only apparent paradox: taking care of politics, for a Catholic is a grave duty, because it amounts to care for the common good. However, the solutions to political problems, by their very nature are always questionable or open to diversity, unless they are in danger of conflict with revealed truth, where the count Democratic, majority minority, not the case. The theory suggests that to bring the lesser evil, in the case that Catholic politicians are in the minority, does not apply when the so-called lesser of two evils is clearly in opposition to divine law. This, in turn, is always rational and therefore any contradiction to the Christian moral law falls outside of rationality, at least if we consider the facts for a long time.
Certainly the policy has undergone a dramatic evolution in recent years. From discussion of patterns of life to realize it is reduced to management of public spending, after announcing to everyone do what you like, provided they pay taxes (the dictatorship of relativism). So we have seen the campaigns in favor of divorce, abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, as apocalyptic plagues, crashed on humanity. What they were consequences? It was found by the existence of an emergency education in the sense that we do not have a more paideia, a heritage to pass on to the next generation ideally. Any difference between good and bad, true and false, beautiful and ugly seem erased in the name of tolerance that actually looks like a suicide: it is as if in the name of press freedom and tolerance no longer wanted to prevent the widespread dissemination of instructions by those who seek to destroy humanity. We do not know if there is something for which their willingness to lay down his life, was it necessary.
There is indifferent to entry in many non-EU Europe that are advertised as not equivalent. They have left their countries because they are impoverished young workforce. We here they must adapt to the work that we do not want any more, as if we were born only people who will be CEOs of large companies. If there had been widespread abortion, every year we had an increase of about 200,000 people, having provided a decent school system, with universities and research centers. Not finding a suitable job, those people could move to Asia or Africa to establish businesses and trades, strong scientific knowledge gained. So for a long time, abortion was a suicide of the West and is the premise of his eclipse as a major economic power, cultural politics. In time, the trap was present to object to the Catholics in politics that if they did not want abortion for religious reasons, could not prevent others, by the majority, to practice freely and free, as practiced in the rich power of money held. Lacked the ability and foresight to make it clear that abortion is an intrinsic evil, to reject as a lesser evil, because abortion was commonplace and practiced with ridiculous reasons, with dangerous drift towards infanticide euthanasia of sick and no longer recoverable, but in any event, a society where there is uncertainty of respect for life is somehow not viable for long periods and is condemned to extinction.
The foregoing reflections have been provoked by reading the important book by Giampaolo Crepaldi, The Catholic politics. Manual for the resumption , Cantagalli, Siena 2010. The author is the current bishop of Trieste and is also President of the International Observatory Cardinal Van Thuan on the Social Doctrine of the Church. The book has earned a preface by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco. It presents the subject matter divided into two parts: the first contains the criteria and the second to recommend to the contents of the Catholics eager to get into politics. The book is appropriate for those politicians already in place to guide and comfort in their action, but could serve as a handbook for those who wish to serve the common good, but always bearing in mind anthropology respectful of realism, after the failure of ideologies which viewed the man as a mere historical accident, because-say-only social class is immortal.
Let me vent a little based on logic. When two propositions are contradictory, the falsity of the first shows the truth of the second. Thus, the falsity of the proposition that the individual is merely a historical accident, you should see clearly the truth that only the person individual is very much alive and protagonist of the story. But it was not so. From the theoretical and practical failure of dialectical materialism is down the idea that there is nothing on which to base some certainty: everything is perfectly indifferent, we come from nothing and we fall into nothingness, having spent a life that makes no sense. Parents, home, family, God are words without of some content. Modern man has been deprived of the gift is to use elementary logic, metaphysics is the gift of wisdom, just as elementary, which would suggest that since nothing is nothing. He uses the logic achieved only within the specialty-biology, physics, marketing ... - and the rest will rely on the journalists who tend to address Oddifreddi, the Hack and so on.: They, if they spoke only of mathematics or astronomy, are comfortable and competent, but unfortunately they speak of God, leaving the field of their competence. They should simply say: I do not know if God exists or not, because the existence of God is not measurable as do the sciences the nature of which we intend. For several centuries, the natural sciences have achieved an epistemological status that makes them autonomous, ie not to give an account of the principles from which to develop their wonderful buildings, but forgetting that the natural sciences measure something that exists. The metaphysical error is to affirm that the existing measurable by science is eternal or comes out of nowhere. How to tell people that out of nothing is nothing? The policy should explain to people that he is called upon to administer the financial resources which by definition are limited. As we spend this money very limited? We can accept this conception of ethics that if I want I consider the objectives to be achieved at any cost? Or I have no right to happiness as I depict me? The State of Nevada in the U.S. live with the proceeds of casinos in Las Vegas. 80% of the population are still old men who spend happily in the green slot machines their retirement, because the climate is dry and hot. Elections there are two parties. One is made up of old men who want new casinos, increasing the main local industry, the other tries to look after the interests of croupiers and other workers who have young children and would like athletic fields and schools for those who are at the beginning of life: how to have instances of this party are not sacrificed to the expected victory of the party of old men? The science of political ethics can be released? We can accept the idea that casinos are chosen from schools or equivalent? If human life has no meaning and death is the end of the scenarios, perhaps it is more attractive to build casinos to end in joy, procured with death when he ceases to enjoy the green table.
