Case In Point: Unemployed Need Not Apply

Follow this link: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Outofwork-job-applicants-told-cnnm-3498252371.html?x=0. It is exactly the opposite of the Social Justice teachings that I posted before.

Seven Major Themes of Catholic Social Teaching

(This is particularly for my Catholic friends who might find this surprising!):

1) Life and Dignity of the Human Person - human life is sacred, and the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society.

2) Family, Community, and the Common Good - Being social beings, the ways in which we organize ourselves - economically politically, etc - affects not only isolated individuals but all of those in the network of human life. Participation in society is both a right and a duty. Seek the common good, especially for the poor and vulnerable.

3) Rights and Responsibilities - Every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Therefore, certain duties and responsibilities are held collectively by the community, and should promote human dignity and flourishing.

4) Option for the Poor and Vulnerable - here things might get surprising! We are to put, as a society, the needs of the poor and vulnerable first (Mt 25:31-46). How many of us put ourselves first, saying that people are poor because they deserve it, and therefore I shouldn't have to bail them out?

5) Solidarity - All human beings are linked in a web of life that is more fundamental than national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are to pursue justice and peace based on our essential similarity as beings created in the Image of God.

6) Work and Participation - all people have the right to participate in the economic, political and cultural life of society. Human dignity requires that all people be assured a minimal level of participation in society. When we work, we don't just work; it is a form of continuing participate in God's creation. The dignity of such work requires that a person has a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization of joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.

7) Care for God's Creation - we do not really own God's creation; we are stewards of it. The goods of the Earth are intended for the benefit of all.

Congressman Assaults Student on Washington Sidewalk