Faith in a time of socio-political disintegration
By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 20, 2024
It’s been a couple of years since I touched on the real meaning of the term “faith” for Catholics, and I don’t think I’ve ever applied it to our political context. At this moment in the United States we are faced at the highest level with the impossibility of voting for a candidate who represents truth and justice; the only moral course open to us in voting is to choose the lesser of two evils. I cannot see the future, but I strongly suspect that there are not enough people who will think about things in this way to bring about even that sort of victory, and of course this raises two disturbing questions: First, does voting for the lesser of two evils justify politics as a legitimate Catholic priority? Second, does our current situation teach us that politics is not the answer to moral disintegration?
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Let’s step back a little: What is the essence of our Catholic identity? It is, of course, what we call “the Faith”. But what is faith? As articulated in the New Testament, and most thoroughly in the letters of St. Paul, faith is not mere belief in a set of propositions. Instead, it is centered on the Person of Jesus Christ, and the word “faith” means belief in His teachings, trust in His promises, and obedience to His commands. Let’s give this some context and explore this understanding.
Laughable morality, laughable politics
We might agree with some of the opinions of another person without putting any particular faith in that person. Many nominal Catholics have precisely this attitude toward the Catholic Church (which is in some sense a “person”, being the mystical body of Christ intimately connected to Christ the head). We may vaguely assent to some of the Church’s (that is, Christ’s) teachings, but not take them too seriously, so that we have no trouble setting this or that teaching aside in “real life” without completely severing our human ties with the Church (that is, with Christ). We may still enjoy the fellowship of the parish and we may still be moved to celebrate liturgically the great feasts or even most Sundays without realizing that we have not yet really placed our faith in Christ (through His mystical body on earth, the Church).
It is, after all, just this sort of infantile—or perhaps merely residual—attachment to the Church which accounts for the large numbers of even fairly regular Church-going Catholics—and including even some religious, priests and bishops—who consistently fail to recognize the socio-political evils of our age, prefer to get caught up in the ever-shifting “moral” priorities of the secular world, and refuse to step out of the mainstream even to vote for the lesser of two evils. Still less will they support any overwhelmingly moral candidate as evaluated by Catholic teaching, which includes the natural law. If every self-identifying Catholic were to vote in accordance with the Church’s (Christ’s) moral commands, we could even now win elections to prioritize the common good. But far too many Catholics have an infantile—or perhaps merely residual—attachment to the Church.
Perhaps more to the point, many Catholics—including some in the very highest places—take their priorities from worldly ideas even if they do not deny all the Divine ideas. To mention one painfully obvious example, it is difficult to find any other description for a Pope who consistently emphasizes popular environmental issues over the issues that are directly destroying our personal grip on reality, or who (as noted recently in Pope rips both US presidential candidates) cannot distinguish complex prudential issues like immigration from the absolute evil of murder. Fortunately our ultimate guide is not the pope when speaking off the cuff but the pope when exercising the Church’s magisterium.
Conversion is essential
There is an interesting discussion in the latest issue of First Things, in which several writers reflect on and respond to an initial political essay on “Constructing Conservatism” by the conservative but non-religious founder of American Compass, Oren Cass. But to me one of its most interesting results is the impression it leaves on the reader of how hopeless America’s real political options are right now. What the whole discussion suggests to me is that politics does not currently offer much fruitful ground. If we cannot re-evangelize Americans, then not only are all of our political hopes vain, but we risk squandering energies on politics that ought to be directed at conversion to Christ.
So what does “conversion to Christ” mean? Well, it means prompting an openness to the gift of Faith. And, again, what does “Faith” mean? Let me repeat: As taught by the Catholic Church (which, as the mystical body of Christ, ought to know), Faith means:
- Belief in Christ’s teachings
- Trust in Christ’s promises
- Obedience to Christ’s commands
Fully realized, this is a Catholic understanding which involves a complete change of life predicated on the mission of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is obviously not a secular idea. Nor is it a Protestant idea (tinged by Luther’s notion that Christ does not make us new so much as throw a white and shining outer garment over the corruption of our sinful nature). Nor is it even an Orthodox idea, by which the underlying truths of “faith” tend to be located only in the great Church councils of the first several hundred years of Christian history—for one of Christ’s promises was to be with (and indeed in) the Church until the end of time.
When a Catholic claims to have “the Faith” or to be “faithful”, this means committing himself or herself to walking in lockstep with Jesus Christ in the heart of His Church. We might believe someone’s teachings without caring about that person’s promises or feeling bound by any of his commands. We might trust someone’s promises without having any opinion at all about what he has taught and with no intention to offer him our obedience. And we might even strive to be obedient to some leader’s commands (as in the military, for example, or as a child to a parent) without either expecting much from his promises or being the least concerned with his teachings or theories of life. But the supernatural virtue of faith includes all of these elements, and when we do not embody that, it simply means we are not yet fully Christian, or perhaps not really Christian at all.
For the love of God
But suppose someone asks us the following series of questions:
- Why do you accept everything that person says as true?
