4 replies to this topic

[THE MATRIX]

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Quote

“It’s the height of hypocrisy for Rep. Ryan to claim that his approach to the budget is shaped by Catholic teaching and values,” said Fr. John Baumann, S.J., founder of PICO National Network. [...] “A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects “the least of these” (Matthew 25). The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty should come first.”

[Imaginarynumber1]

Why the hell would you shape budget based on catholic teachings and values? That's just absurd.

[and then]

I tend to vote for conservative candidates and have done since Reagan's time.  This year I'll vote for anyone except Oby.  Until the economic catastrophe came upon us in '08 I believed in what Ryan espouses here.  I still do not think that taxing small businesses (million$ or less per year)is the answer to all our problems.  It's a fools errand since businesses never have paid taxes.  The whole class warfare strategy will probably work for Oby due to the stupidity of the electorate in modern America.  So be it.  At least we'll all go down together.
The idea of religions advocating the idea of hard work and self sufficiency is wonderful when the opportunities exist for that hard work.  Gridlock has become so entrenched that people with money to invest and a vision of how we might move forward as a nation are being kept on the sideline by common sense.  Why spend hard earned(or even stolen) money in a venture when the government is going to regulate and tax you into making no return?
If America reelects Oby then we deserve everything he manages to do to us in the next four years.
And if people like Ryan don't get their heads out of their butts and look at the real world then they need to fail as well.  

[Rafterman]

THE MATRIX, on 14 April 2012 - 07:30 PM, said:

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To be fair, the three clergy quoted in the article aren't exactly "mainstream" religious leaders and are known to be very left leaning.

It's not exactly like the Southern Baptist Convention came out against the Ryan budget.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Imaginarynumber1, on 14 April 2012 - 10:05 PM, said:

Why the hell would you shape budget based on catholic teachings and values? That's just absurd.

Well arguably there is a social dimension to Catholic doctrine that could, again arguably, play a role in financial decision-making. The points were made in the article, and easily observable to anyone who has spent anytime in a Catholic church (unless they're really different in America to how they are here in Australia) - to get in you walk past stuff about what's going on in the community and donation plates for the poor and organisational schedules for things like meals-on-wheels and soup kitchens.

So if someone was building a financial policy around their Catholicism then there'd be a strong vein of support for social justice initives.