In the first [excerpt], Fr. Baxter gloats that, in Benedict XVI, the Catholic Peace Fellowship has found a comrade in the struggle "against the pretensions of the modern state." I don't claim to know what other topics Fr. Baxter writes on, but it seems the only evil perpetrated by the modern state, in his mind, is making war.
Hence, the second excerpt from a lengthy article by Theodore Dalrymple from City Journal. Dalrymple (a pseudonym) is an agnostic Jew whose mother arrived in England from Germany in 1938. Dalrymple writes quite critically and knowledgably especially about the Underclass in England: he is a prison doctor who clearly knows the seamier sides of London from direct experience. This article, and numerous others he has written, show that the pretensions of the modern state extend into the domestic realm: its seeming solicitude has in fact corrupted much of the populace of, e.g., England. (Dalrymple cites Belloc on this approvingly.)
I think people like those at the New Pantagruel are much more attunded to the problems described by Dalrymple than is Fr. Baxter. Indeed, Benedict XVI's past writings on politics--and that nod to Tocqueville--show he is quite aware of the evils wrought by a benevolent total state.
Monday, May 09, 2005
The modern state
A close friend sent me the following remarks and links.
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6 comments:
Fr. Baxter, professor at Notre Dame, is in the Catholic Worker tradition.
Possibly the best commentary on Catholic theories of the state and historical examples of these theories being implemented is Charles Coulombe's "Quest for the Catholic State"
http://www.cheetah.net/~ccoulomb/questforthecatholicstate.html
Charles Coulombe is very close to being a schistmatic, if not an actual one himself. He is very close to the movement began by Fr. Leonard Feeney. If anyone wants to know more about them, just ask. I used to be "one of them" until a professor in grad. school knocked some sense into me.
Well yes Im aware of Coulombe's ties with the Feenyite movement. But I wasnt endorsing his theological views, but pointing to a good article explaining the Catholic understanding of the state
I would also refer anyone to an earlier post entitled "Church-State Relations in America and Europe."
Thomas Aquinas spoke negatively about democracy and how monarchy was the best form of government.
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