The phony "Catholic Right" and "Catholic Left"

By Michael Joseph, at VOX NOVA

A Snippet:

...The complete task is to link faith energies with energies of justice and peace in service of the Living God and social transformation. Faith and justice need to become as one flesh in service of both. The secular hunger for justice from the Left needs to find its deeper root in spirituality. The spiritual hunger of the Right needs to find God's true face in justice and peace.

There are two seeds of creativity in the world--social engagement and spirituality. Similarly within the Christian community, these two movements have their echo--on one side the justice and peace movement, often developed in secular style; and on other side the prayer movement, often without social engagement.

It is sad when good people from both sides fail to see the other's complementary gift.

Is it the terrible sin of human pride on both sides which causes this division? Is it the pride of secularism on the Left--afraid of spiritual energies because they are not subject to rational control? And is it the pride of religiosity on the Right--afraid of the Spirit's prophetic power in the secular arena because it is not subject to religious control?

Thus we may speak of two criteria for guiding our path in the crisis which envelops us. The first criterion is openness to the creative transformation of our civilization. The second criterion is openness to the spiritual roots of creative energies. The classic secular Left fails the test of the second criterion. The classic religious Right fails the test of the first criterion.

[Quoting Joe Holland's Social Analysis ]