the political implications of cafeteria Catholicism

From Charles Chaput in First Things-- on "Catholic" response to social issues and [national Democratic] politics...

In a word, the political implications of fans vs. followers in the Catholic Church-- the massive presence of cafeteria/cultural Catholicism-- and what to do about it...

Some Catholics in both political parties are deeply troubled by these issues, but too many Catholics don’t really care. That’s the truth of it: If they cared, our political environment would be different. If 65 million Catholics really cared about their faith and cared about what it teaches, neither political party could ignore what we believe about justice for the poor, or the homeless, or immigrants, or the unborn. If 65 million American Catholics really understood their faith, we wouldn’t need to waste one another’s time arguing whether the legalized killing of an unborn child is somehow balanced out or excused by other social policies.

If we learn nothing else from last November, it should be this: We need to stop over-counting our numbers, our influence, our institutions, and our resources, because they are not real. We cannot talk about following St. Paul and converting our culture until we sober up and admit what we’ve allowed ourselves to become. We need to stop lying to each other, to ourselves, and to God by claiming to oppose personally some homicidal evil—and allowing it to be legal at the same time.

We’ve forgotten how to think, especially how to think as Catholics. We have to make ourselves stupid to believe some of the things American Catholics are now expected to accept. There is nothing more empty-headed in a pluralist democracy than telling citizens to keep quiet about their beliefs. A healthy democracy requires exactly the opposite. Democracy requires a vigorous public struggle of convictions and ideas. And the convictions of some people always get imposed on everybody else. That’s the nature of a democracy....

People who openly reject God or dismiss Christianity as obsolete are sometimes more honest and less discouraging than Catholics who claim to be faithful to the Church but directly reject her guidance by their words and actions....

Here is a practical lesson to draw from Paul about how to engage the culture today: We need to master the language of popular culture. Paul knew he was addressing a mostly urban culture. Most of his examples, unlike the ones used by Jesus, are culled from urban life. He speaks about sports—racing, boxing, the stadium, the awards. He mentions the commerce of purchasing, saving, and cost-benefit ratios. He employs military metaphors of wars, battles, shields, and swords. He names the urban landmarks of theater, temples, and tribunals.

Paul is very creative in his use of images, examples, and metaphors. But his power isn’t limited to an ingenious taste for vocabulary. He used every technical resource, tool, and environment at his disposal—as we must....

Today’s so-called post-Christian world is really nothing of the sort. There’s nothing after Jesus Christ except apostasy. The ancient world had the excuse of ignorance. Our world does not....

John Paul II declared in Redemptoris Missio: “Our times are both momentous and fascinating. While on the one hand people seem to be pursuing material prosperity and to be sinking ever deeper into consumerism and materialism, on the other hand we are witnessing a desperate search for meaning, the need for an inner life.” Indeed, he added, “In secularized societies, the spiritual dimension of life is being sought after as an antidote to dehumanization. . . . The Church has an immense spiritual patrimony to offer humankind, a heritage in Christ, who called himself ‘the way, and the truth, and the life.’ . . . Here too there is an Areopagus to be evangelized.”