Rodger Charles and his two volume work, Christian Social Witness and Teaching is the definitive source for studying the social teaching, and Fr. Charles notes in the forward to volume one the problem presenting the teaching:
“The main problem with the presentation of the social teaching of the Church is that it is too easy for those presenting it, consciously or unconsciously, to impose their own social, political and economic agenda on it, either only dealing with these aspects which suit that agenda, or being biased in favour of those elements, so that the balance of the teaching is destroyed and other valid options for Christian commitment are down played.” (p. xiv)
This process is seen most clearly in the United States through the attempt by the left to fold the prolife message which speaks out clearly against abortion (which the Church does not allow), into a “seamless garment of life’ message which conflates the evil of abortion with that of the death penalty (which the Church does allow) to reduce the political impact of the prolife movement.
Lampstand Foundation website, http://www.lampstandfoundation.org/
"The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint." Charles Peguy (1873-1914)
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.