While I tip my biretta to Dominic Bettinelli, I do so with irritated amusement. o{]:¬\
I am not irritated at Dominic, of course, but at Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
The Rep from CA did something truly dopey on the floor of the House. She cited Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical (there is only one so far, so you know what it is) and Benedict’s quotation of St. Augustine in her argument against repealing the "death tax". Grrr…. Here is what she said:
Pope Benedict just recently put out his new encyclical, “God is Love.” And in his encyclical, he quoted Saint Augustine when he wrote, this is in the Pope’s encyclical. You can find it there. He talked about the role that politicians have and that a government should be just, and we should be promoting justice. And he goes on, Pope Benedict does, to quote Saint Augustine. He says: “A state that is not governed according to justice would be just a bunch of thieves.” This is the Pope saying this in an encyclical, quoting a saint. “A state which is not governed according to justice would be just a bunch of thieves.”
I ask this Congress, is it justice to steal from the middle class to give tax cuts to the ultra-superrich?
It is not just. And it is an injustice we cannot afford. Americans can no longer afford President Bush and the Republicans. It is time for a new direction. We can begin by rejecting this estate tax giveaway to the wealthy and insist on a vote to increase the minimum wage. That would be a real values judgment.
o{]>:¬\
I respond: Congresswoman, I know Pope Benedict. Congresswoman, you are no Pope Benedict.
The citation, by the way, is from DCE 28a and in turn from De civitate Dei, 4,4: Remota itaque iustitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia.
Whose is the thief?
The Pope was talking about the proper ordering of society in terms of a distinction of what belongs to the Church and of what belongs to the State. The Church doesn’t impose on the State, but the Church must have freedom and autonomy. He explains that the Justice which is for the ordering of society must be rooted in ethics. Of course the whole point of this is to underscore what is due to every human being on the basis of reason and natural law. Benedict wants to form the consciences of politicians and give them greater insight into the "authentic requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly, even when this might involve conflict with situations of personal interest."
I wonder if she will quote him about abortion?
