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On Being Catholic American | By Joseph A. Varacalli
The United States of America needs the Catholic
worldview more than the Catholic faith requires the American experience.
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To some significant degree, the overwhelming majority of Catholics who
live in the United States of America actively affirm and participate in
what may be termed a "cult of gratitude" for our nation. This
intense appreciation of America is, perhaps, especially acute for those
Catholics whose memories do not easily allow for one to "take for
granted" the opportunities that this country has afforded them. Two
groups come readily to mind. The first group consists of those Catholics,
at least within my age group of fifty-two, who remember more humble times
in terms of social and economic status. In this regard, I can vividly
recall the stories told to me by my parents, Joe "the shoemaker"
and Tessie "the hatmaker." They constantly extolled the virtues
of America and recounted the stories of hardship for their own parents
while living in, respectively, Calabria and the Naples region at the turn
of the twentieth century. The second group of those unlikely to take for
granted the blessings of this country consists of those recent Catholic
immigrants to American shores from what is now commonly referred to as
the "less developed" countries of the world who have no problem
whatsoever in recalling vividly the sting of overt and unrelenting
persecution and the various and obvious hardships associated with absolute
material poverty.
But even those more affluent generations of Catholics removed from the
immigrant and working class ethnic experiencelike many suburbanized
Long Islandersfeel comfortable with the American experience if for
no other reason than that they have been so successfully and completely
socialized into it; sociologists like myself refer to this as but one
instance of a fundamental "ethnocentrism" that is both inevitable
and structured into human existence. Put another way, America is loved
by many Americans, in part, because it is simply "home" and
because it is the only thing that most of them know.
The purpose of my presentation is to provide a brief reflection, from
what I take to be an authentic Catholic sensibility, on how Catholics
ought to analyze their relationship to American society and culture.
Put another way, the following question might be posed: "What does
American patriotism mean to the serious and devout Catholic?" Or,
perhaps and more precisely, the question is: "How can American patriotism
be apprehended in a manner consistent with the tenets of the Catholic
faith?" I will attempt, in part, to address these questions by presenting
a series of twelve propositions and principles for consideration and reflection.
Propositions and Principles
Proposition One: Today patriotic sentiments primarily are realized
at the level of the nation; in a previous era, the relevant social construction
might have been the family, clan, village, or local region. To give an
example, for my southern Italian grandparents, their whole world was their
village; a world that was centered by the sound of the Church bell. Some
present-day utopians project (as well as advocate) that patriotism may
soon be mediated through an attachment to the "global community."
Examples of such utopians would be the more ideological supporters of
the United Nations and those various European elites who have given up
on a once Christian based Western civilization. Our concern in this presentation,
however, is restricted to the issue of a nationalistic patriotism. The
question here, again, is how Catholic citizens should relate to America.
Proposition Two: It is idolatrous to place the nation, any
nation, above the worship of the one, true God and the faithful practice
of the Catholic religion. The Catholic Church is a gift given to us from
God and is the Bride of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For all of
its virtues, America is, at best, a means to some higher end such
as human liberty and, at worst, a means to attempt to satisfy the
baser preoccupations of the species though an all-consuming concern for
sexual gratification or the search for "ecstasy" through drug
experimentation.
Proposition Three: Whether patriotism is good or bad or ambivalent
depends on the values that the nation in question embodies. Put ever so
crudely, from a Catholic perspective, it is not legitimate to defend the
"patriotic Nazi" or "patriotic Communist" or any collective
form of human existence that does not work to enhance the fundamental
dignity of the person made in the image of God. Patriotism, in and by
itself, is neither good nor bad; the issue is the nature of what one is
patriotic towards.
Proposition Four: The culture of a nation is capable of changing
significantly over time. Such change is highly likely to occur in the
modern context given such factors as the influence of advanced science
and technology and increased communication, pluralism, and geographic
and social mobility. These factors tend to create new values (e.g., the
perceived need for "self-expression," a central concern for
"leisure," etc.) as well as modify and transform those values
historically rooted in the American experience. Put another way, American
society is constantly changing; thats why sociologists like myself
find some utility in employing the concept of a "generation gap."
My parents social world is not mine and, God protect them, my world
is not the world that my sons and daughter, most likely, will have to
navigate through.
