Human rights, virtue, and the common good : untimely meditations on religion and politics PDF
Preview Human rights, virtue, and the common good : untimely meditations on religion and politics
HUMAN RIGHTS, VIRTUE, AND THE COMMON GOOD ERNEST FORTIN: COLLECTED ESSAYS Edited by J. Brian Benestad Volume 1 The Birth of Philosophic Christianity: Studies in Early Christian and Medieval Thought Foreword by Ernest L. Fortin Volume 2 Classical Christianity and the Political Order: Reflections on the Theologico-Political Problem Foreword by Dan Mahoney Volume 3 Human Rights, Virtue, and the Common Good: Untimely Meditations on Religion and Politics Foreword by J. Brian Benestad HUMAN RIGHTS, VIRTUE, AND THE COMMON GOOD Untimely Meditations on Religion and Politics ERNEST L. FORTIN Edited by J. Brian Benestad ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • London ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706 3 Henrietta Street London WC2E 8LU, England Copyright © 1996 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Cataloging in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fortin, Ernest L. Human rights, virtue, and the common good : untimely meditations on religion and politics / Ernest L. Fortin ; edited by J. Brian Benestad. p. cm. - (Ernest Fortin, collected essays; v. 3) Includes bibliographical references and index. l.Christianity and politics-History. 2. Christianity and politics. I. Benestad, J. Brian. H. Title. Ill. Series: Fortin, Ernest L. Essays; v. 3. BRl15.P7F676 1996 261.7-dc20 96-23666 CIP ISBN 0-8476-8278-1 (cloth: alk. paper) ISBN 0-8476-8279-X (pbk. : alk. paper) Printed in the United States of America 8'n1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. CCOONNTTEENNTTSS FFoorreewwoorrdd iIxX AAcckknnoowwlleeddggmmeennttss xXxXiIiIiI II.. CCHHRRIISSTTIIAANNIITTYY AANNDD TTHHEE LLIIBBEERRAALL DDEEMMOOCCRRAATTIICC EETTHHOOSS 11.. TThhee RReeggiimmee ooff SSeeppaarraattiissmm:: TThheeoorreettiiccaall CCoonnssiiddeerraattiioonnss oonn tthhee SSeeppaarraattiioonn ooff CChhuurrcchh aanndd SSttaattee 11 22.. HHuummaann RRiigghhttss aanndd tthhee CCoommmmoonn GGoooodd 1199 33.. CChhrriissttiiaann EEdduuccaattiioonn aanndd MMooddeerrnn DDeemmooccrraaccyy 2299 44.. IIss LLiibbeerraall DDeemmooccrraaccyy RReeaallllyy CChhrriissttiiaann?? 4499 55.. DDoo WWee NNeeeedd CCaatthhoolliicc UUnniivveerrssiittiieess?? 5577 66.. RRoommee aanndd tthhee TThheeoollooggiiaannss 6633 77.. IInn tthhee SShhaaddooww ooff tthhee GGaalllloowwss:: CCrriimmee aanndd PPuunniisshhmmeenntt iinn MMooddeerrnn SSoocciieettyy 7733 1II1.. CCHHRRIISSTTIIAANNIITTYY,, SSCCIIEENNCCEE,, AANNDD TTHHEE AARRTTSS 88.. AAuugguussttiinnee,, tthhee AArrttss,, aanndd HHuummaann PPrrooggrreessss 8877 99.. SScciieennccee aass aa PPoolliittiiccaall PPrroobblleemm 110033 1100.. TThhee BBiibbllee MMaaddee MMee DDoo IItt:: CChhrriissttiiaanniittyy,, SScciieennccee,, aanndd tthhee EEnnvviirroonnmmeenntt 111111 vvii CCoonntteennttss IIIlIl.. AANNCCIIEENNTTSS AANNDD MMOODDEERRNNSS 1111.. OOtthheerrwwoorrllddlliinneessss aanndd SSeeccuullaarriizzaattiioonn iinn EEaarrllyy CChhrriissttiiaann TThhoouugghhtt:: AA NNoottee oonn BBlluummeennbbeerrgg 113355 1122.. TThhoouugghhttss oonn MMooddeerrnniittyy 114455 1133.. NNaattuurraall LLaaww 115599 1144.. TTrrooeellttsscchh aanndd CChhrriisstteennddoomm 116655 1155.. GGaaddaammeerr oonn SSttrraauussss:: AAnn IInntteerrvviieeww 117755 IIVV.. PPAAPPAALL SSOOCCIIAALL TTHHOOUUGGHHTT,, VVIIRRTTUUEE,, AANNDD LLIIBBEERRAALLIISSMM 1166.. SSaaccrreedd aanndd IInnvviioollaabbllee:: RReerruumm NNoovvaarruumm aanndd NNaattuurraall RRiigghhttss 119911 1177.. FFrroomm RReerruumm NNoovvaarruumm ttoo CCeenntteessiimmuuss AAnnnnuuss:: CCoonnttiinnuuiittyy oorr DDiissccoonnttiinnuuiittyy?? 