The False Narrative that the Right, the Left, and Christianity can co-exist
In the West, the political landscape is easily drawn between two ‘ideologies’ or ‘factions’ — the ‘left’ and the ‘right’, with one — the left, seeking to erode natural law and advance the role of the state in every aspect of human existence, and the right, focused on expanding the accumulation of wealth and limit the reach of government. These two factions govern how the West operates from Canada all the way to Australia. In recent years, Christianity has become aligned with the ‘right’ primarily due to shared concerns on abortion, marriage, gender, sovereignty, and human flourishing. Politicians on both sides of the isle use issues relating to human flourishing to appeal to ‘Christian’ voters to advance their own self-interests rather than be concerned with reality. However, this article chooses not in delve into the superficial spirits that animate the modern world or engage in pointless debate, but serves as a tool to inform Catholics that the political ideologies that underpin the ‘right’ and the ‘left’ do not align with Catholic doctrine.
Scripture and Reality
From Sacred Scripture we know two basic teachings about the truth of our existence — the book of Genesis. which articulates that Cain is the founder of the city, a murderer, and thus politics is rooted in murder, the second teaching from the Gospel of Matthew, articulates that what belongs to Caesar, belongs to Caesar, an understanding that ‘Caesar’ has chosen his way of life — the self over salvation. The two underlining teachings articulate the reality of human condition whereby nature, Salvation, cannot co-exist in the city where murder, power, and wealth triumph over the longing for higher things. In fact, St. Augustine’s two masterpieces the Confessions and the City of God are rooted in these two premises.
The Catholic Church rooted in this reality must follow the via media, the path between the two extremes, a teaching that originates from Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, where the Church does not choose one side over the other but chooses the middle ground that is rooted in natural law. St. Thomas Aquinas articulates this well in the Summa, where he states the best of what we can hope for is peace and that human law ought to mimic natural law. This understanding of Church teaching is sadly not understood by the vast majority of Catholics in the Church.
Furthermore, Catholics cannot be used as tools of political conquest but must serve as a means to engage the Church on the most appropriate steps to advance human flourishing and affirm the dignity of human life. This understanding of reality is sadly absent in the mindset of most Catholics and even Church leaders in our relationship with the state. This responsibility also cannot be primarily rooted in the way we vote but in how we conduct ourselves through charity.
Superficiality, Ignorance, and a Subjective understanding of Truth
In our culture, it is extremely easy to criticize policy makers, politicians and institutions that play an active role in civic life. This criticism can concern how social services ought to operate to policies relating to trade and business. Yet, a significant number of such criticisms aimed at the state, persons or businesses are pointless and completely irrelevant. It is highly unlikely that the average man on the street has read the volumes of legislation being passed by law makers at the regional, state, national or international level. Neither does the average man possess the knowledge on the intricacies of how the state operates behind the scenes. It is also highly unlikely that the average man has the resources, capacity and capabilities of challenging the behemoths of industry, government and politics on policies or practices he disagrees with.
In politics and political discourse, we spend a significant amount of time deliberating about matters beyond our hands. For example, over the past several decades, Europe has faced an immigration crisis with waves of migrants coming in from former colonies, and regions such as North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, China, Central America, and beyond. Yet, very little has been done to advance economic mobility and freedom in those sources of migration despite the creation of entities such as the World Bank, the IMF, the United Nations, and other ‘developmental’ organizations with billions of dollars at their disposal. The same lessons can be applied to the ongoing border crisis in North America which is not new, but a political game where the left and the right cannot provide solutions to prevent people from migrating across South and Central America by foot.
Today, all legitimate nations have ‘diplomatic’ relationships with nation states and regional bodies of law and government. Yet these diplomatic relationships seem to be ineffective in solving real challenges. The ongoing health crisis, COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, food insecurity, inflation and other concerns are rooted in our failure to understand reality. This is caused by our failure to understand why we exist and why we need constant salvation. Such ignorance is undermining human flourishing, the rule of law, and the advancement of civilization in the West and around the world.
Salvation, Virtue, and Magnanimity
In order to move out of such ignorance, accepting the need for salvation and the forming people to be magnanimous in their capacity to effective leaders in the word is a constant priority for the Church. Institutions such as the Virtuous Leadership Institute are important in playing this role for the Church and culture today. However, our education system is divorced from grace, virtue and the sacraments. Excellence can only be attained if man places himself in front of the source of Truth, the Eucharist, and allows the Lord to reform his fallen nature. Sadly, the Church today is fragmented, lost and trapped in its own sins and ignorance, it has failed to be obedient to the Lord and be rooted in First Principles.
In order to move forward, returning to first principles, and having a deeper understanding of reality is essential. The Church is Her glory and richness is immune to the sins of man. It is this glory that comes through salvation, virtue and magnanimity, that the Church demands that all Catholics must grow in holiness. However, salvation and the truth of the gospel cannot be confined the towers of Catholic academic or within the walls of monasteries, it must manifest itself in the world.
Culture requires Truth and salvation in order to protect the dignity and value of human life. Yet, Sacred Scripture gives us another hard truth about what our Church really is, as we have read the scripture passages during Holy Week, we know that our Lord’s disciples abandoned Him during the hour they were needed the most. The Pharisees and our Lord’s own people were responsible for His Crucifixion, and Peter the ‘rock’, denied our Lord when questioned about his relationship with Him. It is this sad truth reflected in scripture that is being played across the centuries in the drama of human existence, that the Church and Catholics when confronted with responsibility will fail.
