Robert Burns and Catholic Social Teaching

[Reposted from last year]

I'm not quite sure whether it's right to wish people a happy Burns' Day rather than a happy Burns' Night. But in any case, Robert Burns was born on 25 January 1759. I'm not going to pretend that Burns was either a Catholic or even a convinced Presbyterian, but neither is he the straightforward opponent of religion that modern secularists might claim:

`What a transient business is life! Very lately I was a boy; but t'other day I was a young man; and I already begin to feel the rigid fibre and stiffening joints of Old Age coming fast o'er my frame. With all my follies of youth, and I fear, a few vices of manhood, still I congratulate myself on having had in early days religion strongly impressed on my mind. I have nothing to say to any body, as, to which Sect they belong, or what Creed they believe; but I look on the Man who is firmly persuaded of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness superintending and directing every circumstance that can happen in his lot - I felicitate such a man as having a solid foundation for his mental enjoyment; a firm prop and sure stay, in the hour of difficulty, trouble and distress: and a never-failing anchor of hope, when he looks beyond the grave.'

[From here.]

That said, Burns' poetry does reveal broad themes that connect with Catholic social teaching. Let's take 'A man's a man for a' that' as an example.

Is there for honest Poverty

That hings his head, an' a' that;

The coward slave-we pass him by,

We dare be poor for a' that!

For a' that, an' a' that.

Our toils obscure an' a' that,

The rank is but the guinea's stamp,

The Man's the gowd for a' that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,

Wear hodden grey, an' a that;

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;

A Man's a Man for a' that:

For a' that, and a' that,

Their tinsel show, an' a' that;

The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,

Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,

Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;

Tho' hundreds worship at his word,

He's but a coof for a' that:

For a' that, an' a' that,

His ribband, star, an' a' that:

The man o' independent mind

He looks an' laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,

A marquis, duke, an' a' that;

But an honest man's abon his might,

Gude faith, he maunna fa' that!

For a' that, an' a' that,

Their dignities an' a' that;

The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,

Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,

(As come it will for a' that,)

That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,

Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.

For a' that, an' a' that,

It's coming yet for a' that,

That Man to Man, the world o'er,

Shall brothers be for a' that.

I won't try to give a full Catholic reading of the complexities here, but let's take four key themes from the song and connect them to the Church's teaching on the subject from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. (Online here. Initial numbers below refer to the section numbers of the Compendium.)


1) Liberty:

135. Man can turn to good only in freedom, which God has given to him as one of the highest signs of his image: “For God has willed that man remain ‘under the control of his own decisions' (Sir 15:14), so that he can seek his Creator spontaneously, and come freely to utter and blissful perfection through loyalty to Him. Hence man's dignity demands that he act according to a knowing and free choice that is personally motivated and prompted from within, neither under blind internal impulse nor by mere external pressure”. Man rightly appreciates freedom and strives for it passionately: rightly does he desire and must form and guide, by his own free initiative, his personal and social life, accepting personal responsibility for it. In fact, freedom not only allows man suitably to modify the state of things outside of himself, but it also determines the growth of his being as a person through choices consistent with the true good. In this way man generates himself, he is father of his own being, he constructs the social order. 2) Solidarity: 192. Solidarity highlights in a particular way the intrinsic social nature of the human person, the equality of all in dignity and rights and the common path of individuals and peoples towards an ever more committed unity. Never before has there been such a widespread awareness of the bond of interdependence between individuals and peoples, which is found at every level. The very rapid expansion in ways and means of communication “in real time”, such as those offered by information technology, the extraordinary advances in computer technology, the increased volume of commerce and information exchange all bear witness to the fact that, for the first time since the beginning of human history, it is now possible — at least technically — to establish relationships between people who are separated by great distances and are unknown to each other. 3) Equality: 144. “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34; cf. Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9), since all people have the same dignity as creatures made in his image and likeness. The Incarnation of the Son of God shows the equality of all people with regard to dignity: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28; cf. Rom 10:12; 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11). Since something of the glory of God shines on the face of every person, the dignity of every person before God is the basis of the dignity of man before other men. Moreover, this is the ultimate foundation of the radical equality and brotherhood among all people, regardless of their race, nation, sex, origin, culture, or class. 4) Honest poverty: 324. Those who recognize their own poverty before God, regardless of their situation in life, receive particular attention from him: when the poor man seeks, the Lord answers; when he cries out, the Lord listens. The divine promises are addressed to the poor: they will be heirs to the Covenant between God and his people. God's saving intervention will come about through a new David (cf. Ezek 34:22-31), who like King David — only more so — will be defender of the poor and promoter of justice; he will establish a new covenant and will write a new law in the hearts of believers (cf. Jer 31:31-34). When sought or accepted with a religious attitude, poverty opens one to recognizing and accepting the order of creation. In this perspective, the “rich man” is the one who places his trust in his possessions rather than in God, he is the man who makes himself strong by the works of his own hands and trusts only in his own strength. Poverty takes on the status of a moral value when it becomes an attitude of humble availability and openness to God, of trust in him. This attitude makes it possible for people to recognize the relativity of economic goods and to treat them as divine gifts to be administered and shared, because God is the first owner of all goods. Given the usual nature of Burns' suppers, one should perhaps also add (mutatis mutandis*) Belloc's words:

