Pope Francis Condemns the Cult of Greed, Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan Support It

by Brent Budowsky

In recent remarks that were stunning and profound, Pope Francis harshly criticized what he called “the cult of money” and condemned what he called the “dictatorship” of economies that are socially unjust and morally unfair.

These remarks, reported in The Daily Telegraph and highlighted on the Drudge Report (but not in major American media) suggest a papacy with the potential to transform the global economic and financial debate.

Most recent popes, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict, raised the same issues that Francis dramatized this week. What makes the Holy Father different today is that he views economic and social injustice as a defining, and possibly THE defining, theme of his papacy.

This is extraordinary, powerful and profound. There are profound differences between the policies of President Obama and Democrats versus the policies proposed by the atheist Ayn Rand and conservative voices such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Paul Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Republican leaders in Congress.

Francis suggests there should be far more economic and social justice regarding the wealthy and everyone else within the leading industrial nations, and between the leading industrial nations and poorer nations throughout the world.

There is a debate raging in Washington, across Europe and throughout the world pitting the right, which favors cruel austerity at a time of slow growth and high joblessness, versus progressives and moderates who believe harsh austerity today is economically disastrous and morally repellant.

The pope specifically calls on world leaders to address the great economic and financial injustices, and I agree with him completely. The pope uses words like “cult” and “dictatorship” to describe the champions of financial justice and the conditions their policies create, and I fully agree with him about this, as well.

Francis has also put his money where his mouth is. The Vatican Bank has already announced new openness and reforms at his direction, which should interest opponents of financial reform in America, Britain and elsewhere. Paul Ryan is a fervent disciple of Ayn Rand, who was the atheist champion of the culture of greed.

Ryan famously tried to employ Catholic theology on behalf of his budget austerity against the poor, and was quickly forced to retreat as the absurdity of this view became obvious. Various rightist and Republican voices have championed aspects of the cult of money, including Cruz, Ryan, Rand Paul, Ron Paul, Republican leaders in Congress and Mitt Romney, who famously ridiculed and demeaned much of the nation on video, championing the cult of money to a room of Republican donors whose money he sought.

It is ironic that these profound and important views of the Holy Father have so far received more attention from the Drudge Report than the leading newspapers of America, the network television news, or cable networks with so much airtime to put to work.

The BBC, Al-Jazeera, The Daily Telegraph and other international media have respected and reported the profound thoughts from Francis, which deserve far more attention here, which is why I write these words today.

Let us advance this great discussion to the center of politics and media throughout America and across the world. For those who disagree with my views, or for whatever reason continue to champion the cult of money and greed, I command to their attention the recent comments from Francis and the timeless words of the Sermon on the Mount.

The Hill Magazine

Brent Budowsky is served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, responsible for commerce and intelligence matters, including one of the core drafters of the CIA Identities Law. Served as Legislative Director to Congressman Bill Alexander, then Chief Deputy Whip, House of Representatives. Currently a member of the International Advisory Council of the Intelligence Summit. Left government in 1990 for marketing and public affairs business including major corporate entertainment and talent management.
Email this author | All posts by Brent Budowsky

Facebook Comments

Leave a Reply

Pope Francis condemns the cult of greed, Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan support it

In recent remarks that were stunning and profound, Pope Francis harshly criticized what he called “the cult of money” and condemned what he called the “dictatorship” of economies that are socially unjust and morally unfair.

These remarks, reported in The Daily Telegraph and highlighted on the Drudge Report (but not in major American media) suggest a papacy with the potential to transform the global economic and financial debate.

Most recent popes, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict, raised the same issues that Francis dramatized this week. What makes the Holy Father different today is that he views economic and social injustice as a defining, and possibly THE defining, theme of is papacy.

This is extraordinary, powerful and profound. There are profound differences between the policies of President Obama and Democrats versus the policies proposed by the atheist Ayn Rand and conservative voices such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Paul Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Republican leaders in Congress.

