So happens that I knew John Gurda. He's a pretty smart dude, and his Milwaukee history knowledge is near-definitive.
Given that, it's surprising that his latest offering misses the point--by a mile.
We are, for better or worse, stuck with each other. Without a world war to knit us together or a full-blown depression to plunge us into mutual misery, the damage is ours to repair. Like any marriage, the state of our union depends on qualities we have lost at our peril: respect, an ability to listen ....
Unhhh....
One can argue that the RedState Revolution of last November has more to do with "first things" than anything else. The (D) Party's ObamaCare was the crown-jewel of the (D)'s Machiavellian-Prince political acting-out. Voters demonstrated that they really don't like Machiavellian principles.
Contributing to the Revolution was an identical--albeit less 'in-your-face'--(R) Machiavellian tendency. Both, together, added up to a Statism which seemingly has been rejected.
Machiavelli's Prince ruled as though there were no First Rules. Those "First Rules" were eternal principles, acknowledged by Aristotle, but given flesh in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Yup, they derived from religion, or better-stated, from an acknowledgment of a Supreme Being. Plato and Ari 'got that' as did every other major Western (and Eastern) ancient thinker.
Machiavelli, not an Ancient, offered a political system which did not require an acknowledgment of a Supreme Being; theology could be eliminated because political philosophy became theology.
It won't work. It didn't work for Louis XIV; it didn't work for Stalin and his ilk; it's not working in PRChina, nor in Cuba.
While the voters may not get the fine points of the political philosophies involved here, they understand the big picture very well, and didn't like what they saw. That's why a number of (R) figures went down in flames, too. 2010 was not a "Republican" year; it was a "Conservative" year. It was a year in which the First Things began to emerge as an electoral force. That 'conservatism' was acknowledged by Obama in his "..bitter Bible-clinger" rant. It's no accident that he mentioned the Bible, and not just "guns."
That's stuff that Gurda, a Jesuit-educated fellow, should have known--just as he should have known (or acknowledged) that Catholic and Lutheran Milwaukeeans had a great deal to do with electing the Socialists.
Why the Socialists? Because Hoan and the Zeidler brothers were virtually incorruptible--AND because they understood the limits of Government as did St. Augustine--a "small-government" guy. They knew that Government is incapable of creating paradise on Earth. The Catholics and Lutherans understood that, and were perfectly happy to elect men who understood the order of creation, and who ran the City with the overall public interest in mind.
That changed with the election of Henry Maier, who was a Machiavelli-school guy. By the time Norquist assumed office, "the public interest" was reduced to "managing interest groups." Norquist was a hard-line Leftist and a far cry from Hoan and Zeidler. But if nothing else, he (and the Council) proved that 'absolute power corrupts absolutely.'
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(To my surprise, Gurda also made a serious error in describing Obama as a "centrist." That assertion cannot be supported by his Senate voting record. No way. No how.)
Too bad the United States is not a country unified in the true Catholic Faith. If that were the case, our government and its agencies would be able to always turn to the Catholic Church for sure guidance on First Principles.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, government leadership in the United States will almost always be doomed to failure, almost from the start, because there are so many different leaders acting on different First Principles or no First Principles.
The prevalence of religious pluralism or religious errors in a civil society dooms political efforts. It is simply too difficult to do politics or anything else in life without the sure guidance of Christ and the Catholic Church (the best teachers of First Principles)---and even then, it is difficult. There will be no paradise on Earth.
If Catholics want to work for a better politics in the United States, they should work for the conversion of their own hearts and those of non-Catholics to the True Faith.
--Tim Ryan
Well, not really.
ReplyDeleteThere can be a pluralistic-religion State; the US was in that position from (roughly) 1800-1960, (not that that time period was ideal.)
Aristotle was not a Catholic; TA summarized natural law in only 3 essential holdings, none of which were "Catholic" per se.
What we have is a de facto agnostic or atheist State, which has become the god. Chesterton would smile knowingly.
I think you bring up some good points; however, I have always doubted the ability of a government to base its decisions on reasoning derived from the natural moral law alone, as the natural moral law can be notoriously difficult to interpret. (Pius XII's "Humani Generis" #2 and #3) Of course, that is one reason why Christ came and established the Church---so that man would have clear certainty about how to conduct his life. Civil governments should accept the Church's clear wisdom as should individuals.
ReplyDeleteIt also seems that Christ's Incarnation and the data of supernatural revelation have deeper truths than the natural moral law that civil governments should consider. As Pope Benedict pointed out in his "Caritas in Veritate," the supernatural virtue of charity is to animate everything, including even political relationships. (#2 and others) In short, the Incarnation and the founding of the Catholic Church changed reality forever, even for how governments conduct themselves and what truths a government must consider as it governs.
I also don't hold out much hope for civil government leaders who do not have recourse to the Catholic Church's sacramental helps, which are almost essential for keeping man on the right path. What hope can we have for just and wise civil leaders who are helped by no sacraments and are even guided by false religions, religions that certainly give them incorrect concepts about man and his destiny? Again, the natural moral law is not always much help either.
Indeed, the spread of non-Catholic religious error affects not only indiviudals but reaches deeply into society.
I agree that we definitely have a de facto agnostic or atheistic state that has become god. Unfortunately, I think a state that sets itself up as "religiously neutral" will easily fall into that direction, perhaps easier than a Catholic confessional state will. I also believe that Catholics will only prolong the agony of a state by not stressing the absolute importance of Christ and Catholicism, above and beyond the natural moral law, for politics. That's just my two cents.
---Tim Ryan
In short, the Incarnation and the founding of the Catholic Church changed reality forever, even for how governments conduct themselves and what truths a government must consider as it governs.
ReplyDeleteThat claim, taken at face value, implies that human nature changed because of the Incarnation. I don't think so.
I also don't hold out much hope for civil government leaders who do not have recourse to the Catholic Church's sacramental helps, which are almost essential for keeping man on the right path.
Didn't do all that much for Pelosi and Obey; nor Henry VIII, nor thousands of others, (including a lot of Popes.)
You ought to read Augie's "City of Man." He's clear-eyed.
We can agree that Catholic moral principles should underlie all civil laws and decisions--but really, those Catholic principles underlie the entire Judaeo-Christian project and INCLUDE Jewish principles.
That will be sufficient, I think.
"Voters demonstrated that they really don't like Machiavellian principles.
ReplyDeleteContributing to the Revolution was an identical--albeit less 'in-your-face'--(R) Machiavellian tendency. Both, together, added up to a Statism which seemingly has been rejected."
Or voters simply don't like 17% underemployment very much.
The average voter just isn't that complicated. Thinking they are is a gross miscalculation.