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Fourth, in U.S. political discourse, we often hear debates about
government versus individual freedom; federal versus local control; and
public versus private sectors. Americans' fear of a powerful central
state goes back to colonial days. The Catholic tradition, however, makes
no broad presumptions about the kinds of decisions government should
make. Our tradition starts, again, with concern for individual dignity
and the common good, which we see as intertwined. In determining how to
promote human dignity and the common good, the Catholic tradition uses a
principle called subsidiarity. This means that decisions should be made
and implemented at the lowest feasible level; but where problems cannot
be solved by individuals, civil society, or local governments, it is
right and appropriate that larger entities tackle them, for the dignity
and good of all.
Fifth, Catholic social teaching calls us to charity and justice. Both
are important, neither is sufficient without the other. (Cf. Catechism
of the Catholic Church, no. 2446.) Charity involves giving individuals
what they need to meet their immediate concerns. To love our neighbor as
ourselves we must give charity with a spirit of solidarity, rather than
pity.
Charity is one important way to respect the dignity of others, but
charity doesn't change the conditions that created that individual's
need in the first place. Justice demands that we change the social
conditions that hurt human dignity. In other words, justice means
changing our world so that fewer people need charity.
Charity is typically easier than justice. Charity may require a
significant sacrifice out of our pocketbook or our time, but it may not
require that we change. Justice, on the other hand, may require us to
give up our smugness and self-righteousness; our values, choices, or
lifestyles that contribute to the injustices of the world; and our
comfort. Justice calls us to spend time reflecting on problems in the
world-even if doing so makes us uncomfortable. Our Catechism teaches
that injustice-in laws, institutions, social structures, or ways of
doing things-is sinful. When we participate in and contribute to these
injustices we commit "social sins." (See sections 408 and 1868-69.)
Finally, Catholic social teaching tells us, in the oft-quoted words of
the U.S. Catholic Bishops, that our dignity "comes from God, not from
any human quality or accomplishment, not from race or gender, age or
economic status." As individuals and as a community that has struggled
for equality in American society, African Americans well understand this
teaching and should teach it to others. In our highly materialistic and
individualistic society, we are bombarded with messages that human worth
and dignity are rooted in personal "success," as measured in wealth.
Catholics eschew this prideful materialism, which, on the one hand,
denies the hand of God in our accomplishments, and on the other hand,
denies the ways racism and other social sins obstruct God's will that
every human being have a full and dignified life.
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