Francis suggests there should be far more economic and social justice regarding the wealthy and everyone else within the leading industrial nations, and between the leading industrial nations and poorer nations throughout the world.

There is a debate raging in Washington, across Europe and throughout the world pitting the right, which favors cruel austerity at a time of slow growth and high joblessness, versus progressives and moderates who believe harsh austerity today is economically disastrous and morally repellant.

The pope specifically calls on world leaders to address the great economic and financial injustices, and I agree with him completely. The pope uses words like “cult” and “dictatorship” to describe the champions of financial justice and the conditions their policies create, and I fully agree with him about this, as well.

Francis has also put his money where his mouth is. The Vatican Bank has already announced new openness and reforms at his direction, which should interest opponents of financial reform in America, Britain and elsewhere. Paul Ryan is a fervent disciple of Ayn Rand, who was the atheist champion of the culture of greed.

Ryan famously tried to employ Catholic theology on behalf of his budget austerity against the poor, and was quickly forced to retreat as the absurdity of this view became obvious. Various rightist and Republican voices have championed aspects of the cult of money, including Cruz, Ryan, Rand Paul, Ron Paul, Republican leaders in Congress and Mitt Romney, who famously ridiculed and demeaned much of the nation on video, championing the cult of money to a room of Republican donors whose money he sought.

It is ironic that these profound and important views of the Holy Father have so far received more attention from the Drudge Report than the leading newspapers of America, the network television news, or cable networks with so much airtime to put to work. 

The BBC, Al-Jazeera, The Daily Telegraph and other international media have respected and reported the profound thoughts from Francis, which deserve far more attention here, which is why I write these words today. 

Let us advance this great discussion to the center of politics and media throughout America and across the world. For those who disagree with my views, or for whatever reason continue to champion the cult of money and greed, I command to their attention the recent comments from Francis and the timeless words of the Sermon on the Mount. 

back to top

Thought-Provoking Rationality Possibly?

Ban box cutters, razor utility knives, pressure cookers (sometimes used for canning produce) and 157 firearms. Where does it end?

Again, it’s people who maim and kill—not the weapon of choice. We need the toughest deterrent against evil. Terrorists need to be punished to the fullest extent when inflicting harm against a single American and then we need enforcement. It can’t get any easier than that.

Instead, the last four years Americans have suffered through: (1) Fort Hood’s terrorist act being categorized as “workplace violence” and Hasan not brought to justice; (2) Obama called Daniel Pearl’s beheading a reminder “of how valuable a free press is;” (3) In 2009, Obama encouraged Muslim holy days of prayer but was silent on the National Day of Prayer; (4) During Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo, he stated “this cycle of suspicion must end” and “we have the power to remake the world” and “the U.S. will partner with any Muslim-majority country” (after crushing NASA), launching a new fund to help transfer our scientific ideas to them; (5) November, 2010, after 58 Christians were murdered while attending Catholic mass in Baghdad, Obama labeled this “a senseless act of hostage taking and violence,” refusing to mention the innocent were Christians; (6) Our intelligence ignored Russia’s intelligence; and, (7) Benghazi’s terrorist attack intelligence gathering, stonewalling and delay have been appalling.

It’s well worth rereading Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech.

How about at next month’s UN meeting, the U.S. delegation leads off with the “War on Terrorist Treaty” that puts some serious skin in the game, enforcing high-stake sanctions on terrorist countries that attempt or carry out a terrorist act against an American domestically? We could sanction, i.e., one million barrels of oil per injury/lost life, $1Tillion in total fines to the injured families, permanently defund foreign aid to such country and no further applications will be accepted to study here or become a U.S. citizen. We need to send an articultated, unwavering message.

Article IV of the Constitution requires that each state is protected against invasion.

Simply living on our soil doesn’t translate into embracing one’s commitment to our Constitution.

Americans have been sandbagged long enough with Washington’s pixie dust and it’s time that we take our national security seriously and end the gelastic political correctness that has grossly put all Americans in harm’s way.

