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Economic Errors of the Left Published in First Things Online June 29, 2009 July 02, 2009 :: Filed in: First Things
What exactly is in Benedict XVI’s new encyclical on the economy and labor issues is not yet known. Catholic leftists and progressives, though, are already trembling with excitement. Three glaring errors have already appeared in these heavily panting anticipations.
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Back in 1995, Michael Novak wrote a lecture on the subject of “Caritas and Economics,” well in advance of Pope Benedict XVI’s approach to the subject. Novak’s essay, The Love That Moves the Sun has appeared in print in A Free Society Reader (Lexington Books, 2000). The original text is reprinted here in the hopes that it will shed further light on the widespread reflection on Caritas and economics about to be requested by Benedict XVI in his (unseen) new encyclical coming soon.
At the heart of this piece:
“In the civilization of caritas, what sort of economic system must there be?There are six crucial components:
First of all, such an economic system must be aimed at liberating all the poor of the earth from the prison of poverty.
Second, it must have institutions that rest upon, and nourish, voluntary cooperation. Such cooperation will manifest caritas only to the extent that it wells up from below, and is not coerced from the top down.
Third, it must respect the human person as the originating source of human action, the imago Dei, homo creator, the chief cause of the wealth of nations.
Fourth, it must provide the necessary (but not sufficient) cause for the polity of caritas, whose best approximation in history so far is democracy under the rule of law.
Fifth, it must take realistic precautions against the besetting economic sins of all eras and times, but particularly its own.
Sixth, it must be based upon the presupposition that humans often fail in love, and only rare ones among them base all their actions thoroughly upon realistic love... The economics of caritas is realistic, not utopian.”
What, Another Marxist Predicts the Collapse of Capitalism? Published in Liberal June 17, 2009 June 26, 2009 :: Filed in: Overseas Articles
Vatican watchers in Italy are getting into a fever about the new “economic encyclical” by Pope Benedict XVI, due out in a month or so.
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Michael Novak's Commencement Address at Franciscan University of Steubenville Delivered at Franciscan University of Steubenville May 9, 2009 May 29, 2009 :: Filed in: Other Selected Articles
The main point I want to put before you is that God is not, and cannot be, reached by our poor human equipment. He is on an altogether different frequency. Apart from the God-man Jesus Christ we cannot find Him through out senses. We cannot smell Him. We cannot reach out and touch Him. We cannot taste Him, or hear Him. We cannot see Him. Or picture Him in our imagination. Or recall Him in memory. And even in regard to Jesus, most people who encountered him during his life on earth did not see God in him. God no one can see.
L’Osservatore Betrayal Published in National Review Online May 26, 2009 May 27, 2009 :: Filed in: National Review Online
For several weeks now, L’Osservatore Romano has published glowing, star-struck, teenage praise of Pres. Barack Obama, while blithely ignoring what its praise means in the American context. It fails to grasp the full threat Obama poses for the American Catholic conscience. Several leading American bishops are distraught, and have asked for help: L’Osservatore Romano must learn of the immense scandal it is causing in America.
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What Obama Should Say at Notre Dame Published in New York Daily News May 14, 2009 May 14, 2009 :: Filed in: Other Selected Articles
On May 17, Barack Obama will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree at the University of Notre Dame. It is one of the most controversial events in American Catholic culture in many years.
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Why Did God Command Evil Deeds? Published in The Catholic Thing May 4, 2009 May 05, 2009 :: Filed in: The Catholic Thing
Two different persons have told me recently that they cannot accept a God who commanded Moses and others to do evil. One challenge came by email, and the other came from my fifteen-year old granddaughter. They asked me to explain how I can accept a God who commanded Moses and others in the Old Testament – good people – to do bad things? Among many examples, God ordered Moses and his army to execute the Midianites, not only the men, but the women and male children. The virgin girls they are to keep for themselves. Initially, the Israelites resisted this command, and Moses had to give the harsh order again.
