quote:

Should we look to kings and princes to put right the inequalities between rich and poor? Should we require soldiers to come and seize the rich man's gold and distribute it among his destitute neighbors? Should we beg the emperor to impose a tax on the rich so great that it reduces them to the level of the poor and then to share the proceeds of that tax among everyone?

Equality imposed by force would achieve nothing, and do much harm. Those who combine both cruel hearts and sharp minds would soon find ways of making themselves rich again. Worse still, the rich whose gold was taken away would feel bitter and resentful; while the poor who received the gold from the hands of soldiers would feel no gratitude, because no generosity would have prompted the gift. Far from bringing moral benefit to society, it would actually do moral harm. Material justice cannot be accomplished by compulsion; a change of heart will not follow. The only way to achieve true justice is to change people's hearts first - and then they will joyfully share their wealth.

quote:

The only way to achieve true justice is to change people's hearts first - and then they will joyfully share their wealth.

quote:


Wonder why the Roman Catholic Church hangs onto its trillions.

Thanks
RC

quote:

He had it right. And this is why the religous right failed.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jhud

quote:

He had it right. And this is why the religous right failed.

They failed?

What happens now?

quote:

We go back to offering Christianity the way Christ intended- by making disciples.

As I've seen many folks describe it, Christ's ressurection was D-Day, and not V-Day. And it's a bloody war that must be fought inch by inch, person by person. There's no shortcuts- you cannot make someone truly be moral except by changing their heart.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jhud

quote:

We go back to offering Christianity the way Christ intended- by making disciples.

As I've seen many folks describe it, Christ's ressurection was D-Day, and not V-Day. And it's a bloody war that must be fought inch by inch, person by person. There's no shortcuts- you cannot make someone truly be moral except by changing their heart.

So you will be spending less time in the political forums then?

quote:

What, I've already gained my two inches for the past five years- go out and gain yours'.

quote:

Wonder why the Roman Catholic Church hangs onto its trillions.

quote:

ORIGINAL: c11bar

Check out this great article about the Church and the free market.

A Catholic Defense of the Free Market

"..............All in all, state power to aggress against property owners inevitably encourages man's most predatory instincts, giving him an incentive to devote less time to satisfying the needs of his fellow men and more time to using the state's machinery of coercion to loot them for his own selfish benefit. Since the release of such instincts will seriously undermine the common good, I see no reason that someone could not cite St. Thomas's principle and thereby be perfectly at liberty to oppose expansions of state power over the economy on these grounds.

Pope John Paul II was fond of the maxim that people should be treated as ends in themselves, rather than as mere means to ends. Only the market respects this principle, since transactions are allowed to occur only when both parties give their consent. No one may employ the state's machinery of violence against another to make the latter bow to his will, hand over his money, or otherwise act against his normal inclination.

According to John Paul II, "The moral causes of prosperity . . . reside in a constellation of virtues: industriousness, competence, order, honesty, initiative, frugality, thrift, spirit of service, keeping one's word, daring -- in short, love for work well done. No system or social structure can resolve, as if by magic, the problem of poverty outside of these virtues." These are precisely the virtues that the market economy fosters.

These ideas are not foreign to Catholic tradition: The Late Scholastics of the 16th and 17th centuries favored an economy very largely free of government controls, and John Paul II's Centesimus Annus(1991) reflected an increasing appreciation for the moral and material benefits of non-coerced economic exchange. The less heed we pay to slogans and propaganda, and the more we study the question on its merits, the more attractive does the market become."

quote:

ORIGINAL: CatholicCritter

quote:

Wonder why the Roman Catholic Church hangs onto its trillions.

Yeah, I'm glad I'm Catholic because the day I was baptized the Pope came through his secret tunnel to my house and gave me a $1,000,000...
Of course I have to inform on all my protestant neighbors.

This is a foolish remark based on nothing more than bigotry and laziness. You can do better than that, can't you? The Church has been, is now, and always will be the greatest and most active charity in existence, so try again.