For comments, contact Barbara J. Carlson at Barbara@FortBendBusinessJournal.com.

Short URL: http://www.fortbendstar.com/?p=30182

Posted by FortBendStar
on Apr 24 2013. Filed under Conservative Voice.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Boston, nation prepare to mark week after marathon bombings

At 2:50 p.m. EDT, the moment of the first blast that shook the city and the nation last Monday, people around the country will stop and observe a moment of silence. Bells will toll across Boston and elsewhere. The Massachusetts State Police said it will broadcast the silence in tribute to the victims of the blasts.

In Washington, President Obama, who visited Boston last week to help the city mourn and heal, will observe the moment of silence, the White House announced Monday morning.

• Also

• 

  Photo: Funeral for bombing victim Krystle Campbell

• 

  Photos: Boston Marathon bombings and the aftermath

• 

  Document: Dzhokar Tsarnaev charged

• 

  Timeline and map: Searching for the suspects

• 

  Full coverage: Explosions at Boston Marathon

FULL COVERAGE: Boston Marathon attack

It was just a week ago that two bombs went off within 100 yards of each other and within seconds along Boylston Street. Three people were killed and more than 180 were injured. Most have been treated and released, but some remain hospitalized in a range of conditions from fair to critical. One of the most seriously injured is a 7-year-old girl with multiple leg injuries being treated at Boston Children’s Hospital, the facility said.

After the attack, the FBI identified two suspects, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, ethnic Chechen brothers from the war-tossed southern region of Russia. The elder brother was killed in a shootout with police in the early hours of Friday in the suburb of Watertown and the younger one was captured, bleeding and hiding in a boat, half a mile away some 20 hours later.

During the day Friday, authorities asked people to remain indoors, effectively shutting down the region during a tense manhunt.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was beginning to provide “some written responses” to questions from authorities, seeking information about any other potential plots and whether other explosive devices had been left behind, a federal law enforcement official said Monday.

The official asked to speak anonymously because the investigation is still underway. He did not say what Tsarnaev’s responses were.

He said authorities are being careful to question the suspect only under the Miranda rule exemption, but added that federal terrorism charges against the 19-year-old are likely — perhaps as soon as Monday.

Meanwhile, Tsarnaev remains in serious condition in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, FBI special agent Greg Comcowich said.

Tsarnaev is likely to face state charges in connection with the fatal shooting of MIT police officer Sean Collier in Cambridge on Thursday night at the beginning of what became a night of terror.

He could face charges in connection with the wounding of transit officer Richard Donohue, 31, who was injured in the shootout. The officer continues to be listed in critical, but stable condition.

In addition to the moment of silence, a funeral began Monday morning for Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant worker killed in the blasts. A memorial service is scheduled Monday night at Boston University for 23-year-old Lu Lingzi, a graduate student from China, also killed in the blast.

The funeral Mass for Campbell was taking place in Medford, Mass., at St. Joseph’s Church, the woman’s home parish and where she had celebrated her First Communion. Trees were decorated with American flags and a three-story American flag was hung on the wall of a municipal building. 

Among those who came to mourn Campbell was Margaret Regan, of Winchester, Mass., who was Campbell’s second-grade teacher at The Swan School, which closed in 2003.

Regan displayed a picture of Campbell’s class.

“That’s Kystle, right in the back row, center,” Regan said. “She had the biggest smile. That’s the way she was.”

In some ways, Monday morning had the trappings of a typical workday in Boston. Traffic on Massachusetts Avenue, a major thoroughfare, crawled with regular morning commute traffic. Business was brisk at Flour, a bakery and coffee shop in Back Bay, with a mix of professionals taking their coffee to go and others settling in to work on their laptops or linger over a newspaper.

But the police barricades were still up a couple blocks away around the blast site, closing off Boylston Street and nearby blocks to cars and pedestrians.