Proposition Five: The culture of American society today is
not the same as that of America at mid-century past. For all of Americas
undeniable material, technological, medical, and scientific progress over
the past fifty years, this nation has started to descend into what John
Paul II has termed a "culture of death." For some, the central
American value of individualismthanks in part to an irresponsible
judiciaryhas been shorn of any orientation to serve the public good.
Democracy has degenerated, for too many, into a procedural right substantially
devoid of ethical consideration. Material acquisition and possession has
been transformed, for a certain powerful sector of society, from a means
to empower the individual and family to live the good and moral, and perhaps
even holy, life to an end unto itself, i.e., to the absurd idea that one
can construct for oneself a this-worldly paradise that serves as the be
all and end all of human existence. While not defending everything associated
with the 1950s in this country or denying that we havent seen improvements
in some aspects of life, I basically believe that, all things considered,
this country was a better place to live in fifty years or so ago.

   

Proposition Six: From a Catholic perspective, contemporary
American society represents to its citizens a "mixed bag" of
cultural directives. On the positive side, America presents some wonderful
possibilities: in the freedom to chart ones own destiny (at least
during our temporary existence in this "vale of tears"), in
the escape from absolute material and physical deprivation, and in the
enhanced dignity afforded some human categories (e.g., women, blacks,
and immigrant minorities). On the other hand, the latter movements have
been dramatically reversed in such developments as the acceptance of an
unlicensed freedom refusing to direct itself to the service of truth and
morality; in the entrapment of more and more individuals in the self-destruction
of the hedonistic lifestyle with all of its associated human depravities;
and in the examples of the widespread acceptance of the grotesque practice
of abortion and of other abominations both presently existing and lurking
ahead in the realm of biotechnology.
Proposition Seven: Fairness, realism, and the Catholic worldview,
then, should acknowledge the ambiguous cultural reality of the
present situation in the United States. This means rejecting both a
"knee-jerk," idolatrous worship and defense of things present-day
American as well as the invitation, offered from the secular and religious
radical left, to join the "America hating club." The former
denies the many failures of our civilization, past and present, while
the latter, conversely, studiously and quite consciously ignores this
countrys many undeniable accomplishments and virtues.
Proposition Eight: Within the deposit of the social doctrine
of the Catholic Church and within the tradition of natural law thinking
are to be found many ideas capable of enriching American civilization
for all of its citizens, both Catholic and non-Catholic. Put another way,
the possibility of reversing this societys descent into the culture
of death or, conversely, building a society based on love and human solidarity
depends on the implementation in American society of ideas either derived
from, or consistent with, Catholic social teachings. The Catholic defense
of the fundamental dignity of all human life, including the unborn; its
positing of truth and the exercise of reason; its promotion of the intact,
nuclear, traditional family; its insistence that the purpose of government
is to serve the common good; its position that workers and employees have
the right to organize for a decent spiritual and material existence; its
claim that creative and dignified work is constitutive of the anthropology
of mankind; and its argument that the true development of nations and
individual lives involves the furthering of both body and soul, are just
a few examples of what Ive referred to as the "bright promise"
contained within Catholic social thought and the natural law. Simply put,
the saving and further perfection of the American experiment lies primarily
with the ability of the Catholic Church to serve as a leaven for our society
and culture. Put another way, and translated into the central concern
of my presentation, a great way to be a patriotic American is to be a
serious, educated, and committed Catholic American.
Proposition Nine: The Catholic Church of the United States
is not, at least in its present condition, in a position to effectively
lead the restoration of American society and culture. As Ive argued
in my book, Bright Promise, Failed Community: Catholics and the American
Public Order, the Catholic Church in the United States has suffered
a massive "secularization from within" during the post-Vatican
II era. Put another way, during this period, the institution has allowed
itself to be co-opted by corrupting secular influences, thus losing her
ability not only to serve as a leaven for our society and culture but
also her ability to evangelize her own community of slightly less than
twenty-five percent of the American population. Simply put, the Church
cant save America if she cant first save herself.
Proposition Ten: The first task for the Catholic Church, then,
is to restore integrity to the Catholic house through an intensive emphasis
on authentic Catholic evangelization, catechesis, socialization, and education.
In the language of sociology, the Catholic Church must rebuild its "plausibility
structure" or series of social institutions (e.g., parishes, seminaries,
schools, colleges, newspapers and book publishing outlets, hospitals,
and professional and academic organizations, etc.) that "stand between"
the individual and the powerful secular public institutions of government,
the corporations, Hollywood, the mass media and academia that have captured
the hearts, minds, and souls of the overwhelming majority of the once-Catholic
faithful as well as a significant sector of the remaining nonCatholic
population. An intact and authentic Catholic plausibility structure not
only constantly presents and reinforces the Catholic worldview in all
its comprehensiveness, sophistication, and splendor to the Catholic population
but also serves as an evangelizing and political force in the outer society.
