While reading the two articles for today, I couldn't help but think two different things: 1. nothing has changed and 2. a lot has changed. A paradox it seems, yet I think that in someways I may be correct in my thoughts about Christian social action. In the early 20th century both Catholics and Mainstream Protestants fought for social justice. In the "Reformers and Crusaders" article it seemed that a lot of Catholic reformers focused on labor and economic issues. During this time of course, many women, children, and immigrants were being exploited in the work place. If any regulations existed about their working conditions, no one was enforcing them. Many christian groups worked to change this. Father John A. Ryan actually outlined legislation proposing "minimum wage laws, an eight-hour day, provisions for public housing, and government programs to support the unemployed, the elderly, and the disabled" (Fisher, 96). Christian organizations today are still fighting for these same things. Granted, these issues have come a LONG way since the early 20th Century, yet there are always people being exploited for their work. In this time period, Christian organizations may not be fighting for better labor laws in the US, but certainly in other countries this has become a huge issue.
We are always hearing about the children in India who are forced to work 14 hour days for less than a dollar so that babies in American can but their five-pocket jeans from The Gap. I think that this might be one of the bigger differences or things that have changed since the early 20th Century. American Christian social action groups no longer focus domestically and instead focus a great deal on internal crisis - for a good reason. While the poor do exist in great number in the US, some conditions of the poor in other countries is completely horrific. Globalization has made we Americans much more aware of life outside of the US. It has opened our eyes up to a truly universal ideal for social action.
Another thing that I think has changed since the 1920s is hostility towards Catholics. In my experience anti-Catholic attitudes seem to have decreased substantially since the 1920s. However, I did grow up in a town where all my good friends were Catholic, now go to a Catholic College, and live in a town where the majority of people are most likely Catholic, so there is a chance that I may just not have had the right experiences to really make any inferences about this issue.
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I agree that there is a paradox in what has and what hasn't changed. Parishes do focus on helping people over seas especially people working for corporations that are taking advantage of them. However, I really wish that the parishes would focus more on the root of the problem which I see as the American economy making its money off of the exploitation of others. It would be refreshing for parishes to challenge their members to be more conscious of what they buy. Capitalism really does become a religious issue when it makes its profit off of the less fortunate. The gospels have a strong message about helping the poor and I feel that one of the best ways to do that is not just through treating the symptoms, but treating the source, which is our attitude about spending. I find it funny how Christianity, which started out with a radical spirit and a message about helping the poor, has become so heavily involved in dogmatic matters and no longer cares about the message that is central to the gospel, loving your neighbor and helping the poor. I do think it is excellent that parishes are helping the poor throughout the world, but there must be more done to change the attitudes of the everyday American throwing out a gallon of trash every day, buying those Gap products made in sweatshops, etc. It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. I think there needs to be more done to teach the wealthy not to take advantage of the poor rather than ignoring the source and treating the symptoms. But otherwise, I agree with you, and really, both are needed.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm in a similar situation with you in that I haven't had a huge amount of experience out of the Catholic world, going to Catholic school my entire life, and growing up in a area that was primarily Catholic/Lutheran. I have met a few people in my life that dislike Catholicism because they find it to be too cult-like, which is true to an extent. Overall I think that America's attitude toward Catholics is changing a lot. I don't know if that is due to an increasingly wide range of views held within the church (many Catholics I know I would not quite categorize as having orthodox views, though they stick with the church nonetheless) or just an increasingly pluralistic mentality of America. Perhaps it's Vatican II, I'm sure the protestants calmed down after we stopped chanting our Latin witchcraft spells.