Sound Off April 13, 2013

Posted: Saturday, April 13, 2013 8:00 am

Sound Off April 13, 2013

Why do Republicans spend more time ranting and raving about Obama when they have the CPAC that I would be more concerned with? These are the same individuals running in 2016 that made all of us not want to vote for them the last election. Then they bring in what they think is their ringer, Sarah Palin, and act like we like her whiny voice and know-it-all attitude. Come on, we need to revamp our party — and not with the same losers that made everyone turn against us the last time.

Has anyone read the little postcard that Ameren Illinois sent to all of us about Exxon Oil and the huge profit they have made off of all of us? I hope it proves to you that this is what our Congress keeps wanting to do, is to keep their fat cats supplied with money while we let them go with incentives and almost no tax on them. Making a profit such as that proves that they are raising the gas prices for a reason, and it sure isn’t our president’s fault. The oil companies are in charge of all of us, and it isn’t fair to you or me. Let’s do something about it. We have a senator from this state that will stand up for us. If they don’t, remember that, or let’s make them step down because they can’t do their jobs.

It would be a blessing if the new Pope Francis would require that the Catholic politicians abide by Catholic theology. Vice President Biden and Senator Durbin of Illinois are two examples of politicians who claim to be Catholic but vote against Catholic doctrine. For example, Biden and Durbin are for abortion and same-sex marriage. I hope the new Pope Francis would excommunicate them from the Catholic Church until they repent of their ways and support the position of the Catholic Church, which is that abortion is wrong and same-sex marriage is wrong.

It is wonderful that Pope Francis has invited leaders of the other Orthodox Catholic churches (Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem) to be part of the celebration. It would be great if he and the other leaders of Christianity would come together as one, like they were before the Great Schism in 1080. Perhaps he would allow the priests to marry, as was the case before 1008.

George Bush took nearly 100 days off during the first year of his election. They tried to warn him ahead of time about an impending attack in 2001. He shrugged it off and told them to put it in a memo, because he was busy playing golf. If he had read the memo, people’s lives may have been saved.

• 
  Discuss
  
• Print
  
  
  

Posted in
Sound off

on

Saturday, April 13, 2013 8:00 am.

Forum: Jenky showing bravery for taking stand when other Catholics are …

Re. Nov. Spotlight letter by Joe Zavisca, “Bishop driving Catholics away from Church”:

Mr. Zavisca needs to educate himself about what ignorance really is. He is ignorant of the Catholic faith.

The bishop of Peoria is brave enough to stand for the truth. There is only one truth, not a relevant truth depending on who you are. Jesus Christ stands for life. Does anyone sincerely think that Jesus would be for abortion, birth control or for the “right to choose?” Does anyone honestly think that Jesus Christ or his apostles would have voted for Obama?

Certainly “an overwhelming majority of American Catholics use some form of artificial birth control.” That is precisely why Bishop Jenky needs to stand up for what Jesus himself would stand up for. They persecuted Jesus too, you know! I invite Mr. Zavisca to study Catholicism, because there is much that he does not understand.

He wrote that he would like to ask the bishop, “What about the social justice message of Jesus in the gospels?” Perhaps the bishop would remind him that hospitals that care for the sick and schools that educate were started by Catholics who were all about justice. Catholics staff soup kitchens and food pantries all over this great country. They also care for the sick and the old who are in nursing homes.

I hope Mr. Zavisca will remain where he is in South Bend, Ind. Our bishop has a hard enough job protecting the faith without more people like this demonstrating ignorance of the faith.

Elizabeth Johnson

Peoria

Browse MMJ Centers

When the crowd alternates hollering out “Amen” with “Whoohoo,” you know this ain’t grandpa’s Catholic mass.

But then Sister Simone Campbell, the 67-year-old nun who’s touring the U.S. right now in a white vehicle labeled “Nuns on the Bus,” probably isn’t your Catholic grandpa’s habit, either.

