Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Americanist Heresy

Christine of Laudem Gloriae  reports on how the American way often diverges from the Catholic way, contrary to what most Catholic Americans may think.
[T]he liberty of thinking, and of publishing, whatsoever each one likes, without any hindrance, is not in itself an advantage over which society can wisely rejoice. On the contrary, it is the fountain-head and origin of many evils....Whatever, therefore, is opposed to virtue and truth may not rightly be brought temptingly before the eye of man, much less sanctioned by the favor and protection of the law.
--Pope Leo XIII, Immortale Dei
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2 comments:

Mercury said...

I'd add that Pope Leo made is clear that he was not condemning the American form of government and way of doing things per se, but rather applying those things in places where they shouldn't be (i.e. religion and morality).

Some people like to claim that any American who does not want to see the US system replaced by a monarch is an Americanist heretic.

And besides, none of the Founding Fathers nor anyone through the 19th century and even up through most of the 20th thought that freedom of speech meant the ability to publish whatever kind of smut one wanted to, or that freedom of religion meant a complete sanitizing of the public sphere from religion, etc.

elena maria vidal said...

Excellent points. Thank you!