“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!”

[Details of image here.]

*In this case a phrase doubtless to be translated into Scots as 'leaving out the sun and substituting whisky for wine'.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from all at the Albertus Institute!





[Details of image: Master of Vyšší Brod, 1350. Full details here.

Course on Russell Kirk: week 4

Welcome to week 4 of the course of posts on Russell Kirk and Catholic social teaching. Details of previous posts are given here.

This week we focus on Kirk's principle of 'prudence':

...conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence. Burke agrees with Plato that in the statesman, prudence is chief among virtues. Any public measure ought to be judged by its probable long-run consequences, not merely by temporary advantage or popularity. Liberals and radicals, the conservative says, are imprudent: for they dash at their objectives without giving much heed to the risk of new abuses worse than the evils they hope to sweep away. As John Randolph of Roanoke put it, Providence moves slowly, but the devil always hurries. Human society being complex, remedies cannot be simple if they are to be efficacious. The conservative declares that he acts only after sufficient reflection, having weighed the consequences. Sudden and slashing reforms are as perilous as sudden and slashing surgery.

[From Kirk's 'Ten conservative principles' here]

Kirk's championing of prudence as the central principle of politics is part of a general focus on character and virtue. It has a negative aspect -a rejection of ideology and theory as a basis for politics- and a positive aspect -the need to cultivate character and wisdom based on the experience of past ages.

Reading:

Excerpts from Kirk's 'The American conservative character' here

Aquinas' Commentary on Aristotle's Ethics, lecture 4 here

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church says of prudence:

 Acting with prudence

547. The lay faithful should act according to the dictates of prudence, the virtue that makes it possible to discern the true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means for achieving it. Thanks to this virtue, moral principles are applied correctly to particular cases. We can identify three distinct moments as prudence is exercised to clarify and evaluate situations, to inspire decisions and to prompt action. The first moment is seen in the reflection and consultation by which the question is studied and the necessary opinions sought. The second moment is that of evaluation, as the reality is analyzed and judged in the light of God's plan. The third moment, that of decision, is based on the preceding steps and makes it possible to choose between the different actions that may be taken.

548. Prudence makes it possible to make decisions that are consistent, and to make them with realism and a sense of responsibility for the consequences of one's action. The rather widespread opinion that equates prudence with shrewdness, with utilitarian calculations, with diffidence or with timidity or indecision, is far from the correct understanding of this virtue. It is a characteristic of practical reason and offers assistance in deciding with wisdom and courage the course of action that should be followed, becoming the measure of the other virtues. Prudence affirms the good as a duty and shows in what manner the person should accomplish it. In the final analysis, it is a virtue that requires the mature exercise of thought and responsibility in an objective understanding of a specific situation and in making decisions according to a correct will.

[From Compendium here.]


Discussion:

If there is a heart to Kirk's approach to political thinking, it is in the character of the citizen, virtuous and wise through his immersion in the experience and wisdom of the past. Moreover (and this is perhaps something that distinguishes Kirk's thought from other conservative approaches) it is a wisdom that is imaginative, that needs to be fed by art, and which is creative and even individualistic.  (Kirk's autobiography is entitled Confessions of a Bohemian Tory. See eg essay here.)

