 |
|
|
|
 Mitt Romney's VP pick, Paul Ryan, means there will be Catholics on both party tickets. Vice President Joe Biden is also a Catholic.
August 14th, 2012
10:41 AM ET
My Take: Paul Ryan will provoke a debate on Catholic politics
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN A lot has been written about the “Mormon moment” in American politics. But the election of 2012 is starting to shape up as a “Catholic moment,” too. Now that Mitt Romney has tapped the former altar boy (and Rep.) Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential running mate, there will be a Catholic on both major party tickets for the first time in U.S. history. So as Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden articulate their views, we will be tuning into an intra-Catholic conversation pitting “social justice” Christians on the left versus “family values” Christians on the right. Because this election will doubtless focus on the economy, and because Ryan is known primarily as the author of a budget passed this year in the Republican-controlled House, this debate will not focus primarily on social questions such as abortion and same-sex marriage but on economic concerns such as tax policy and the safety net. What would Jesus do about our debt and the deficit? In a preview of the debates to come, Catholic bishops wrote four letters to Congress in April attacking the Ryan budget as unjust and calling for “a circle of protection ... around essential programs that serve poor and vulnerable people.” These letters, signed by leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, articulated general principles of Catholic social teaching. “A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects ‘the least of these’ (Matthew 25),” wrote Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, California. “The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty should come first.” Another letter, co-signed by Blaire and Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, argued that “the needs of those who are hungry, poor and vulnerable should come before assistance to those who are relatively well off and powerful” and spoke of drawing a “circle of protection” around the “poor and vulnerable.” But America's bishops also took aim at specific policy proposals, including cuts to affordable housing programs, cuts in food stamps and changes to the Child Tax Credit. Blaire insisted that “just solutions” to our budget problems “must require shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and fairly addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement programs,” before concluding that the Ryan budget “fails to meet these moral criteria.” To his credit, Ryan responded to these letters not just with canned talking points but with a fairly detailed defense of his understanding of Catholic social thought. In an April interview with David Brody, Ryan admitted that the “preferential option for the poor” was “one of the primary tenets of Catholic social teaching.” But he insisted this idea “means don’t keep people poor, don’t make people dependent on government so that they stay stuck at their station in life; help people get out of poverty, out into a life of independence.” A year earlier, in a letter to Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Ryan said his budget was informed by the Catholic principle of "subsidiarity,” which he equated with “federalism,” and more particularly with the practice of addressing social problems with local rather than national solutions. Lots of things changed when Romney tapped Ryan as his vice-presidential pick. Among those things is the religious dynamic of the 2012 election. We have in Romney/Ryan what is arguably the first non-Protestant ticket in U.S. history. And in the vice-presidential tussle between Ryan and Biden we have the promise of a civil and informed debate about Christian values and economic policy. For far too long, politicians have been able to name check God or point vaguely to the Bible to gain the imprimatur of heaven for their particular policies or their political party. That sort of "God on our side" politics has been bad for both our religious and our public life. But substantive debates about Christianity and politics are potentially healthy for both. A century and a half ago, Americans engaged in a collective conversation about the Bible and slavery that was both civil and informed. Is it too much to hope that an intelligent debate about Christianity and the economy is now in the offing? If so, we will likely have Ryan (and Romney) to thank. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Prothero.
Next entry »Romney-Ryan ticket makes U.S. religious history
« Previous entryBelief Blog's Morning Speed Read for Tuesday, August 14
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
Editor's note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "
GOP has been talking a lot about family values and anti-abortion lately. That is fine. However, they are pro-death for prisoners and want to cut fundings needed to help poor and vulnerable. Jesus would not have approved this.
Dave,
You support the murder of innocent babies for convenience' sake. That's the simplest morality test there is. Yet, you fail.
You have no standing to instruct anyone on what the Savior would have thought.
You stand against Him, (even if you've taken/accepted His name in vain).
@Dave from Georgia "I am Catholic. Please keep religion and politics separated!"
HAHAHAHAHA, ya... that's totally possible in America *largest eyeroll in the history of eyerolls*
Thomas Jefferson would have rolled his eyes up on you.
