"We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." (Sir Winston Churchill)
Damon Linker of The New Republic, and Ross Douthat of The Atlantic are having a good discussion on the particular view of American liberal tradition that was at the core of Fr. Neuhaus' patriotic defense of religion and his strong voice for the 'culture of life' in America.
Douthat:
...Neuhaus argued that the American constitutional order, and the form of liberalism it embodies, "is premised upon moral truths secured by religion," to quote from his essay on John Paul II and the liberal tradition. Moreover, he believed that the modern left's emphasis on the separation of religion and politics (as opposed to church and state) ran toward illiberalism, and that the left-wing promotion of legalized abortion and euthanasia amounted to a frontal assault on essentially liberal principles - human rights and human dignity and so forth. These are not uncontroversial views, to put it mildly, and they certainly made him a conservative in the modern political landscape. But they are views have deep roots in Anglo-American political history - the notion that liberalism's basic premises depend in some sense upon religion, in particular, is as old as Hobbes and Locke - and as such they properly belong within the big tent of the American liberal tradition, rather than outside it...
Linker:
..This is the great theoconservative shell game...
.....I weep, rather for all the rest of us. As a priest, as a writer, as a public leader in so many struggles, and as a friend, no one can take his place. The fabric of life has been torn by his death, and it will not be repaired, for those of us who knew him, until that time when everything is mended and all our tears are wiped away...
...The death of Father Neuhaus is a terrible blow. Not for him, who is now united with his Savior and his Redeemer, in whom Father Neuhaus placed all of his trust and all of his hope; but for us, who have lost one of America's leading public intellectuals, a man of profound wisdom and learning, and a great champion for the unborn. It was Father Neuhaus, along with his dear, long-time friend George Weigel and just a handful of others like Michael Novak, who not only championed the pro-life cause for so many years, but who gave the rest of us both the grounding and the vocabulary to speak on this issue...
...His influence was so great on the president [Bush] that his catch-phrase of "welcoming unborn children into life and protecting them under law" became Bush's standard line any time he referenced pro-life matters.
That influence was noted as Time magazine, in 2005, hailed Father Neuhaus as one of the top 25 most influential religious leaders in America. Bush, himself, credited with Neuhaus as "helping me articulate these [religious] things.”...
...To Catholic insiders, however, it was Neuhaus’ writing rather than his political activism that made him a celebrity. From the pages of First Things, the unapologetically high-brow journal he founded in 1990, Neuhaus kept up a steady stream of commentary on matters both sacred and secular....
...Over the years, even people who disagreed with Neuhaus’ politics or theology would devour his monthly essay in First Things, titled “The Public Square,” for sheer literary pleasure. His combination of epigrammatic formulae and occasionally biting satire often reminded fans of English-language Catholic luminaries of earlier eras, such as G.K. Chesterton or Cardinal John Henry Newman...
I became aware of Fr. Neuhaus one summer when my mother received five years worth of 'First Things' issues. I read every issue cover to cover, saving 'Public Square' for dessert! Through his magazine I came to know how much more there was to know about my faith, and was introduced to many solid thinkers both Protestant and Catholic.
I thank him for expanding my Christian world and improving my library, but most of all I thank Fr. Richard John Neuhaus for his loving service to the Lord, his strong voice of reason and his love for all mankind - especially the unborn.
Not spilt like water on the ground, Not wrapped in dreamless sleep profound, Not wandering in unknown despair Beyond thy voice, thine arm, thy care; Not left to lie like fallen tree; Not dead, but living unto thee.
I don't often ask for favors, but I am hoping that you can oblige me on this one. My friend (and frequent on air co-host) Father Richard John Neuhaus is very ill and could use your prayers. I ask you to remember him in prayer as we begin this new year. Here is a bit of a note that Jody Bottum, the editor of First Things was good enough to send my way: "Fr. Neuhaus is in the hospital here in New York. Over Thanksgiving, he was diagnosed with a serious cancer. The long-term prognosis for this particular cancer is not good, but it is not hopeless, either, and there is a possibility that it will respond to the recommended out-patient chemotherapy treatment.