222233 VV.. PPAAGGAANN AANNDD CCHHRRIISSTTIIAANN VVIIRRTTUUEE 1188.. TThhee SSaaggaa ooff SSppiirriitteeddnneessss:: CChhrriissttiiaann SSaaiinnttss aanndd PPaaggaann HHeerrooeess 223311 1199.. IInn DDeeffeennssee ooff SSaattaann:: CChhrriissttiiaann PPeerrssppeeccttiivveess oonn tthhee PPrroobblleemm ooff EEvviill 224411 VVII.. TTHHEE AAMMEERRIICCAANN CCAATTHHOOLLIICC CCHHUURRCCHH AANNDD PPOOLLIITTIICCSS 2200.. SSoocciiaall AAccttiivviissmm aanndd tthhee CChhuurrcchh''ss MMiissssiioonn 225533 2211.. CChhuurrcchh AAccttiivviissmm iinn tthhee 11998800ss:: PPoolliittiiccss iinn tthhee GGuuiissee ooff RReelliiggiioonn?? 226611 2222.. TThheeoollooggiiccaall RReefflleeccttiioonnss oonn TThhee CChhaalllleennggee ooff PPeeaaccee:: GGoodd''ss PPrroommiissee aanndd OOuurr RReessppoonnssee,, AA PPaassttoorraall LLeetttteerr oonn WWaarr aanndd PPeeaaccee ((MMaayy 33,, 11998833)) 227777 2233.. CChhrriissttiiaanniittyy aanndd tthhee JJuusstt--WWaarr TThheeoorryy 228833 2244.. CCaatthhoolliicc SSoocciiaall TTeeaacchhiinngg aanndd tthhee EEccoonnoommyy:: CCrriitteerriiaa ffoorr aa PPaassttoorraall LLeetttteerr 229955 2255.. TThhee TTrroouubbllee wwiitthh CCaatthhoolliicc SSoocciiaall TThhoouugghhtt 330033 2266.. FFrriieenndd aanndd TTeeaacchheerr:: AAllIlaann BBlloooomm''ss OObbsseessssiioonn wwiitthh tthhee MMyysstteerryy ooff tthhee SSoouull 331 155 CCoonntteennttss vviiii IInnddeexx 332211 AAbboouutt tthhee AAuutthhoorr 333333 AAbboouutt tthhee EEddiittoorr 333344 FOREWORD The very first paragraph of Fortin's own foreword to volume 1 pro vides the best hermeneutical guide to all his essays. Like St. Augustine and "the intellectual tradition to which he was heir" Fortin is persuaded that "anybody who wishes to learn has to start by unlearning-dediscere." This work of discarding opinions is necessary because we all absorb preju dices from the historical cave in which we happen to live. Fortin's essays reveal a scholar who realizes that acquiring self-knowledge-an important goal of any genuine liberal education-is a laborious task. Fortin writes so that he and his readers might see more clearly. In his words: [All my essays] were born of a desire to know more about the world in which we live, the philosophic, religious and political forces that shaped it, and the type of human being it tends to produce. As such, they are more preoccupied with achieving a measure of clarity about the ends of human existence than with offering made-to-order solutions to problems to which the pursuit of those ends give rise.l In teaching St. Augustine's Confessions I have come to appreciate more and more how helpful Fortin's style of writing really is. Augustine is very persuasive in arguing that self-knowledge is elusive because human beings run from the truth: "They hate the truth for the sake of that other thing which they love because they take it for truth. They love truth when
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