Christian Social Responsibility in a PostKatrina City

1
Christian Social Responsibility in a Post-Katrina
City

• Edward B. Arroyo, S.J.
• Based largely on the thought of the late Richard
  McCormick, S.J.

2
A City on the Banks of a River

• At first all was well
• Then
• Physical ailments
• More and more sickness, among plants and animals
  too
• Even the fish got sick
• It got so serious, it seemed nothing could help

3
A City on the Banks of a River

• The people met to discuss their options, and
  asked
• What steps would I personally think about taking?
• How far would I be willing to go toward
  discovering the root(s) of the problem?
• How far would I be willing to go toward changing
  these root(s) in order to alleviate the problem?
• What are some societal problems in our country or
  world that are similar to the one portrayed in
  this story?
• What does our Christian faith tell us about these
  problems?
• Which of these societal problems could God be
  calling us to address?

4
A City on the Banks of a River

• Tonight, my friends, we are those people in such
  a city!
• We ask ourselves
• What is our Christian Social Responsibility?
• What can I do?
• What can we do?

5
3000 Years of Biblical Justice Teaching

• Social Covenant
• Prophetic Challenge
• Poor, Widows, Orphans, Strangers

6
2000 Years of Christian Justice Teaching

• Good news to the poor
• Release of the captives
• Freedom for the oppressed
• What you do for the least

7
2000 years of Christians committed to social
discipleship

• Saints in service of neighbor, such as
• Vincent de Paul
• Peter Claver
• Others closer to home, such as
• Katherine Drexel
• Henriette de Lille

8
117 Years of more specific Catholic Social
Teaching

• 1891 Rerum Novarum
• 2008?

9
110 years of Catholic Social Thought

• 1891 Rerum Novarum (Leo XIII)-Workers
• 1931 Quadragesimo Anno (Pius XI)-Subsidiarity
• 1961 Mater et Magistra (John XXIII)-Socialization
• 1963 Pacem in Terris (John XXIII)-Rights
• 1965 CHURCH/MODERN WORLD (Vat II) -Responsibili
  ty in this world
• 1967 Populorum Progressio (Paul VI)-Development
• 1971 Octogesima Adveniens (Paul VI)-Political
  Action

10
110 years of Catholic Social Thought

• 1971 JUSTICE IN THE WORLD (Synod II)
  -Justice and Love
• 1975 Evangelii Nuntiandi (Paul VI)-Liberation
• 1981 Laborem Exercens (John Paul II)-Work
• 1983 CHALLENGE OF PEACE (US)-Arms
• 1986 ECONOMIC JUSTICE (US)-Pref Option
• 1987 Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (John Paul
  II) -Solidarity
• 1991 Centesimus Annus (John Paul II)-Market

11
Whats missing?What more is needed?

• A Call to Action
• Personal Responsibility
• Effective Action

12
Why so ineffective?

• We have socially dormant consciences
• A Big Gap between
• Articulated Christianity -- What we say
• Lived Christianity -- What we do

13
Social Paralysis

• We imagine this means challenging changes in our
  lives
• We think I cant do that.
• We dont feel free enough

14
The Dormant Social Conscience, based on

• Ignorance
• Inadequacy
• Apathy

15
Ignorance, rooted in

• Dualistic Mentality
• Discontinuities
• This world / Other world
• Piety / Practice

16
Ignorance, rooted in

• Individualism
• Solely one on one relationships
• Charity, but not justice

17

• Dualism
• Separatism
• Individualism
• Inadequacy
• Hopelessness Apathy

18
Creating a Socially Sensitive Conscience

• Against Apathy ? Feeling Right
• Against Ignorance ? Thinking Right
• Against Inadequacy ? Acting Right

19
Feeling Right

• Sensitivity to others hurt
• We need passion, not just cerebral analysis
• Passion gt Compassion

20
Feeling Right

• Increasing challenge in modern, media-driven
  world
• Mediated news chips away at our moral horror

21
Feeling Right

• The feeling is vanishing from our culture
• Dont want to get involved
• Not in my back yard

22
How to Feel Right

• Experience injustice, see it
• Beginning of Christian social wisdom, compassion
  ? passion

23
What are some of your feelings about your recent
post-Katrina New Orleans experience?
24
Here-and-Now Wheel
Draw the circle as shown. Then write in the
four main feelings you identify in yourself
right here-and-now. Then, outside the circle,
write down the source of those feelings.
Feeling
Why?
Why?
Feeling
Feeling
Feeling
Why?
Why?
Once you have identified your feelings and their
sources you can then bring this to prayer or
talk it over with someone.
25
What are some of the feelings surfaced in your
groups?
26
What are some of the sources of these feelings
surfaced in your groups?
27
Creating a Socially Sensitive Conscience

