Matthew Yglesias has an interesting post slamming Glenn Beck for calling "social justice" code for socialism. This is the quote from the Ygeleias site made by Glenn Beck:
“I beg you, look for the words ’social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church web site,” Beck urged his audience. “If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!”
Mr. Ygeleias cites the Catholic Church, in particular the Vatican website, the American Baptist Church, and the Episcopal Church as mainstream churches that tout "social justice." He seems to think Beck is confusing social justice with the charitable acts of churches.
While I think that Glenn Beck's advice for people to leave their church over this is a bit imprudent, the sad fact is he is quite right in his assumptions. In most cases, even within the Catholic Church, social justice has come to mean a form of socialism. I was born a Catholic and I will die a Catholic, but that doesn't mean I can't tell the difference between the institutional Church and the divine aspects of the Church.
While I think that Glenn Beck's advice for people to leave their church over this is a bit imprudent, the sad fact is he is quite right in his assumptions. In most cases, even within the Catholic Church, social justice has come to mean a form of socialism. I was born a Catholic and I will die a Catholic, but that doesn't mean I can't tell the difference between the institutional Church and the divine aspects of the Church.
God didn't leave a raft of angels to run The Bride of Christ (Church on earth.) He used what was available and that happened to be man. And sometimes man can make an awful hash of things. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, we have a bunch of bishops who have fallen into the "greenie-weenie-health-care-for-all-let's-make-all-illegals-citizens" trap that the right espouses, forgetting that their main duty is to teach and lead. Or as I like to say; they're here as shepherds to help us, the sheep, get to heaven. This thinking isn't confined to the Catholic Church. However, I try refrain from making remarks about churches I don't attend.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue weighs in with this:
Many are hammering Beck for saying, "Am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!" A closer read of what he said shows he followed that quip with, "If I am going to Jeremiah Wright's church. If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish."Beck didn't say Christians should abandon their religion. He recommended shopping around to find a more conservative parish if one is dissatisfied with hearing left-wing sermons. Nothing new about that. In the Catholic Church, there are priests who are stridently left-wing and stridently right-wing; many parishioners shop accordingly. Protestants shop by leaving one denomination for another. And so on. read the rest
H/T Memeorandum