Dave,
Ever seen TJ's bible? It's a real piece of work. TJ invented his own god, but he was extremely religious.
All human beings have religious beliefs/religion. You are no exception.
Atheism (or Naturalism) is as much of a faith-based worldview as any other religion.
not
Boy, are you wrong. Atheism is proof based, not faith based. Definition of atheism: Given the evidence that exists today, I simply do not believe.
false
Shayna,
You are no exception. Your religion of Atheism is just as valid as anyone else's religion.
But, you have much evidence of the Creator. It's called space/time, or "creation" or "the universe". But, you have zero evidence that God does NOT exist. Yet you believe that God does not exist.
I believe your religion is completely lacking logic, but you're certainly allowed to believe it.
Faith on what? Please elaborate, coz I know not what u say???
Shayna,
While these people are so keen to identify our Atheism as a religion, why dont we too create a temple (I suggest Darwin Temple, or Galileo Church maybe), and we can take their help to get tax exemption status!!!
Atheism(Naturalism) is a faith based belief that life and the universe must have a purely natural origin.
You can cry about it all you want, but that is complete Faith.
Natural Science has never been able to even provide a working theory about origins. This is where the pseudo-skeptics arguments turn completely emotional. "Well it couldn't have been God!!! That's crazy!!"
You can call it a religion all you want Bill, but it won’t make it one. Non-belief is not a form of faith. Get over it!
"Atheism(Naturalism) is a faith based belief that life and the universe must have a purely natural origin."
Now let us also look at the definition of religion – the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods (Ox.ford dictionary).
Jesse, I'm not talking about your "non-belief", I'm talking about your Belief, which you do have, and which are based on complete Faith, whether you want to admit it or not. Naturalism is certainly a religious worldview, which practically every Atheist subscribes to.
@Bill
Please be specificl. What beliefs of mine do you consider to be ‘religious’?
The prefix 'A' = Lack of
Theism = belief in gods
Atheism is a negative statement that says only what one does NOT believe.
It does not imply any behaviours, morals or other characteristics whatsoever.
I am Catholic. Please keep religion and politics separated!
You don't.
Yet, you demand that everyone else does.
It's nice to see the Catholic bishops caring about real people instead of demonstrating their own prejudices.
First, have them prove the existence of God.
Why the heck does EVERYONE have to be opposing someone else. If they are both Catholic, why can't they both believe in the same things???? Stop looking for stuff to cause trouble, I'm sick of it!
because their policies are extremely different, obviously they DON'T both believe the same things.
Just imagine the debates there'll be when a Muslim or a Jew in running for president or VP!
Been there, done that. Lieberman, Gore's VP candidate, is Jewish
hey – here's a novel idea – let's remove religion from American politics.
Do you not understand that there never has been, and never can be, a conscious person who does not have religious beliefs?
You would have to remove humans from politics in order to remove religion from politics.
a contrast in intelligence, Biden is a dummy has been embarrassment through out the world and his boss is not far behind!
Wow, what class and intelligence you bring to this debate. If you're a typical Conservative, then God help this country.
You are confusing bring a "dummy" with cutting through the b.s. Give 'em hell, Joe! Obama/Biden – four more years.
On the contrary. Vice President Biden is extremely intelligent. He also has a very broad knowledge base with a natural sense of curiosity. We are very fortunate to have him. Those in a position to actually know him well have profound respect for him.
At least most that are religious in their life principles are good. Most atheists are evil. They have not problem offending others based on their beliefs. Keep up the attacks on Christians and the responses from religions in the Middle East will look like child's play. Stay out of my life!
But it's still OK when fundamentalist Christians denigrate non-fundamentalist Christians, and Jews, and Muslims, and agnostics, and atheists, and blacks, and Hispanics, and women, and gays – right?
Lidumb,
How is anyone getting in your life?
to Primework:
It is right and proper for every human being to believe that their religion/religious beliefs are superior to everyone else's.
There are no exceptions to this rule.