• Kirsten Akens
• Nuns on the Bus hits Colorado Springs (with Sister Simone in green).

In fact, Sister Simone is a bit of a rock-star, left-leaning radical. The executive director of Network, a 40-year-old progressive organization of nuns, is featured this month in Rolling Stone‘s story “The Sisters Crusade,” a piece that opens with her struggle to sit down with former vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan to talk about the national budget.

The bus tour stopped by Colorado Springs’ Meadows Park Community Center at lunchtime today with Sister Simone at the helm, who pledged a continued fight for those less fortunate. Much of her discussion had to do with sharing the word about The Faithful Budget:

A collaboration of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other faith communities and organizations, The Faithful Budget promotes comprehensive and compassionate budget principles that will “protect the common good, values each individual and his or her livelihood, and helps lift the burden on the poor, rather than increasing it while shielding the wealthiest from any additional sacrifice.”

No matter that President Obama has won a second term — “we have a bit more work to do,” she said to a group of about 75 people. “The election is over, and we might all think, ‘Oh praise God we don’t have to watch those ads anymore.’ But the fact is, our work has just begun. Because tomorrow Congress reconvenes, God help us.”

If the Good Father hasn’t heard them yet, at least now they’ve got a little extra media behind them.

“Heaven only knows what happens after Rolling Stone,” Sister Simone told the Indy after her presentation. “It’s amazing.”

The Nuns on the Bus tour drops by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet‘s office in Denver tomorrow, Nov. 13.

200+ Catholic healthcare workers celebrate ‘White Mass’ under shadow of HHS …

SAN DIEGO, November 12, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On October 27th, more than two hundred faithful, including doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals, gathered at St. Therese of Carmel parish to celebrate San Diego’s first White Mass.

San Diego’s Coadjutor Bishop, Bishop Cirilo Flores, celebrated the Mass with seven concelebrating priests and a deacon. The White Mass, named for the white medical garments worn by those in the medical community, has been celebrated in the United States since the development of the Catholic Medical Association in the early 1930’s. The White Mass, in addition to honoring those in the healthcare profession, provides Catholic healthcare professionals an opportunity to come together as a medical community and unite their medical vocation with the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.

Addressing the healthcare professionals in attendance, Bishop Flores said, “My friends, you have been called in a special way to share in the healing ministry of Jesus. Your vocation is truly a gift to the Church, the diocese, to our community, and to those in need.”

The event was co-sponsored by St. Gianna Physician’s Guild and the San Diego based Culture of Life Family Services, a medical practice devoted to treating the whole person, body and soul, with particular emphasis on advancing the culture of life.

San Diego’s inaugural White Mass kicked off as politicians and Church leaders continue to debate the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate. The HHS mandate requires Catholic employers, not covered by the federal government’s narrowly defined conscience exemption, to provide health insurance plans that cover free access to contraception, abortifacients, and sterilization – services that are contrary to Church teaching.

CLICK ‘LIKE’ IF YOU ARE PRO-LIFE!

Bishop Flores said, “Our religious liberty must be protected when we walk out the [church] doors, so that we can live our faith without compromising our religious convictions.”

During Mass, the St. Therese of Carmel choir preformed, for the first time in the United States, the official Italian hymn dedicated to St. Gianna Molla, a modern-day saint canonized by Blessed John Paul II. Following Mass, attendees had the opportunity to venerate a first class relic of Saint Gianna and the stethoscope she used in the care of her patients. St. Gianna, the patron saint of mothers, physicians, and preborn children was an Italian mother, wife, and physician.

St. Gianna described her work as a physician as a “priestly mission” saying, “Just as the priest can touch Jesus, so we doctors touch Jesus in the bodies of our patients, in the poor, the young, the old, and children.”

