The descent of the party of . . . hmm, segregationists and slaveholders? . . . into the party of abortion-on-demand is also dragging down any Catholic individuals that ally with it down into the mud.

You are absolutely correct that some will understand “blatantly political” to mean not just involving the support of a specific candidate but also advocating for certain other actions. And going back to the earlier commentary about the center-right’s misdescription of progressive initiatives, they have a tendency to accuse progressives of supporting ‘state action’ when progressives (overall and in specific instances) call for self-organization by the poor without any particular state involvement.

The functional difference between a bank and a credit union is not its locality (like a local grocery store or hardware store). It is that while a bank is accountable to and exists to advance the interests of its shareholders, a credit union is a pooling of funds by its members and is accountable to and operates in the interest of its members.

I once belonged to a parish credit union and already expressed my favorable view of Catholic fraternal insurance. But I do not exclude organizations like Catholic Charities or CCHD that seek to assist the poor regardless of religion, race or creed. I think it is good to take care of your own. I do not think it is good to only take care of your own.

Well, that all depends on what one means by “empowering the poor”, now doesn’t it? Something might not be “blatantly political” in the sense that it does not involve supporting a specific candidate or initiative, and yet be clearly political in that its advocating for certain kinds of action by the state.

On your tooth example in regards to credit unions: chewing and opening bottle caps are two totally separate actions, one of which teeth are designed for and one of which they aren’t. If the topic is credit unions: How is it _functionally different_ having a savings account and car loan from Steel Valley Federal Credit Union versus having a savings account and car loan from Quaker City Savings and Loan versus having the same accounts at Wells Fargo.

I mean, I’d happily support a specifically Catholic credit union just as I happily use KofC insurance — but you’ve already said that the CCHD specifically doesn’t support Catholic-run organizations.

I can see how you’d feel that using a credit union instead of a bank is a good thing to do, just as many people prefer a local grocery or hardware store to a chain — but I really can’t see how its a functionally different activity.

If the organization is distinctly Catholic then by definition it is not incorporating at least those among the community it serves who are not Catholic. So what you really are saying is that the non-Catholic poor are to be served but not part of the governance, policy, and program direction of the organization. I understand that point of view, though I don’t concur with it myself.

CCHD does not fund groups that a blatently political, though the mere act of empowering the poor does have political implications and certainly presents challenges to certain political forces in our society.

DC- If I feel my teeth are for chewing food or if I feel they are for opening beer bottles, it has an impact on my life.

1) You wrote: “This has nothing to do with the point I am making in this context, which is simple: the Dobson approach to economics is about as far from Catholic social teaching as can be imagined, and people like Neuhaus and Donohue like to gloss over these differences (largely because they are not comfortable with the Church teaching itself, I believe).

Again, sorry I didn’t make this quite clear… but I wasn’t replying to you, specifically, when I first wrote; I was replying to those who were creating a “let’s bash Dr. Dobson” fest on your thread. BTW: the fact that Dr. Dobson’s economic theory doesn’t mesh (in your opinion, anyway) with Catholic social teaching really doesn’t merit saying, “Pond scum would protest being compared to James Dobson”, and the like. Do you disagree? Dr. Dobson has far more in common with orthodox Catholicism than do “Catholics for Obama”, and the like.

So, nice attempt to divert the argument (abortion is the typical Trohan horse, but gay marriage works too), but sorry, no.

True, I didn’t bring that up… but I’d gently suggest that Dr. Dobson’s views on abortion are *far* more in line with Catholic Social Teaching than are the opinions of “seamless-garment” supporters.

Perhaps you could check out Gerald’s comment–the first in the series–to see why I felt it necessary to address so-called “gay [sic] marriage”; unless you’re chastising him for bringing it up as well, I think you may be using something of a double-standard.

By definition, there couldn’t be a _functional_ difference between those who think of themselves as “users” and those who think of themselves as “members”. They’re going to treat everyone the same regardless of how they feel about it.

But I will grant you that those who think of themselves as “members” may feel a warm glow of solidarity when they make their deposits and withdrawals that others miss out on.

Still the fact that you feel that way about a credit union and not about a local bank or other business is basically a matter of your feelings towards types of institutions. It doesn’t have much of anything to do with the virtues or failings of the institutions themselves.

The functional difference is minimal for those who see themselves as users of financial services. For those with an understanding of themselves as members rather than users of a credit union, I think it is different.

Zak — Their are several, non-exclusive options. 1) Catholics dispensing relief to fellow Catholics in need (a certain worthy form of communalism — our Catholic fraternal groups witness this virtue); 2) Catholics dispensing relief to those in need regardless of confession (the work of CC and CRS); 3) Catholics, following the principle of subsidiarity, sponsoring local initiatives in which the client population (Catholic and non-Catholic) share in the governance, direction and priorities of the initative.

I’m of the ‘all of the above’ school, though I fault no one for focusing their efforts on one or two items based on what they are best suited to attend to.