In this regard, it is hard to overestimate the importance of institutions
like Kellenberg Memorial High School, which, in both its curricular and
extracurricular activities, has combined/synthesized so successfully the
Catholic religious tradition with the demands of both the intellect and
involvement in the world outside of the classroom.
Proposition Eleven: The keys to creating and sustaining an
orthodox Catholic institution capable both of socializing effectively
its members and evangelizing successfully outside its walls is the maintaining
of 1) the Catholic tradition in all its majesty and sophistication, 2)
high standards of professionalism and competence, and 3) constantly reinforcing
communication and social interaction. Regarding the latter, it is vitally
important that, in the present non-Catholic social context of American
life, Catholics spend more time in each others company, whether
in family gatherings, or formal and informal meetings of Catholic organizations
that range from those parish-affiliated to the Knights of Columbus hall
to the Catholic League regional chapter to professional associations of
doctors, lawyers, nurses, etc. to more ad hoc groups formed to step up
to the plate to help our Church and society in their specific moments
of need. This constant and mutually reinforcing communication and social
interaction creates the required "accent on reality" for the
Catholic religious worldview to become central in consciousness and subsequently
translated into concrete activity performed in support of the Catholic
mission to "restore all things in Christ." Simply put, invest
less time with American mass culture and more time in an authentically
Catholic milieu.
Proposition Twelve: In trying to make a distinctively Catholic
contribution to American society, especially in public life, it is important
to recall the biblical injunction to be as "innocent as a dove and
as wise as a serpent." This is important advice given that American
public life presently is hostile to any significant witness of the Catholic
or Christian faith. One should look, then, for role models who can show
us how one best can navigate the field of land mines "out there"
just waiting to blow up in the face of courageous Catholic Americans who
are untutored in the ways of public life. One such role model is Mel Gibson,
whose film, The Passion of the Christ, represents a major victory
for those who believe that Christians have a right to attempt to contribute
and shape the contours of our culture and society. In creating, adjusting,
and shepherding his production to completion, Mel Gibson has combined
courage with prudence, creativity with hard work, and fidelity to Jesus
Christ with technical competence. Mel Gibson is a Christian who has made
a difference in American public life by enriching it with the Gospel message.
He is a true American patriot and a true Christian American.
In reflecting on what it should mean to be a "Catholic American,"
it is important for Catholics in America to realize that they are heirs
to a two thousand year old tradition that, warts notwithstanding, can
be accurately described, along with Harry Crocker, as constituting a magnificent
"triumph," a triumph that is the product of Gods grace
in conjunction with human effort cooperating with Gods plan for
mankind. Too many contemporary Catholic Americans still accept a "minority
group" consciousness in this two hundred year old land once dominated
by Protestants and now by secularists of one sort or another. Catholics
must shed themselves of this self-effacing attitude and proudly and realistically
accept the responsibility that comes from representing a tradition unsurpassed
in the ability to present truth, holiness, beauty, and utility to the
world. While in a potentially mutually beneficial relationship, the simple
and stark fact is that United States of America needs the Catholic worldview
more than the Catholic faith requires the American experience. If this
county of ours, which we love so much and which has done so much good
for so many, is to escape further descent into the culture of death, it
will be because of the presence, witness, and actions of a revitalized
Catholic Church in the United States of America.
(This article originally appeared in the August/September 2004 issue of
Homiletic & Pastoral Review.)
Related Links:
"The Mysterious,
Elusive Catholic VoterCaptured!" | George J. Marlin's The
American Catholic Voter
"Can Catholics
Be 'Real Americans'?" | by Mark Brumley
"What Is America?"
| by G. K. Chesterton
A Perspective
From Across the Pond | A Conversation with Dwight Longenecker
Discovering
the New Faithful | An interview with Colleen Carroll Campbell
Joseph
A. Varacalli, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology and Director for the
Center for Catholic Studies at Nassau Community College-S.U.N.Y.
This essay is based, in part, on his volume, Bright
Promise, Failed Community: Catholics and the American Public Order (Lexington Books, 1-800-462-6420;
www.lexingtonbooks.com
or www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com.
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