Thomas McKenna, the director of St. Gianna Physician’s Guild, said that St. Gianna’s description of the medical vocation is at the center of the Guild because, “It goes totally contrary to the secular and humanist idea of what medicine is portrayed as today. This aspect of medicine being a ‘priestly mission,’ involves caring for the soul as well as the body. That is what we are wanting to bring back into society today and that is what the position of the Catholic Church is.”

Dr. Theresa Stigen, a Natural Procreative (NaPro) Technology trained physician from Mystical Rose Obstetrics and Gynecology located in Fallbrook said, “St Gianna has always been kind of a role model for me.” Stigen continued, “To be present at a White Mass, where her relics were present, a first class relic in particular, was really powerful.”

The White Mass also served as an opportunity for those involved in the broader pro-life movement to witness the pro-life efforts being made on the medical front. Roger Lopez, a sidewalk counselor with Helpers of God’s Precious Infants said, “To see all of these physicians come together, that understand and recognize the teachings of the Church, and that will help women, that won’t refer them for abortion, I think that’s fantastic.”

McKenna, with Episcopal advisors Cardinal Raymond Burke and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, developed the St. Gianna Enshrinement program. By offering St. Gianna as a model, the enshrinement program aims to encourage physicians to embrace their Catholic faith, not just as a layperson, but also as a physician. McKenna said, “Many have told me, ‘I practice medicine, I don’t talk faith.’ We say the contrary. You should be a Catholic first as well as a doctor.” Medical offices, hospitals, and parishes around the country have participated in the enshrinement program.

McKenna said, “Our culture places a lot of demands on physicians. These demands, sometimes ones that conflict with our Catholic faith, put Catholic healthcare practitioners in precarious situations. St. Gianna Physician’s Guild and events like this White Mass are here to support our Catholic healthcare practitioners in not only believing in a culture of life, but promoting one through their medical vocations.”

A Catholic Agenda for the Next Four Years – About

The 2012 U.S. presidential election surprised many Catholics, but it should not have. The result wasn’t exactly predetermined, but the writing had been on the wall for many months. As far back as January 2012, I had predicted that President Obama would be reelected. The one real bump in the road came when his administration imposed the contraception mandate on religiously affiliated institutions, but in retrospect, choosing to announce that policy nine months before the election was a political stroke of genius, because it all but ensured that most of the outrage—most notably among Catholics—would die down before Election Day.

And looking at the exit-poll data, it had. President Obama’s share of the Catholic vote dropped from 54 percent in 2008 to 50 percent, but that was enough to put him over the top. As in 2008, Catholics can be said to have provided the margin of victory for the most pro-abortion president in American history. This time around, of course, he had also proved himself virulently anti-Catholic: His choice of Joe Biden, a pro-abortion Catholic, as his running mate in 2008 was nothing compared with his choice of the rabidly pro-abortion Catholic Kathleen Sebelius as his secretary of Health and Human Services, nor his imposition, through Sebelius, of the contraception mandate, which threatens to put many Catholic institution—colleges and hospitals, especially—out of business, not to mention thousands of small businesses owned by Catholics who refuse to violate Church teaching.

Twenty-five percent of those who voted in this election identified themselves as Catholic; 11 percent say that they attend Mass weekly, and 13 percent say that they do not. (The numbers on Mass attendance do not add up to 25 percent because not all of those who identified themselves as Catholics revealed their attendance habits.) Not surprisingly, those who attend Mass weekly were less likely to vote for President Obama (42 percent) than the average Catholic, while those attend Mass less than weekly were more likely to do so (56 percent).

Why 42 percent of weekly Mass-going Catholics would vote for a man who has never hidden his support for the intrinsic evil of abortion is something of a mystery; there is no proportionate reason that would justify ignoring that fact. Those who pointed to President Bush’s wars in 2008, and John McCain’s willingness to continue to fight them, could not use that excuse this time: President Obama continued to prosecute the war in Iraq according to President Bush’s timetable, and he actually stepped up the war in Afghanistan, which continues today. He added to those U.S. military action in Libya, which, like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was opposed by the Vatican.