1-Among the criteria suggested by Crepaldi is primarily the duty to affirm that Christianity has a public face of enormous importance for nearly two millennia. This public dimension, which operates in the powerful social terrain, has led the West to the summits of world development, not what happened to Confucianism, Buddhism or Hinduism. Christianity has embraced the ideals of universalism with the opening of the Roman citizenship to all men, since, according to the famous statement of St. Paul "is no more greek and barbarian, male or female, slave or free, because all are one in Christ. " It makes no sense to say you Christians have grounds from your peculiar views, devoid of meaning for us who are emancipated, modern atheists, sophisticated lighting, etc.. In reality, we must first discuss whether the policy can now do without the rationality of the Christian faith. The burghers of the last century went on the wagon winner, taking all the powers of the state, but to Christianity did not commit the mistakes of today. They knew that the bourgeoisie was a class of minority and therefore, as long as they could, they denied the right to vote to the poor, but the Church always recognized the role of ethical leadership of women, peasants and young people. Christianity as a philosophy of the poor. Cavour, for the farmers in the rice fields present in that family of Leri, a salaried chaplain why continue to recommend not to steal, work hard, do not mess with the wives of others, not to get drunk etc.. Which of the parties now is able to communicate those teachings to the peoples of Europe? Can Christianity be reduced to private belief, without any significant public? Eurocrats may really be the masters of ethics, beyond the tasks they are assigned approximately the size of bananas and the radius of curvature of cucumbers?
2 The Catholic Church, over the last century, has produced a wonderful teaching social doctrine dwarfing any other socio-political alternative. Would benefit the union of our home to take a little thought, instead of spending their strength in the political struggles that blunt with the real interests of the workers have little in common. If I, for ideological hatred, ignoring the content of that doctrine, it makes a big mistake, if the proposal by the Church's social doctrine is true. There is more likely that it is true with respect to battered wrecks of historical doctrines alternative, dominant in the last century, given the results we have achieved. The Church's social doctrine is based on the proven ability of understanding between science and faith, recognized as the wings needed to fly to human reason.
3-The principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church exclude that the conflict could be something good. Rabid hatred and conflict can arise only the weakening of the two opponents. It is not true that war is the midwife of great history. The competition can only occur at the level of ideas in a rational comparison can recognize the goodness of an idea than the irrationality of the idea in the competition. It is not true that everything can be done with the use of advertising, with its public opinion polls.
4-The principle of secularism of the policy so far has been invoked to silence the Church or even to destroy it. Machiavelli on, it is claimed that the politician's task is to establish or increase the power of the state by any means, without any hesitation of a moral nature. Also you forgot to say that the use of evil means sooner or later turns against those who employ them. If I have a lot of damaged goods and I decide to cover the damaged goods with good, finding a buyer, I think I took a good shot, but I lose forever the opportunity to trade with that person, it is counterproductive to fail to recognize a his mistake in business, requiring a correction.
5-A Catholic who goes into politics must always be clear that the results contradict the principles of Christian ethics are inherently wrong and that in the medium and long term will lead to serious damage. Even within a band of thieves need for honesty in the sharing of the spoils, if you want to continue in that horrible business. This proves that self-destructive, as it appears attractive in the short term, it will be harmful later. The guarantee of a conscience formed in politics is truly priceless.
6-What is the political significance of non-negotiable principles? The parties that aspire to receive the consent of Catholics must know that they will propose starting work in progress more inconsistent with Christian anthropology, because their members do not vote if they want to be consistent with his conscience.
7-Catholics in politics must be merged and presented in a single party? It does not seem possible the unity of Catholics into a single party because they belong to many classes far apart, with economic aspirations that may be irreconcilable. Past experience of a single party of Christian inspiration showed that in fact it was composed of various factions among them conflicting. It does not seem possible to reproduce a similar experience. If the Catholics will be distributed among various parties, but their members will make known to the non-availability of legislation in serious opposition to their conscience, they could open a fruitful debate about the ineligibility of those proposals in a number of parties.
