Posted on 08/30/2010 3:24:57 AM PDT by markomalley
Thank you. But mostly thank wideawake.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
Perhaps the non-scarcity of hot air and vacuous thinking patterns lead some politicians and Church leaders to miss these important distinctions.
“I got up and walked out.”
I’ve done that. I don’t know how to feel about it.
I avidly collect criticisms of the Catholic Church. They are usually 99.9% just wasted emotion inspired by misinformation. When I first saw this post I salivated over the opportunity to knock another anti- Catholic softball out of the park.
But the article was a major disappointment, having a premise but no cogent supporting argument. An argument this confused it would require a long essay to counter.
It is an all-bread-no-meat sandwich.
More of a random tangle than a knot.
An opinion so confused it is tedious to refute.
I really wanted an opportunity to brag about the Catholic Church developing the idea of free market economics five hundred years before Adam Smith.( Tucker does acknowledge a small bit of this). The Catholic Church’s ideas haven’t really changed that. they are much same today, despite what Tucker and many in the press claim.
Credit the Scholastics (mostly Catholic clergy) with anticipating the best of modern economic thought; economic liberty and free market economy, the best defined ideas of prices, wages, money, and value theory.
Also note that the among the few economically successful Communistic societies were the Reducciones, South American aboriginal societies run by Jesuits. Christianity can make things work, even defective economic practices. I endorse capitalism, but it is not as effective as the Gospel.
There are a lot of laughs to be had in contemplating Tucker’s tangle. His position that “ideas” and “tunes” are free for the taking violates the capitalist theory of copyrights. He sounds like a man who is either a Marxist or doesn’t understand economics and writes an article accusing somebody else of not understanding economics.
Tucker cites that he is is with the Acton Institute. Not encouraging. Lord Acton was a sort of a Pelosi of a previous age, claiming to be a Catholic while distorting and slandering Catholicism.
Finally, Tucker is not arguing against Catholicism but Jesus.
King James Bible Mt 19:21
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
I do note that a lot of current-day arguments on this subject are of the "If you were a tree, what kind would you be?" sort of thing. The interlocutor poses a question that does not apply to my own realm of action, and then tries to make me feel guilty because I do not buy into the questioner's politics. I am responsible for my actions. If the government forces me to "donate" to its favorite charities, I do not gain the blessings so those who try to convince me to force my neighbors to support those charities get a rather cold response. I am not including you in that group, just describing my position. Thank you for the conversation.
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