The truly dangerous folks are the ones who have deceived themselves into thinking they are an exception.
none of the atheist people i know are hateful, in fact they engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers, mothers, fathers, etc......they are kind, supportive, giving, etc. ...... please stop bearing false witness
As a Christian I adamantly disagree with your characterization of most atheists as being evil. Yes, there are some annoying atheists who call those with religious beliefs all sorts of bad names and speak with scorn about them. But, honestly, Christians can be just as bad, or worse, in how they treat atheists. I know plenty of agnostic and atheist people and they are pretty much like everyone else in real life. They take their kids to school, love their families, worry about job security, buy groceries, exercise (or not), sing, participate in community activities, support the social & political causes of their choice, etc. In fact, most atheists/agnostics are like the people next door because they often ARE the people next door.
Leave religion out of politics. Matter of fact, leave it out of everything and the world will have peace.
Joe,
Ever been to earth before?
Do you not understand that there never has been, and never can be, a conscious person who does not have religious beliefs?
You are no exception, although you seem ignorant of that fact.
Yes Joe,
some people like the one above believe even Atheism is a religion!
Don't tell me Paul Ryan is a "good" Catholic just because he is a "faily values" advocate. Ryan's 2012 budget was criticized by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for failing to protect the poor and vulnerable. Both that Council and the faculty and administrators of Georgetown University have cited Ryan for "profoundly misunderstanding" traditional Catholic teaching concerning our responsibilities to the elderly, the infirm, and the poor. Ryan is driven by Ayn Rand's philosophy of the sovereign individual, NOT by anthing that the Catholic Church would ever endorse.
"He said" is not evidence. It's hearsay.
You sound like sad little CNN, pretending that people's prejudiced opinions are "evidence".
If you have any evidence, present it.
"Religious clashes devastate Myanmar" .. 'nough said
The Bishops that say government budgets should have as their first priority providing free stuff for the poor could not be more wrong. The first priority of government should be creating a legal and political environment where all people are safe to pursue the opportunities before them to provide for their families without fear of their neighbors, their employers or their government. The second priority should be ensuring that as much as possible opportunities to succeed are equal.
No amount of government help will help the self-destructive. The greatest need that the self-destructive have is moral help that government will never provide. Government help merely enables them to continue to be self-destructive which helps to lock these people into being permanently needy and permanently self-destructive. The vast majority of Americans currently needing government assistance are not victims of their neighbors or local businesses, but of their choices, the choices of their parents and the government they support.
to much calling names thesedays not enuff work in the whitehouse. know one wan'ts to hear this name calling we need to worry bout getting jobs getting this country back on track im for any one that can get it back like it use to be
Tom...What balanced budget. Neither one of these kooks can balance the mess we are in.
That is your fault. If you want the budget balanced, vote for people who will cut our spending by half.
Democrats demagogue every single cut the Republicans propose.
Like all good Democrats in politics few even knew anything about Biden's religion, because like most libs he views it as a liability, not a benefit.
thery all know his Catholic and they always did
Biden doesn't walk around touting how his religious views affect his decisions at every turn. That's good. He represents the US in his position as VP, not God and not the church. Any time a politician waves the Christian flag, then does something distinctly nonChristian, that person is misrepresenting my religion to the world. Face it, politicians aren't saints and famous politicians often sin famously. Better to worship, or not, in private and quit trying to be the public face of 2 masters (church & state) while in a major elected office.
There is no contrast! Ryan is not Catholic. Republican views and Christianity are two completly opposing philosophies. Christianity is a liberal and social religion.
The type of "Catholic" that Ryan represents is alien to me. I don't recognize myself in any way nor associate myself with someone who has contempt for the poor, wants to make the rich richer and has the arrogance to refuse to release his tax records.
"Contempt for the poor"? ... over dramatic much?!
Catholic church ... the wealthiest organization on the planet!
The Catholic Church itself is not the best representation of Catholocism. It was taken over by currupt politicians disguised as cleargy centuries ago. That's like Bush going to church while sending over his armies to butcher thousands of innocent people which he did!