- Why do you think he will make good on whatever he promises you?
- Why do you do anything he tells you to do without question?
The answer to each of these questions, even in today’s way of speaking, would be this: “Because I have absolute faith in that person.”
Now, this ought to mean we have the kind of faith in Christ that we can never have in politicians (or in anybody else), and the same kind of faith in the prerogatives of the Catholic Church (which is mystically Christ). But the sad reality is that if we cannot bring those who bear the Catholic name to have genuine faith in Christ and the Church, then we cannot make a difference politically no matter what theory we may hold about how to revive a new conservatism or how to frame a more persuasive way to talk about contemporary issues. Nor will we make a significant difference to the future of our earthly community—be it the neighborhood, the town, the state, the nation, or the world—without Christ. This has been tried for many thousands of years, and it either does not work at all, or it does not last.
Speaking of the United States alone, I can see that the Catholic Church has gained firmness in recent decades, but it is still a long way from vibrant growth. Though the reasons for Catholic growth and decline are sometimes hidden in God’s Providence, and not always ours to figure out and correct, it ought to be obvious from the spiritual, moral, social and political chaos all around us now that there is no significant hope apart from conversion to Christ, and that well-ordered conversion to Christ is very difficult apart from a healthy Catholic Church.
It would be far better, I firmly believe, to take all the funds we devote to electioneering and put them into evangelization, both within and outside the Church. There really is no longer very much to cling to anywhere else. The last time there was may have been in the 1950s before I reached the age of 12, and that was already “on its way out”, as history has demonstrated. I cannot, of course, make up anyone else’s mind about how much attention to pay to politics, even in a Presidential election year in America, and God knows (even if I do not) that I could be wrong.
But I don’t think so. The only true hope in this world is “faith” in Christ as known through his Mystical Body, the Catholic Church. Even the lesser benefits offered by other Christian bodies derive ultimately from their partial share in the gifts of the one Church. In other words, the only certain hope for anything, including earthly politics, is simply this: Belief in His teachings, trust in His promises, and obedience to His commands.
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Posted by: PFM5899 -
Sep. 25, 2024 7:11 AM ET USA
Jeff, it had occurred to me before your commentary, that our involvement in politics may be important so we will be able to evangelize. The early Church was able to evangelize even while being persecuted by the Romans, but our ability to evangelize to Christ will be much more difficult if churches are shut down and we are censored, as occurred during the pandemic. We seem to be headed there. So, as loumiamo4057 states, we need both, while relying on the Holy Spirit in Faith to guide us! Dcn. Pat
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Posted by: nantista9155 -
Sep. 23, 2024 1:00 AM ET USA
Thank you, Jeff. Firstly, despite the ill-considered comments of our Holy Father, I think it goes too far to call this a choice between evils. I see nothing intrinsically evil about one candidate's policy positions (save perhaps his recent IVF stance). Secondly, at least every fourth year, it behooves the Faithful to make significant efforts in the political arena, particularly when a Constantine is running against a Diocletian, as this can greatly affect the evangelizability of our culture.
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Posted by: howwhite5517 -
Sep. 22, 2024 9:12 AM ET USA
The Pope recently opined about American politics and equated morally abortion and immigration policy. In abortion we have a clear teaching as a matter of faith. It is wrong. Immigration policy is the rendering unto Caesar what is his due which would include how many people can surge into his domain. The point is we have a clear example of how our faith should shape our voting but our leader has muddied the waters.
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Posted by: Jeff Mirus -
Sep. 21, 2024 8:12 PM ET USA
loumiamo4057: Thanks for your comment. I did not intend to indicate that Catholics should not make political decisions. One of my points was rather that if the options are not very good, and are continuing to degenerate, it is probably a sign that we Catholics should be spending more of our energies and resources on evangelization—on encouraging real faith and real responsiveness to what faith demands—and less time fighting increasingly useless political battles. The major reason for this is the recognition that politics is largely a lost cause now and is not likely to improve without evangelization and conversion. We should still vote morally, of course—which generally means we should either quickly choose the lesser of two evils or put some energy into promising third parities (if any are promising). But should we be throwing our time, energy and funds down a rabbit hole, restricted by the sterility of the American public square, or should we put most of our energies into spreading the Faith?
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Posted by: euan61003909 -
Sep. 21, 2024 4:03 PM ET USA
Absolutely love this from Jeffrey Mirus. Had being thinking along these lines for a number of months and happy to see it wrote down so I can refer to it in the future elections both as a Candidate and voter in my own Country. Thank you and God Bless the work.
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Posted by: loumiamo4057 -
Sep. 21, 2024 6:46 AM ET USA
Good column as usual, Dr. Jeff. But I think you have strayed a mite from true Catholic understanding in this sense: our separated brethren like to take an either/or position on issues, while the Catholic position is a better both/and position. And so I think it is a mistake to present a Catholic OR political choice, instead of a Catholic AND political choice. After all, how could we obey Jesus's command to give Caesar what is Caesar's if we give Caesar nothing at all?