Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Slave Wages Condemned by Pope John Paul II

Mark and Louise Zwick of the Houston Catholic Worker (link provided above) have a new article out in regards to the economic position that Pope John Paul II held in regards to a just wage. Recently they have published two separate articles (Baxter & Surlis) critical of the War in Iraq.

A historical note - A camp of Catholic thinkers, which include Dr. David Schindler, the Zwicks and others, have a long running debate (originally feud - refer to Santi's comment below) against whom the Zwicks call the "Neocons." The Neocons include notable Catholics thinkers like Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, George Weigel and Michael Novak, not to mention, the Acton Inst. I prefer calling this group of Catholic thinkers as the "Theocons" though. One should distinguish the Catholic thinkers (Theocons) from the non-Catholics (Neocons, i.e. Irving Kristol, etc.). Dr. Mark Lowery of UD wrote a great article in Communio on this debate ("The Schindler/Weigel Debate: An Appraisal." 18, no. 3 (1991): 425-38.) Dr. Lowery refers to Schindler's camp as the "Cultural Radicals." An important point to make here is when you hear or read these terms being used, you must ask for a definition of who they mean. Different authors, both Catholic and non-Catholic, used these descriptive terms, but mean different things and/or peoples. It can get very confusing. Much more to come about this debate in the future. Here is a good website to wet your appetite on this debate.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't call it a "feud." It's an intellectual debate done in the spirit of Christian charity. And all of these people have a sense of Church and a fidelity to the Magisterium.

Fr. D.L. Jones said...

Good point my friend. I shall correct this in my original post. Thanks for making this very important comment.