In the end, of course, the reasons why 42 percent of weekly Mass-going Catholics voted for a man who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion hardly matters; what matters now is that this President, who has shown his willingness to challenge the Catholic Church in the United States head-on, now has four more years to do so. And no one should be surprised if his administration steps up its attacks on the Catholic Church and other traditional Christian denominations.

Opposing those attacks politically, of course, will be very important; but even more important is the recognition that, in the words of the motto of the monthly magazine that I edit, there are no political solutions to cultural problems. And the problem of abortion, and the increasing attacks on religious freedom, are, at root, cultural problems. The changing political life of the United States simply reflects the changing nature of our culture; and politics lags behind the culture, which means that the results of this election reflect a culture that is likely even farther removed from its traditional moorings than President Obama himself is.

Those who are dismayed by the results of this election and by the cultural shift that it reflects can do one of two things: They can spend their time complaining about other people who have undermined traditional culture, or they can do something about it, starting in their own homes and neighborhoods and parishes. They can wait for the 2016 election, and continue to put their trust in Republican politicians to save the country, or they can follow the words of the Psalmist (Psalm 146:3): “Put not your trust in princes: in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation.”

In the wake of the 2008 election, I wrote extensively about the changes that could be wrought in the American political landscape if faithful Catholics were to vote only for candidates who broadly reflect Catholic social and moral teaching. (You can find links to those pieces at the end of this post.) I still believe that the only way to change the political landscape in the long term is to break out of the mindset that we must vote for the lesser of two evils, and only cast our votes for candidates whom we can positively support. Imagine if 25 percent of the population (all Catholics who voted) or even just 11 percent of the population (all weekly Mass-going Catholics who voted) had abstained from voting for either of the major-party candidates this year, because neither reflected (albeit in different ways) Catholic social and moral teaching. Had that happened, Catholics would have been the group of voters most sought after four years from now, and potential presidential candidates would have had to bring their own positions more closely in line with Catholic social and moral teaching.

But our efforts need to go beyond the voting booth. We cannot expect to judge political candidates by how closely they reflect Catholic social and moral teaching if we don’t understand that teaching ourselves. If we reduce that teaching simply to opposition to abortion (because it is the most important moral issue of our time) and, for instance, dismiss the prosecution of unjust wars as merely a “prudential judgment” (without understanding what a prudential judgment entails), then both major parties can continue to take the Catholic vote for granted. The Republicans can continue to count on the votes of pro-life Catholics, without actually doing anything about abortion when they are in office; and the Democrats can continue to count on the votes of all other Catholics, while increasingly spitting in the face of the Catholic Church.

Our children need to embrace the fullness of the Catholic Faith. They need to understand what it entails beyond one hour at Mass every Sunday. But in order for them to understand that, we need to understand it first. And that means we need to start living our lives as if we believe that Christ is King—not just for one hour per week, but every moment of every day.

Do that, and the culture will begin to heal itself. Do that, and politics will begin to reflect a revitalized culture. Put not your trust in princes, and—oddly enough—we may begin to find that we have more princes we can trust.

More on Politics and Faith:

• Where Do We Go From Here?
• Where Faith and Politics Intersect, Part I
• Where Faith and Politics Intersect, Part II
• Where Faith and Politics Intersect, Part III

My Take: Catholic bishops’ election behavior threatens their authority

Editor’s note: Vincent Miller is the Gudorf Chair of Catholic Theology and Culture at the University of Dayton.

By Vincent Miller, Special to CNN

President Obama’s narrow victory among Catholic voters this week will be seen by many as a political loss for the U.S. Catholic bishops, who appeared to be openly opposing Obama during the presidential campaign.

The Catholic Church was well within its rights to conduct its campaign on religious liberty, but its “Preserve Religious Freedom” yard signs were clearly designed to be placed alongside partisan candidate signs. And they were – in very large numbers.