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Amazing Growth in Opposition to Abortion Published in The Enterprise Blog May 1, 2009 May 04, 2009 :: Filed in: Other Selected Articles
The latest Pew Research survey (April 30) shows an amazing drop in support for legal abortion since August 2008, and a corresponding jump in numbers of those who now hold that abortion should be made illegal in most or all cases. This trend shows an astonishingly rise in resistance to abortion among people of all ages, and an eye-catching jump in opposition to abortion among moderate and liberal republicans.
The overall picture shows a virtual tie between all those who want to make abortion illegal in most or all cases (44%) and those who maintain that it should be legal in most or all cases (46%). According to Pew: “The decline in support for legal abortion has come entirely in the share saying abortion should be legal in most cases (from 37% to 28%); 18% say abortion should be legal in all cases, which is virtually unchanged from last August (17%).”
Help Us Choose the First Twenty Selections for the Catholic Family Classics Series Published in First Things Online March 27, 2009 April 15, 2009 :: Filed in: First Things
Catholicism is not just a “belief system” but a whole culture to be lived, a culture universal in time and range, an inexhaustible store of rich human living and reflecting, immensely creative and leavening among all other world cultures. For more than a decade, Ralph McInerny and I have been trying to find a publisher for a vital series of books that illuminate this cultural heritage. Tens of millions of Catholics do not know their own intellectual and artistic heritage and those who want to remedy the situation have pitifully little guidance. We believe this is a series that ought to be found in every Catholic home, school, and university library.
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Notre Dame Disgrace Published in National Review Online April 9, 2009 April 09, 2009 :: Filed in: National Review Online
Did the University of Notre Dame invite Sen. Stephen Douglas of nearby Illinois to receive an honorary degree in 1858? That was the year Douglas was defending the principle of choice: the right of western territories to make a choice between permitting slavery and maintaining liberty. His opponent in the most famous of American debates was Abraham Lincoln, also of Illinois. There and elsewhere, Lincoln made a simple point based on natural law and natural right: No man is in a position to will himself into slavery, so no one can commit another to slavery. On top of that, the Union itself cannot survive half-slave and half-free. Finally, the Declaration of Independence makes it brilliantly clear that every human being is endowed by his Creator with an inalienable right to liberty.
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For Those Who Desperately Need Organ Donations Published in First Things Online April 1, 2009 April 01, 2009 :: Filed in: First Things
Within the next month or so, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) will introduce a bill in the Senate that does two things: (1) Closes off a loophole in the existing law that permitted “transplant tourism”—desperate Americans seeking transplants overseas in often substandard medical conditions; and (2) distinguishes between “buying and selling organs,” which is a felony, and the non-transferable “benefits” under the legislative authority of the individual states. . . Why do I judge Senator Specter’s carefully crafted bill a major step forward for “the culture of life”? Let me tell the story.
June 16, 2009 Michael Novak Speaks about Social Justice at the Heritage Foundation
On June 10, 2009, Michael Novak spoke at the Heritage Foundation, assuring listeners that "Social Justice is not what you think it is." Visit Heritage's website to watch or download Michael Novak's speech. The link can be found here.
June 11, 2009 Michael Novak at Washington National Cathedral
Sunday, June 14 at 10:10 am, Michael Novak will be at Washington National Cathedral to participate in the Sunday Forum. He will be discussing his book No One Sees God. For more information please visit Washington National Cathedral's website.
June 01, 2009 Michael New Debunks Oft Cited Abortion Myth
Pro-life Obama supporters often claim that the incidence of abortion increases during Republican administrations. Michael New has the facts that show this isn't the case. Read more here.
May 28, 2009 Michael Novak on Obama and Dawkins
Michael Novak appeared on the new Washington Post online interview series “Faith Complex” with Jacques Berlinerblau to discuss Obama at Notre Dame, Catholicism in America, and his latest book, No One Sees God. Watch the whole interview here.
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