More Insights into Judie Brown's Classic Book*

More Insights into Judie Brown’s Classic Book *
In pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegoneblogspot.com – Monday, February 6, 2012

“Patterning Catholic Church-supported initiatives after the work of community organizing guru Saul Alinsky is simply not something the Catholic bishops should be associated with in any way, let alone be putting their stamp of approval on. Saul Alinksy was a radical political activist whose 1971 book, Rules for Radicals, set the stage for many varying forms of community organizing based on fundamentally on agitating for change at the local, state, or national level. And I don’t mean change for the better. 76

“Alinsky was an enemy of the Church; his programs were and still are the antithesis of Catholic social teaching. Writing about Alinsky and his fetish regarding the way churches had to be manipulated, Bill Muehlenberg says,

“He fully agree with Italian Marxist Antonio Gramci that social institutions must be captured from within, instead of overthrown from without. The long march through the institutions, instead of bloody revolution, was Alinsky’s preferred means to achieve the same ends.

“And he made it clear that capturing churches was a vital part in promoting the secular left’s revolution: ‘I recognized that is I could win the support of the Church, we’d be off and running. Conversely, without the Church, or at least some elements of it, it was unlikely that we’d be able to make much of a dent in the community. “Thus churches have long been targeted by the radicals, knowing how much easier their task would be if they could infiltrate churches and con-gullible believers into doing their work for them.

“The sort of philosophy espoused by Saul Alinsky and those who have followed in his footsteps does not comport with the mission of the Catholic Church in America – or any nation for that matter. Social change is not what is needed. What is needed is conversion to Christ and His Word.

“Sometimes that vision is not what comes out of places where bureaucrats are striving to either create or implement agendas based on someone else’s idea or political framework. Bureaucrats, no matter where they function, can and do have a profound effect on the way any institution, be it government or otherwise, operates. Their personal philosophy can get in the way of the mission, and it is my contention that this is exactly what has happened within the context of the Catholic bishop’s bureaucracy, not only in Washington, D.C, but in many states as well. 77

“Without getting too technical, it could be a very good idea for the bishops to consider shutting down the operations that are creating the confusion and then starting over with perhaps a dozen good men and women. Christ had 12 apostles and look what He was able to accomplish!

“It didn’t take a political party to help Christ along; in fact He died for our sins after living what some would say was a totally politically incorrect life. He set the mark high, but with every bishop doing his part, we might even witness resurgence in solid Catholic ideals being taught in Catholic colleges. We will explore this in the next chapter. First let’s examine some actions we can take… 78

George H. Kubeck - *The Broken Path, www.all.org $15.95 – Local Catholic bookstores or Amazon?