Unfortunately, over Christmas, he was taken dangerously ill with what seems to be a systemic infection that has left him very weak. Entering the hospital the day after Christmas, he was sedated to lower an elevated heart rate and treatment was begun for the infection. Over the last few days, he has shown some signs of improvement, and there is a reasonable expectation that he will recover from this present illness—sufficiently, we hope, that he will be able to begin the chemotherapy for the cancer."
I saw Father Neuhaus in New York after Thanksgiving, following his last hospital stay. He was weakened but in great spirits. Surrounded by his community, a brandy in one hand, he held forth on an array of subjects with his usual wit and candor. There is no one inside or outside of the Church like him. I ask all of you to pray for his recovery and that he may be granted the strength to return to the work he so loves--the work we so need him to continue.
At the end of (another) excellent and insightful article from Fr.R.J.Neuhaus ,he gives us some important and timely information about an organization that many Catholics have supported in good faith, in spite of the CHD's lack of the same:
....Which brings me, finally, to another and related matter that will surely be discussed in Baltimore and deserves to be on the agenda. The Campaign for Human Development (CHD) is an annual collection in parishes, usually on one of the last two Sundays in November. It used to be called the Catholic Campaign for Human Development but the Catholic was dropped, which is just as well since it has nothing to do with Catholicism, except that Catholics are asked to pay for it. Some bishops no longer allow the CHD collection in their dioceses, and more should not allow it. In fact, CHD, misbegotten in concept and corrupt in practice, should, at long last, be terminated.
Ten years ago, CHD was exposed as using the Catholic Church as a milk cow to fund organizations that frequently were actively working against the Church’s mission, especially in their support of pro-abortion activities and politicians. Now it turns out that CHD has long been a major funder of ACORN, a national community agitation organization in support of leftist causes, including the abortion license. ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is under criminal investigation in several states. In the last decade CHD gave ACORN well over seven million dollars, including more than a million in the past year. It is acknowledged that ACORN, with which Sen. Obama had a close connection over the years, was a major player in his presidential campaign. The bishops say they are investigating the connection between CHD and ACORN. They say they are worried that it might jeopardize the Church’s tax-exemption. No mention is made of abusing the trust of the Catholic faithful.
What most Catholics don’t know, and what would likely astonish them, is that CHD very explicitly does not fund Catholic institutions and apostolates that work with the poor. Part of the thinking when it was established in the ideological climate of the 1960s is that Catholic concern for the poor would not be perceived as credible if CHD funded Catholic organizations. Yes, that’s bizarre, but the history of CHD is bizarre. The bishops could really help poor people by promptly shutting down CHD and giving any remaining funds to, for instance, Catholic inner-city schools. In any event, if there is a collection at your parish this month, I suggest that you can return the envelope empty—and perhaps with a note of explanation—without the slightest moral hesitation....
Find a real Catholic charity, that serves the poor. I would suggest Missionaries of the Poor.
(via Fiona) Father Richard Ho Lung, founder of the Missionaries of the Poor, has been awarded the Order of Jamaica for his services to the poor and destitute.
The Gleaner newspaper hosted a special luncheon in honour of the 67 yr. old Roman Cathollic priest, to recognize this award and to thank him for his years of tirel;ess service to Jamaica's less fortunate.
"It's easy to get caught up in these (awards)", said Father Ho Lung, "but you know, it really says something for all the brothers and the work they have done for society's poorest."
There are 170 missionary 'brothers' in Jamaica, who help operate the six centers which are home to the country's terminally ill, elderly and abandoned poor. MOP also has centers in the Philipines, India, Haiti, Uganda and Kenya.
Missionaries of the Poor, was started by Father Ho Lung in 1981, as Brothers of the Poor. What started as a small group of men engaged in apostolic work in prisons, public almshouses and slum communities in Kingston has evolved into an international missionary religious institute that does both corporal and spiritual works of mercy in the poorer communities of the world, and has been acknowledged by the Vatican as an official Religious Community of the Church.
The Missionaries of the Poor is the first male religious order of Priests and Brothers to be found in the English-speaking Caribbean. It was established nineteen years ago by Father Richard Ho Lung. The Missionaries bear witness to Christ by living a simple, serious and disciplined life, and wearing a religious dress with sandals as their only footwear. They currently have four homes for the most deprived and disabled Jamaicans: Faith Centre, Jacob's Well, Good Shepherd and the Lord's Place. The blind, the crippled, the retarded, the deformed, the old, the young and the dying are all cared for in these homes. They eat. sleep, work, worship and die at these centres and are laid to rest by the Missionaries of the Poor.
