Inspiriting culture

Any student of history will quickly discover that conflicts between popes and emperors are as legendary as they are commonplace and predictable. When Constantine the Great (306-337) converted to Christianity it may have signaled to some the end of persecution of Christians and a giant step forward in Church-State relations. No longer was it illegal to profess the Christian faith in public and the State would even support some of the Church’s activities financially. At the same time, critics have sometimes viewed the movement of Constantine as little more than a kind of corporate takeover with the failing Holy Roman Emperor superseded by an increasingly politicized Church, effectively buying the H.R.E. in a going-out-of-business sale.

The interests of Church and State are not always at odds: education, the safeguarding of health, human welfare and justice, economic equity, and cultural enrichment, including the promotion of the arts — today as historically — are activities that have born much fruit in collaboration for a stable social order and human development. Some of the greatest works of art have been inspired by Christian theology as any trip to a museum will confirm. Many of the strongest critics of Christianity will affirm that as well.

It is even arguable that sociopolitical events were often shaped for the better by fundamental principles rooted in our faith. Our social teaching, often articulated eloquently in the writing of popes for over a century, have had a major if not decisive impact on the growing awareness and protection of human rights. At the end of the Second World War it was a source of great surprise to some that the peace that followed did not come at the price of a period of vengeful retribution by the nominal victors, as was often the consequence in accounts of ancient battles.

The humanizing effect of the Gospel, wherever it is preached and lived effectively, remains something that the world very much needs. Not all would agree with this, of course, but the fundamental respect for every human person, regardless of race, nationality, sex, gender, political affiliation, ethnicity, state of health or wealth — or just about any category or classification that might be devised — is at the core of Christian faith. We proclaim a God who loves every human person and wishes every human being to be saved or fulfilled. Our educational and charitable institutions will often describe our service to all as “catholic” not as works we do for others because they are catholic but because we are Catholic.

Along with respect for the dignity of persons — inseparable from it — is a certain vision of the nature of human persons and their actions. It is fundamental to our understanding of human beings that we exist not only as individuals, isolated from one another, but in communion or society. Thus the promotion of family life is a fundamental tenet of Catholic social teaching. Also derived from this logic is our understanding of the “common good” of all members of a social order, which seeks to overcome economic and political injustices where true human needs are overlooked and diminished in order to enhance the power and control of only a few.

From a theological perspective this is easy enough to understand. We believe in a God who is, essentially, family. The Holy Trinity is revealed as a community of persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — equally and completely divine, yet personally distinct. In the words of one Doctor of the Church, St. Catherine of Siena, three persons revolving about each other — “pazzo d’amore” (“Crazy-in-love”) for all eternity. This divine love is so dynamic and active that it is no surprise that it spills over into the creative activity that exploded into a universe full of natural and living wonders, culminating in the human race as uniquely reflective of the “image of God.”

Outside of a theological context, there is much in our common experience that would seem to support both an individual and a social component in what makes us human beings or persons. Mostly everyone wants to be respected and valued as a being of moral worth, protected by cultural, customary and political norms. In our very core, we feel it is just wrong when people are treated differently — superior or inferior — for any state or quality about them. Even children’s stories, with no overtly Christian catechetical intent, reflect this.

Our convictions about the fundamental equality of all human beings are not only rooted in our political conventions of individual rights but also our common experience of a need for free association, economic cooperation and indeed friendship. The respect for “private” property, which is articulated in our social teaching, is not rooted primarily in political theory about rights to claim domain and territory, but in a recognition and respect for our corporal and social natures. In other words, we need to have certain goods not only to survive (e.g., food, clothing and shelter), but to grow and flourish in a uniquely human way. So the promotion of a culture where education and fruits of art and science are accessible to all is essential to human life.

Many of the hungers that we have as human beings are not being met in our contemporary sociocultural context. Despite the wonderful development of technology, which enables us to be in contact almost instantly with anyone in the world, the great hunger for human relationships, for stable and trustworthy friendships, is far from being met or satisfied. Loneliness is pervasive and the fracturing of fundamental relationships — familial and on larger levels — is undeniable.

Anyone who has even a limited experience with social media will know that while it has a great potential for bringing people together and sharing important information, it can also become a tool, even a weapon, for the spread of detraction and false “information,” causing great damage to reputations and leaving emotional devastation. This raises questions about what our culture is offering us that either supports or works against our humanity, our real human needs.

To be specific, is the desire for companionship or even friendship, something that can be met adequately “online?” I am talking not only about the obvious dangers of human trafficking and pornography that users of some social media are vulnerable to, especially minors, but the need we have to be together personally, in family, church and other societal settings. We all witnessed the great help that our “Zooms” offered during the pandemic, but also have begun to discover the limitations of this amazing technology which simply cannot fulfill our deeper human needs any more than any robotic invention can.

How do we “inspirit” our culture so that we do not lose fundamental elements of our humanity, as beings-in-relationship? On this I would like to reflect in future articles. We have deep human hungers that our culture is not meeting. How can we respond to this call?