pants pocket. I feel the same way when the pity party “Bishop’s Appeal” comes around in the spring. Work for your own food and stay out of my bank account. If it looks like I have something, it is because I worked to EARN it.
Not all quotes are scare quotes, or sarcastic quotes. Sometimes they’re just quotes. Pet peeve of mine.
Frank: “4 It seems to me that the concept of “social justice” derives from the notion that there is something called “collective sin.” This is an entirely Modernist concept that has no foundation in any of the writings of Aquinas, Augustine, or any other Doctors or Fathers of the Church. I believe it is an invention of the same people who concocted the equally non-Catholic idea of “liberation theology.”
These are interesting points, but it seems to me that there is a need for a Catholic theology of “Social Justice” given the reality of how this world is run and how important social media has become. This is really a question of whether personal ethics can be given to large groups, movements and political parties. The argument can be made that these groups are made up of individuals, and therefore these various entities and their actions are made up of individual judgements, and should be governed by Catholic ethical teachings.
However, I think the movement for Catholic Social Justice was a theological conservative answer to Liberation Theology. Where LT took a lot from Marxism and Socialism, the CSJ was turning to Papal teachings, scripture, especially the Prophets and Sermon on the Mount, to use as a lens to see the ethics of the world.
It’s all my opinion of course, but I think that Catholic Social Justice teaching is still being developed to answer these difficult and dangerous movements and industry of today’s world. It’s still in its infancy.
Social justice is a category of Aristotelean ethics: namely, when society gives to individuals their due. Marxists may have distorted it but they didn’t invent it.
Zipple SJ, responded with the usual Jesuit-speak language which was so often used by the late J Bergoglio. Deliberately vague and meant to mean anything to anyone.
A couple of months back I was reading a book by Bishop Barron in Adoration, and there were parts that were quite good, until a section where he poo pooed the existence of demons and hell. I busted out laughing, alone with the Lord at 4AM. And I got a clear sense how terribly deceived Barron is on this subject. A subject that one really ought not to be deceived about, especially a bishop.
Citation?
I believe it was:
“ The Word on Fire Bible (Volume I): The Gospels”
Here’s a clip of Bishop Barron on the subject of the demonic. He’s doing the opposite of what you’ve accused him of. He actually derides the kind of thinking you’re accusing him of.
https://www.google.com/search?q=bishop+barron+on+demons#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a29b6783,vid:EwWlHAvvXRg,st:0
I know he’s stated some controversial things about the possibility of all humanity attaining Heaven, but nothing like poo-poohing Hell’s existence, and I’ve never heard him say anything heretical.
I’ve heard him dance on the edge about the existence of Adam & Eve … but he says he’s better now 🙂
Pinky, im not about accusing, especially in relation to time in Adoration. Read the book. I don’t have a copy. It was there in the Chapel.
FWIW, I have not suggested that Bishop Barron claims Hell does not exist. He has, however, stated that he agrees with Hans Urs von Balthasar’s speculation that Hell may be empty.
It’s not,
But there is wishful thinking.
The idea of “social justice” seems to have originated among good, Catholic theologians in the 1800s. But it doesn’t seem to be well defined in theory or in practice.
I have searched in vain for a clear definition of the term, even in papal documents. Is it a specific virtue? A hoped for result of government policies? A utopian ideal? Is it common sense?
It seems to be accepted that it refers to obtaining justice in various situations in modern society. But it suffers from a lack of a definition that everyone agrees upon.
And so many people who claim to promote this thing they call “social justice” have no compunction about promoting things that are obviously unjust and destructive of society.
When a politician calls for “social justice,” I not only hold onto my wallet, but I lock my doors and close the curtains.