8-You can get the insertion of new ideologies in a rational policy? He always thought it's good to expand the benefits of culture to as many people as possible. Voltaire said they eagerly await the day when he came out of every French village, the parish priest, replaced by a master. Very good, but only on condition that the new literate read Homer, Thucydides, Plato ... From the general rate of high school, unfortunately, we have obtained only the passage from ignorance to half healthy culture that despises everything that goes beyond its modest skyline. Amateur follow their impulses. At school the teachers teach to love animals. So dogs and cats are no longer persecuted by the boys who cut the queues at lizards and detaching the wings off flies. Be adults, always in the eye of Walt Disney movies, these gentlemen become animal rights activists, protesting because they lack ambulances to the emergency room of the dogs spent on the road. The City Hall has no space for vehicles parked in public areas, if one dares to cut a tree, despite the promise to plant five more, the greens arise and block any project. The same thing for the fine air, etc. for power plants.: What to do with these new cases of sensitivity? I have felt the delicacy of dealing with new awareness of smoking, the fat people and so on.: This is a new sensitivity to some extent suggested by the dominance of aesthetics rather than rationality, but it would still be a way to get close to people, suggesting that more than dislike for the excesses of food there was antipathy to abortion, racism, etc.. I admit that we must be patient and forgive many imbalances sensitivity. How can a Christian politician retrieve new ideologies expressed by the weak thought? Instead of proclaiming the rights of animals or the protection of the green, or the clarity of the air must be able to explain to everyone that anyone who mistreats animals behaving irrationally and that a man can not afford attitudes devoid of rationality. The problem is always the anthropological, preferring to take sides but is not addressed of Ecology, vitalism, scientism, the third worldism, materialism, pauperism, the ideology of gender, the defense of diversity, affordability, narcissism ... When Pope Benedict XVI speaks of dictatorship of relativism does not say nonsense and refers to his Encyclical "Caritas in veritate which should be for the Christian political its Magna Charta .
The topics of serious debate a Christian politician, or the content they have a right of priority, the defense of life because we are in a time when biology celebrates its triumphs, but often acts like the sorcerer's apprentice of the story, which can then unleash forces that can not dominate. To say that everything must be lawful and technically possible, for example, the construction of chimeras obtained by inserting human genes into the DNA belonging to animals to control what happens, it is affirmation of the utmost gravity, because it amounts to saying that if it comes out there is a good thing we keep it, if we destroy the aberrant.
More important is the hot topic of protection and promotion of the family remains the most simple human society, cheapest way to accept life and to educate children achieved in the most natural and economic. If Europe creates a new offense, to homophobia, when we say that family is the only stable union of a man with a real woman who propose to give birth to children, I will be indicted for that crime, which in fact it is the right to reiterate the meaning of words that for centuries have indicated direction.
corollary of the above is the freedom of families to educate their children in the light of the values \u200b\u200bthat they believe. From Rousseau onwards, it is thought that the education of young people is a task State, disregarding that education is a kind of second birth to the goods of the spirit and that the state has a duty to provide the means for the second birth takes place in full respect of the rights of parents.
Another corollary is the promotion of religious freedom. This means that the state can not take an orientation officially atheist, with prohibition of public worship of various religions, she can adopt a secular state with the same function as the prohibition of religious worship is still present in many countries.
That the Catholic politician must take the net position in respect of human work always to be understood as an exchange of social services for men, who through the good work of others, equally reciprocated by their work well done, makes the social life happy. Must be taught to work and pretend that everyone works to the best of its ability, without privileges, inefficiency, selfishness, laziness, failure in offices and public and private sectors. The work allows you to intervene for the benefit of those who can not work with your maintenance, always remembering that the modern work is becoming a privileged few and that many are able to exercise only works that are no longer required.
Certainly the state is increasingly in need of reform. It must be to serve the common good, not of the strongest categories for sailing with the wind. Immigration can be an emergency at this time, but can not be addressed only with the efforts of police. We need to imagine the future society that functions without destroying the culture of the past. We need a responsible management of the environment, but without thinking that all industrial activities to be relocated to India or China. We need to promote knowledge of the true identity of Europe that has not yet been identified. Finally, we need to know the correct concept of the nation without letting it turn into nationalism. I'm not really small tasks facing the Catholic politician, always remembering that not a handicap more than other politicians, but rather the advantage of greater protection from error, if he lives up at the bottom of his Catholicism .
Alberto Torres
Santa Croce Pontifical University of Rome
