Stop sacrificing principle

The erosion of religious liberty in America began long before current examples cited by Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski in “Bishop: Watch for assaults on liberty” (CR, May 3). It began when the church in America began surrendering its teaching authority on faith and morals to politicians, educators and community organizers.

The church’s catechism-based social doctrine offers the principles and values needed to form the Catholic social conscience. It is not a utopian dream that justifies any means to achieve its end, a la Saul Alinsky’s post-Vatican II influence in the Chicago Diocese and beyond.

The principle of subsidiarity in the church’s social doctrine is a safeguard against the tyranny of the state. The church in American sacrificed that principle wherever it encouraged government involvement in charitable outreach, giving the state the upper hand it now has.
 
It will take more than overturning the current Obama administration to reverse the state robbing humanity of its dignity with the promise of a materialistic destiny. It will take the whole church standing on the solid ground of its faith and morals in keeping with the principles and values of its social doctrine.

Jim Devereaux

Ijamsville