Classical Greek and Roman political thought emphasises the links between virtue and politics.(Aristotle for example regards ethics as part of politics: the discussion of character is part of a wider discussion of what it is to live in society.) Prudence (sometimes translated as 'practical wisdom/reason' or left in the Greek 'phronesis') is at the centre of virtue. It cannot be replaced by systematic theory (hence the hostility of Kirk to attempts to systematize even conservative thought) and it is not even an art (where again, there is technique to be acquired). In modern terms, Kirk's thought lies opposed to both grand theories of society such as Marxism, and techniques of manipulation such as bureaucratic managerialism.

From the perspective of Catholic social teaching, this emphasis on the intellectual virtue of prudence should remove any tendency to regard Catholic thought on society as a simple manual which can be applied mechanically. Certainly there are principles. Certainly there are rules of thumb which will usually work. But politics is neither a science nor an art, and to treat it as such is to pervert its nature.

I've mentioned that a peculiarity of Kirk's conservatism is its emphasis on imagination. Kirk was, I think it fair to say, a character. As his biographer Bradley Birzer puts it (here): 'By almost any twenty-first-century American or western standard, Russell Amos Augustine Kirk (1918-1994) possessed a quirky, eccentric, and original personality.' Those eccentricities can lead him to be seen as a poseur or, at the least, annoy even those who otherwise sympathise with his positions. (Personally, for example, I find his avoidance of the first person in his autobiography offputting rather than endearing.) But there is a defence to this eccentricity. In an age which is hostile to conservatism or indeed to Catholicism, a willingness to see and act beyond what is regard as socially normal is essential. A thinker such as Kirk is always going to stand to some extent outside 'normal' society. Embodying that outsiderness (or Bohemianism) requires a certain style of performance of self-dramatisation. (I leave others to tease out the implications from this thought for (eg) clerical dress and behaviour!)


Additional reading:

Kirk: 'The moral imagination' here


[Details of image: from Crisis magazine here]


[Next post Monday 29 August 2016]

George Mackay Brown (1921-1996)

George Mackay Brown died twenty years ago today.

Although this blog focuses mainly on Catholic social teaching, it's worth considering precisely how the arts -and in this case poetry- contribute to our life as social beings. At the funeral Mass, Archbishop Conti said the following:

I remember George describing the earth under the farmer's plough as being scourged -or was it the back of Christ he say being ploughed?...If my memory falters, it is because of George's characteristic interchanging of images, which revealed not only the twin sources of his deepest inspiration, namely his native Orkney and his adopted Catholicism, but also his easy integration of what for so many remain separate orders of life and faith. This is why his death at this season seems so right, for this is the season when the life of faith and the life of nature so marvellously correspond; when he who was hung up on the bare wood, and moistened it with his blood, made it to flower as the instrument of salvation; when He who ws buried in the dark earth, and shared it with its apparent sleep, burst forth from it revealing the new life of grace.

[From: Ron Ferguson's, George Mackay Brown: the Wound and the Gift, p.365]

Brown's work and Archbishop Conti's assessment of it above suggest two immediate thoughts for me. First, there is the link with Roger Scruton's use of the concept of the 'Lebenswelt' (roughly, the environment for human beings, constructed by our imaginative engagement with the world) and the need to repair and enrich it, in part through the use of literature and art. (For an article on this by Scruton, see here. For previous discussions of Scruton on this blog, see here.)

Secondly, and continuing with this first thought, Catholicism in Scotland can often be seen to be 'foreign' or 'other'. (The nineteenth century Protestant jibe of 'the Italian mission to the Irish' is relevant here as are more recent secularist attacks on the acceptability of Catholic understandings within a modern Scotland.) Brown reimagined Orkney as a Catholic landscape. He also reimagined Catholic Orkney as a central landscape rather than one marginal to Scottish and wider human concerns. Despite all the differences between them, Brown's enterprise here strikes me as at least analogous to Tolkien's construction of a 'legendarium'. Bradley Birzer's book, J R R Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth deals with this aspect in considerable detail:

[Birzer] also explores the social and political views that motivated the Oxford don, ultimately situating Tolkien within the Christian humanist tradition represented by Thomas More and T. S. Eliot, Dante and C. S. Lewis. Birzer argues that through the genre of myth Tolkien created a world that is essentially truer than the one we think we see around us every day, a world that transcends the colorless disenchantment of our postmodern age.

[From review here.]

A small selection of Brown's poems, read by him, can be found here.

[Details of image: here.]