The technically nonpartisan nature of the Church’s religious liberty campaign was further drowned out by a small chorus of strident bishops who left no doubt about how Catholics ought to vote for president.

In a letter he ordered read at all parishes last Sunday, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria juxtaposed the Obama administration’s new contraception mandate with the scourging and mockery of Jesus. Jenky declared that “electoral supporters” of pro-abortion rights politicians reject “Jesus as their lord,” as did the crowd that roared, “We have no king but Caesar.”

Opinion: Moving on from elections as American rite

Such forceful statements were never balanced by significant challenges to the Republican presidential ticket.

There is more at stake here than politics.

Though I agree with the bishops that the exemption for religious employers in the White House contraceptive insurance mandate is too narrow, the bishops’ posture toward the administration during the election poses a major risk to the Church because it left the impression that there was only one legitimate Catholic choice for president – Mitt Romney.

The result is that half of the Catholic electorate felt it was being judged as voting “against the Church,” even though such voters weren’t actually dissenting from Catholic teaching. They were, instead, making the complex decisions that any serious voter must, weighing their own moral commitments against a candidate’s professed values, the policies they propose and how much is likely to be accomplished on a given issue given the political climate.

CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories

Voters must weigh the mix of positions of both candidates, not just the objections against one. This year, they had to weigh, among other things, a new problem with religious liberty against the Republicans’ earnest proposal to replace Medicare’s guaranteed coverage with a subsidy for private insurance.

By putting voters in a “with us or against us” bind, some of America’s bishops have risked eroding their own authority. They imply that specific political judgments are matters of Church teaching, when by Catholic tradition, the more they descend into the details of policy, the less certain their judgments become.

Bishops must allow room for and respect believers’ own specific political judgments. The Second Vatican Council taught that it is primarily the responsibility of the laity to undertake the secular work of inscribing “the divine law…in the life of the earthly city.”

The way out of this crisis is for the bishops to carefully respect the necessary limits involved in the task of forming the consciences of lay believers. They must teach moral principles and, yes, argue for their specific application, but always in a way that respects individual judgments about how best to enact these principles.

Election results raise questions about Christian right’s power

At times this formation might even require forceful challenge, but it should never assume ill will or ignorance when the faithful vote differently than they desire.

Trusting laypeople to make the political decisions that are properly theirs gives them room to embrace the Church’s doctrines, even if they cannot enact all of them in their voting choices. This is essential to sustaining a Catholic identity separate from the divisiveness of partisan politics. This election season like none before left many Catholics feeling like the Church gave them no such room.

The Catholic Church will enhance its public authority by speaking out in a way that supports and challenges both parties. Prophets are respected when they are perceived to be an independent and fair voice. When the deep coherence of Catholic moral teaching is communicated, it can free people from our partisan moral straightjackets. But when parts of this teaching are passed over in silence, the Church puts itself in a partisan straightjacket.

The official Church response to the candidacy of vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan displayed this failure to forcefully challenge both parties. In the spring, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had challenged Ryan’s proposed federal budget for failing to put “the needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty” first. But the bishops were largely silent on this issue during the campaign.

Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter

The response of Catholic voters, however, displayed a decidedly Catholic instinct for the common good. Introduced as a “faithful Catholic” by Romney, Ryan brought no significant bump in Catholic support for the ticket.

Indeed, Ryan’s radical budget and ideologically driven plan to end Medicare as a guaranteed benefit program did what decades of work by Catholic social justice advocates had never been able to achieve: It activated a gut level Catholic concern for solidarity and the common good. President Obama’s Catholic poll numbers peaked in the weeks following Ryan’s selection.

The Catholic Church can never turn its back on the moral dimension of politics. But it must beware the divisiveness that even the appearance of partisanship can bring into the Church. Teach and preach the fullness of the Church’s doctrines forthrightly and forcefully, but honor the decisions of the laity. The danger is not that the Church might inappropriately interfere with politics, but that partisan politics will infect the Church.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Vincent Miller.