Comments for Subsidiarity, Foreign and Domestic at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 9 out of 9 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:04:03 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/subsidiarity-foreign-and-domestic.html#comment-15686 Diaperman, I don't understand your criticism. I think you are defining subsidiarity too narrowly. It's simply a part of natural law upon which the Church has expounded. Subsidiarity is a principle that applies to every level of organization in which man participates. Yes, the Church has emphasized the rights of the family by referencing this principle but she has not thereby limited its application to just those relationships nor could she because it is a basic principle of just organization. - Louise Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:01:19 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/subsidiarity-foreign-and-domestic.html#comment-15653 Another principle of social order that may help one understand the balances of subsidiarity is the relationship of on the one hand, the individual with the state, and on the other, the state with the personality. In the former, the individual serves the state, whether is represented locally, regionally or nationally. The state ultimately being symbolised by its sovereign. In the latter, the state must work to serve the proper development of its people, or strictly speaking, each singular personality. Most perfectly, that personality should be Catholic. As one can see, any imbalance in the duplexity here affects either the state or the person or both. Similarly, therefore, is the necessity of striking the right balance between working at the lowest level, while maintaining a tangible Common Good. - Mr. M. Savage Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:11:11 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/subsidiarity-foreign-and-domestic.html#comment-15607 Are the words of Jesus in Matt. 25:31-46 addressed to us as individuals? Or as a government? The effect of many clergy, both Catholic and non-Catholic, lobbying the US Congress for more and larger government programs suggests the interpretation that Jesus wants the government to "feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, etc." If the government is supposed to do it, then my duties as a Christian are limited to paying my taxes, right? I hope that the sarcasm above shows through, as I firmly disagree with the assignment of charitable needs strictly to governmental functions. TeaPot562 - TeaPot562 Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:06:54 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/subsidiarity-foreign-and-domestic.html#comment-15606 D-man: Thanks for your comment. Your first line on Church teaching is correct, as I understand it. But political arrangements are included in the broader principle of subsidiarity (not identical with that principle, but subject to it), because those arrangements greatly affect the lives of the individuals, families, and communities who are part of the larger political structure. Again, you are correct that the Church does not, at least usually, declare some political arrangements to be in accord with subsidiarity, others not. That is a prudential judgment for all of us, conservative or not, to debate and decide, using the principle of subsidiarity (and other principles such as solidarity) as guides. - Joseph Wood Sat, 02 Feb 2013 12:33:29 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/subsidiarity-foreign-and-domestic.html#comment-15605 Subsidiarity as the Church teaches it is really centered around truths of the human person--namely that man is a social being whose family and community life should not be absorbed into the state. Like many conservatives, you've turned the concept into something more about political economy. With all respect, the Church has no position on the balance between state and federal power in the US or Europe. Conservative Catholics should not suggest otherwise. - diaperman Sat, 02 Feb 2013 12:10:30 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/subsidiarity-foreign-and-domestic.html#comment-15604 Wonderfully said. Thank you. - Mack Hall Sat, 02 Feb 2013 05:16:29 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/subsidiarity-foreign-and-domestic.html#comment-15603 Mr. Wood, "The core principle at stake is that of subsidiarity. According to this vital Catholic teaching, all questions should be decided at the lowest possible level of community." As I read the Old and New Testaments, your assertion is right, but, the 'lowest possible level' appears to be the Individual and the economy and efficiency of Subsidiarity at the individual, family, and village level is far greater than what has happened with the gradual ceding of this privilege to a 'Democratic''Government'. Democracy, from and Ideal, has become, in effect, an Idol and Government has become exactly what the Lord warned the Israelites in 1 Samuel, Chapter 8, would happen when they demanded a King like their neighbors had. Looking back over the last 2 years alone, Bill Gates with his foundation has done more than all the Governments in advancing cures on a mass scale of ancient diseases like TB, amebiasis etc. while Warren Buffett, equally wealthy, has been content to bend his knee at the altar of Government. Why has this happened? I believe that this due to making Our Lord Jesus Christ, the MAN who walked the land of Israel and was SEEN and HEARD first hand by His disciples two thousand years ago, but, with our increasing self-idolization and idolization of 'Leaders' with feet of clay, we have effectively made the same Jesus Christ who we can no longer see except in statues and art, an idol too! - Clement Williams Sat, 02 Feb 2013 04:32:57 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/subsidiarity-foreign-and-domestic.html#comment-15602 Great piece, Joe. Alas, we live in Hamilton's big-government America, not Jefferson's ideal of sovereign state. Talk of secession is in the air these days but doubt any state, no matter how red, will be able to assert its right to leave the union with a new "Lincoln" in the White House. - Grump Sat, 02 Feb 2013 03:34:19 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/subsidiarity-foreign-and-domestic.html#comment-15601 The preamble to every EU directive contains a statement that "In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the objectives of this Regulation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved by the Community. This Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives." I suppose at least acknowledging the principle is a start. As an aside, not only were Adenauer, Schumann and De Gasperi all Catholics, they all came from minority German-speaking areas. - Michael Paterson-Seymour Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:40:10 +0100