Catholic Social Teaching
Policing the sacred and constructing the myths of the secular state, from Locke to Obama
Liberty, the god that failed
What has gone wrong with the grand American experiment in “ordered liberty”? The liberal’s answer is that America has failed to live up to its full promise of inclusiveness and equality—likely the result of corporate greed and white male ruling elites. The mainstream conservative or libertarian’s reply points to the Warren Court, the 1960’s, a denial of “states’ rights”, or a loss of Constitutional rectitude. Christopher Ferrara, in Liberty, the God That Failed, offers an entirely different answer. In a counter-narrative of unique power and scope, he unmasks the order promised as a sham; the liberty guaranteed, a chimera. In his telling, the false god of a new political order—Liberty—was born in thought long before America’s founding, and gained increasing devotion as it slowly amassed power during the first two centuries of the nation’s existence. Today it reveals its full might, as we bear the weight of its oppressive decrees, and experience the emptiness of the secular order it imposes upon us. To many of the West’s cultured despisers, religion as personal motive and social force is inextricably bound up with violence. In the tale modernity tells itself, the secular state saved the West from the depredations of religion, and thereby sowed fertile ground for the boundless achievements of liberal modernity. This myth is tenacious, its unmasking a long, continuous struggle, for the secular state has constructed this story to mask its own violent origins and ongoing displays of force. Ferrara destroys this myth with a relentless uncovering of truths hidden by both liberal and conservative/libertarian accounts of what has gone wrong. In this brilliant retelling of American history and political life, the author asks us to open our eyes to harsh realities, but also to the possibilities for a rightly ordered society and the true liberty that can still be ours. To read this book is never to think about the modern West and American history in the same way again
Policing the sacred and constructing the myths of the secular state, from Locke to Obama
On the Origin of Civil Power
Diuturnum
On the Origin of Civil Power
by Pope Leo XIII
Where does authority come from? How society needs it. Rejects "consent of the people." Measure of how Church defends loyalty to temporal power. Lessons of history.
Booklet, 14 pages
On the Origin of Civil Power
by Pope Leo XIII
Where does authority come from? How society needs it. Rejects "consent of the people." Measure of how Church defends loyalty to temporal power. Lessons of history.
Booklet, 14 pages
Diuturnum
An introduction to catholic social doctrine
WHY IS SOCIAL DOCTRINE NECESSARY?
“Because Holy Mother Church knows that it is much more difficult to work out one’s salvation in a godless materialistic world like Communist China and North Korea…or in any liberal Western country where divine and natural law are no longer respected.”
Learn to defend the Catholic principles behind:
Politics, religion, and the relationship between Church and State
The nature of man as an intelligent, free, spiritual, and moral being
The structure of society and its duties towards God
The dangers religious liberty poses to society
Political economy and false notions surrounding it
The nature of authority and its function
The family as an authentic domestic society
The role of Church and State in education and schooling
This easy-to-read book is essential to maintaining a true Catholic understanding of man and society. Sadly, Catholic social principles have been ostracized from contemporary life for more than a century. This excellent tool combats the modern world and helps restore those lost principles, first in the home and then in the wider society in which we live.
“Catholic social doctrine is the sum of truths and principles enshrined in the Church’s magisterium and drawn from natural law and revelation, which deals with all aspects of man’s social life. Its main goal is the advancement of the kingdom of God on earth. This divine kingdom promotes the transformation of the world in agreement with the Catholic Faith. It has an impact on all aspects of life, both social and economic.”
An Essay on the Economic Effects of the Reformation
The Reformation undermined the authority of the Catholic Church, the only ethical authority able to counter two new economic theories: 1) that man's self-interest is paramount; 2) that the individual must be subordinated to the welfare of the community. The path to both Capitalism and Socialism had been opened by the Reformation. 155pp softcover
The Church and the Land
'Written by one of the great late 19th-century/early-20th-century spiritual and social writers of England, this is a collection of essays addressing the problems of the Industrial Revolution with Christian philosophy and social thought. Among the topics included are industrialism and the rise of unemployment; the evil of the wage system; the importance of land ownership and the restoration of craft production; the necessary connection between real work and spiritual salvation. It is intended for anyone studying social and economic thought as well as Catholic and Christian studies. 187pp'
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Catechism Stories
English priest Father Drinkwater spent years gathering the over 700 stories presented in this book. Each story, culled from newspapers, hagiography, the Bible, etc., explains an aspect of the Catechism. Valuable reading on its own but also excellent as a teacher's resource as each story catches the attention and impresses the memory. 512pp