Saturday, November 30, 2013

A Different Take on Francis' Exhortation

Fifth Column has a much different and quite persuasive take on Francis' 'capitalism' essay.

...It is not the inequality of wealth that concerns him, it is the inequality of dignity.

The Fathers and Doctors of the Church all agreed that physical poverty wasn't the biggest problem, rather, it was spiritual poverty, the poverty of not knowing the Gospel. Insofar as someone doesn't know the Gospel, they don't know their own worth or their own dignity. They don't know how deeply central they are in the eyes of God.

So, when Francis speaks of the lack of employment being the biggest problem, he isn't thinking that a job at McDonald's for every teenager is the solution. Rather, he sees the solution as being a society which recognizes the dignity of the McDonald's worker to be equal to the dignity of the CEO. When the dignity of work is recognized, then inequality will have been conquered. This is not just recognized by paycheck, but by giving honor to everyone employed in work, especially vocational work
.


He also comments on the "Islam" section, making it clear that Francis was not rolling over for the Muslims at all.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Rather, he sees the solution as being a society which recognizes the dignity of the McDonald's worker to be equal to the dignity of the CEO. When the dignity of work is recognized, then inequality will have been conquered."

What a load of horse manure!

"Women reject motherhood because they don't see it as a vocation, a job, a work of mercy and grace, a place of honor and status. They don't see it as a way to gain dignity, instead they believe the world, which tells them that motherhood is disgusting and worthless."

More horse manure.

Anonymous said...

"Read by itself, this sentence would
seem to indicate that Francis is incredibly naive about Islam."

Nay. The majority of Muslims are peaceful, akin to their Christian brethren. Please educate yourself in the name of the Lord. Thank you.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201309170091.html

Anonymous said...

Muslims are the scum of the earth and should be exterminated.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the extremist Christian point of view, Anony 6:36 p.m.