"Father Ho Lung and Friends" is a musical troupe that has been entertaining with original music and drama for 27 years. The entire proceeds of their videos, CD's and live performances go to help support the Missionaries of the Poor in their work around the world.
If you get the chance to attend one of Father Ho Lung's retreats in Jamaica, modeled on Ignatius, be sure to go. Think of it as a Jamaican 'soul' vacation . I attended one last February. Besides the retreat, the chance to meet and see the Brothers at work in the centers was life changing. I especially appreciated my time with the younger orphans at 'Bethlehem'. The simplicity of Christ's love for us is lived out each day there. I have not yet recovered from the whole experience. I hope not to.
One can argue that every presidential election is a “historic” election. But some are more historic than others. Daniel Henninger had a provocative column yesterday making a strong case that this one is a “tipping point” between America continuing as an entrepreneurial society or going the way of the European “social democracies.” He cites the late Senator Pat Moynihan who said the big difference between Europe and America is that the former gives priority to equality and the latter to liberty. I’m not sure that Henninger is right in saying there would be no turning back after four or eight years of President Obama and an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress imposing their passion for a government-directed program of redistribution and social coordination, but the future he depicts is both plausible and ominous.
There is another dimension of this ideological passion for the expansion of government control that is at least equally worrying. It has to do with the freedom of religion in the American constitutional order and the indispensable part that religion plays in checking the ambitions of the modern democratic state. Obama has said that he thinks it is “tragic” that the Supreme Court has declined to advance the cause of redistributive justice. That refers, of course, to economic redistribution. But the language of healing divisions and bringing us all together—under government auspices—applies also to the social dynamics of American society.
There are several issues, all closely related to religion, on which Obama, for all his undoubtedly sincere talk about his own faith and the importance of religion in public life, is manifestly hostile to the vibrant diversity of American life...
"The contention between the culture of life and the culture of death is not a battle of our own choosing. We are not the ones who imposed upon the nation the lethal logic that human beings have no rights we are bound to respect if they are too small, too weak, too dependent, too burdensome. That lethal logic, backed by the force of law, was imposed by an arrogant elite that for almost forty years has been telling us to get over it, to get used to it.
But "We the People," who are the political sovereign in this constitutional democracy, have not gotten over it, we have not gotten used to it, and we will never, we will never ever, agree that the culture of death is the unchangeable law of the land." ~ Fr. John Neuhaus, "We Shall not Weary, We Shall not Rest" National Right to Life Convention, July 2008 ~
"...Father Reese concludes: “The issue of gay marriage is not going to go away quickly. It is a highly emotional issue that continues to divide our country. Everyone needs to step back, take a deep breath and count to ten before saying anything.” (Now that I’ve had my say, Father Reese says in effect, you should shut up.) Presumably Father Reese took his own advice. If only he had, in addition to taking a deep breath and counting to ten, considered how embarrassingly transparent his support for same-sex marriage and opposition to the Church’s teaching would appear to any thoughtful reader.
Very different is the response to the court’s ruling by Bishop Allen Vigneron of Oakland, California. Writing in the diocesan paper, he says, “We appear to be heading—at least for a time—toward a social order in which same-sex couples will be able to contract marriage. This is a profoundly significant matter. . . . Marriage is a reality authored by God in his very act of creating the human race. According to his irrevocable plan, the marriage relationship is only possible between one man and one woman. The purposes of this relationship are (1) the mutual loving support of husband and wife and (2) their loving service of life by bringing children into the world and raising them to be virtuous and productive. The experience of history—both ancient and in our own time—has taught us that no government has the power to change the order which God has inscribed in our nature..."
"Maybe people are led to think, the Church will change its position on this or that or the other thing. The 'maybes' of conditionality produce conditional Catholics ,and conditional Catholics are deprived of the joys of unqualified discipleship." --Richard John Neuhaus, "To propose the Truth: The Catholic Moment Requires Five Transformations", Crisis, April 1994.
