U.S./ Another example of the split between reason and faith

Rachel Maddow is one of the most educated (Doctorate in Political Science from Oxford University) in the cable news political universe. She is witty, sharp, analytical, satirical, relaxed, and very funny (only mildly politically correct). Her show is on MSNBC every night from Monday to Thursday prime time (and repeated on late-night. And then there are the blogs by her, against her, liked and disliked by her, etc. Her political ideology, as you can imagine, is definitely leftist or liberal, but with an intellectual dimension lacking in other TV political pundits, liberal or conservative.

Last week, Maddow included an analysis of the recent Vatican document by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, "Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority," in her show. To my knowledge, this is only the second time that the document has been summarized by the cable TV news media, although the conservative media may have reported on the rejection of the document by conservatives, especially Catholics. (The other favorable treatment of the document was by Wolf Blitzer at CNN.).

I was not surprised by Maddow's favorable view of the document, in fact, in some points the document is "to the left" of current American liberal thought. Apparently, Maddow grew up in a conservative Catholic atmosphere. At the present time, however, like many other Catholic liberal thinkers, she is in sharp disagreement with the teaching of the Church on the "life issues" as well as sexuality.  For this reason, in the same report in which she praised the Vatican document, Maddow sharply attacked the American Catholic bishops for not giving the Holy See's document the priority she thought it deserved and emphasizing instead abortion and other life issues, contraception, and the nature of marriage in their statement on the important issues that should guide the votes of Catholics in the upcoming elections. (The bishops issued their statement at their annual general meeting in Baltimore last week.)

Once again we see another example of a "Catholic education" - whether in a school, a catechetical program, or in a Catholic household - that fails to show the unbreakable link between the judgment of the Church on concrete moral issues and her faith in the Mystery of Christ unveiling the truth about human personhood. Once again we see the tragic split between reason and faith.

The Obama administration is packed with such Catholic advisors who share Maddow's failure to see the mystery of Christ as the thread that binds together all the elements of Catholic social doctrine. This is unfair to Obama, who then becomes surprised at what he sees as the bishops' intransigence. That is why the meeting between Obama and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, the new head of the Bishops' Conference, is such good news. Apparently Dolan was impressed by the President's willingness to understand better the Catholic view. We need a dialogue with the Administration, but we also need one among Catholics as well.