• Against Apathy ? Feeling Right
• Against Ignorance ? Thinking Right
• Against Inadequacy ? Acting Right

28
Thinking Right

• Correcting separatism and individualism
• Liberation Theology can help
• Liberation already but not yet complete

29
Thinking Right1 about Christ

• Jesus Christ our Supreme Liberator (Paul VI)
• Freedom from sin and death
• Liberation into the fullness of humanity

30
Thinking Right2about moral evil

• Selfish bondage to personal sin
• But also its effects
• Institutions which oppress, alienate

31
Thinking Right3 about freedom

• Christian Freedom from selfish bondage to
  personal sin
• But also freedom from the structures,
  institutional patterns which oppress, alienate
• Freedom from AND freedom for.

32
Thinking Right4 about the Church, a sign of
Liberation today

• Churchs role in liberating from enslavement,
• Personal
• Institutional

33
Thinking Right5 theologically

• About social sin
• About Christ the liberator
• About social liberation
• About the church

34
Thinking Right correcting exaggerated
Individualism

• Beyond any individuals fault, social sources
  of enslavement
• Structural
• Institutional

35
Thinking right about two types of enslaving or
liberating structures

• Operational Concrete patterns of behavior
• Ideological Value systems behind, underneath,
  guiding the operation

36
Thinking Right about Operational Structures

• Political
• Economic
• Social
• Familial
• Religious

37
What institutions influenced the human disaster
Katrina? How?

• Neighborhoods?
• Families?
• Schools?
• Health care?
• Politics?
• Government
• The Economy?
• Churches?

38
Thinking Right about Ideological Structures

• Inhuman value systems, isms for example
• Materialism things gt persons
• Totalitarianism power gt participation
• Authoritarianism control gt service

39
Other values become subordinate

• Human life, dignity, rights?
• Family and Community?
• Dignity of work, rights of workers?
• Option for the poor?
• Care for Gods creation
• Solidarity and Common Good?

40
Creating a Socially Sensitive Conscience

• Against Apathy ? Feeling Right
• Against Ignorance ? Thinking Right
• Against Inadequacy ? Acting Right

41
Acting Right

• Social responsibility involves getting to the
  sources of injustice, influencing institutions
  such as
• Government
• Community
• Non Governmental Organizations
• Business
• Policy decision makers

42
Power important for acting right

• Personal Power
• Collective Power
• Political Power
• Intermediate Organizational power

43
No neat formulas

• Christianity doesnt tell us what to do in the
  face of structural injustice, experience does.
• Need Corporate effort.

44
Qualities

• Participatory
• Willingness to enter a process
• Listening, experimental approach
• Patience

45
Changing structures

• Changing minds
• Changing hearts
• Changing beliefs and values
• Takes time
• Takes collaboration
• Takes patience, endurance

46
No surer way for enslaving structures to thrive
than for good people to make only short term
efforts
47
People who hope against hope

• Christ urging us to
• Feel right
• Think right
• Act right
• To be socially responsible.

48
People who hope against hope

• Patterned on the life / death of Jesus
• It is Christ urging the coming of his kingdom,

49
We can now ask ourselves?

• Do I have a dormant social conscience, or am I
  becoming more socially awake?
• What can I/we do to
• Feel right?
• Think right?
• Act right?

50
EXPERIENCE

• What are my FEELINGS about the experience of the
  poor? (Anger? Apathy? Guilt? Compassion? Hope?
  Boredom? Resistance? etc.) Are there any specific
  social issues behind peoples troubles which may
  trigger these feelings?

51
SOCIAL ANALYSIS

• What do I THINK about the experiences and
  feelings? Are my feelings appropriate? What do
  they tell me? What might be some of the root
  causes behind some of the troubles experienced by
  the poor? What social structures, institutions
  are involved? Are there any historical roots to
  their situation? Is there one issue among the
  many which I think is at the root?

52
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

• How do my feelings and thinking relate to the
  values and biases of the Bible, Jesus, the
  Gospel, the Christian Tradition?

53
ACTION PLANNING

• How can I ACT right on the bases of my
  experiences and reflection upon them?
• What power do I have?
• How can I build this up through collaboration
  with others?
• What public policies might have a beneficial
  effect upon the issues and peoples troubles?