What does that mean? What is 'balanced"? I thought the majesterium was what it is. Could you explain to us outside the faith, how we "balance" what I read from Rome? Having been raised a Unitarian and studied for its mininstry, theological terms are OK by me. I understand the lingo.
I wouldn't have pegged you for a former Unitarian theological candidate.
I've been to some UU services in the past and they didn't seem like something that would be your thing.
Catholicism is it's essence is a a synergistic religion, "et et" in Latin, translated roughly as "both/and" in English. It generally isn't prone to overly simplistic one dimensional approaches to things. Before people jump down my throat and tell me I am wrong, I should note that I got the bulk of that first sentence from Pope Benedict.
There are some corners of the Catholic Church that have started to see things in a very simplistic way that lacks nuance and equates Catholicism with a one-dimensional philosophy, conservativism, and makes abortion an overarching issue that trumps, literally, everything else. Now, there's no question that abortion is an important issue in a Catholic context. However, there are other Catholic principles like prudential judgement that come into play when we're talking about voting for political candidates versus some sort of a referendum on a single issue. In a political context, one has to consider all of the issues as a whole, and also how likely each issue is to be something that real change can be accomplished on one way or the other. Catholics are not single-issue voters, and Catholics are open to dialogue.
Lately, it seems as though some corners of the Church have gotten themselves wrapped up into an approach that resembles a cross between fundamentalist Protestantism and political conservatism, which is not really in keeping with what the Church has historically stood for. Interestingly, this movement has arisen percisely as the old wave of Irish, Italian, and Polish immigrants have become more and more assimilated and entrenched in society, losing their cultural distinctiveness. I don't think that's entirely a coincidence.
So, when I say, balanced view, I mean someone who understands things not through the lense of being a particular political ideology or a particular nationality, or through a narrow lense centered upon a single issue, but who understands the broader scope of history, the world, Catholic theology, and what it means to be living in a fallen world and have to make difficult judgments with shades of gray. A balanced person appreciates complexity, and the individual nature of conscinece. A balanced person seeks dialogue, peace, and understanding across ideological divides.
Some of these new-line fundamentalist conservative political ideologues seem to lack that balance. Sometimes balance can also be lacking on the other side as well, of course, but I see that less often. It's not that there weren't plenty of Catholic conservatives in years past, too, but they were a different breed, more moderate and more balanced, were really understood theology, if not on a deeper level, at least in a more balanced way. Some conservatives today (though not all) seem to be practicing a form of Catholicism that is not quite recognizable to me, very influenced by American conservative culture, and very simplistic, without the nuance.
One can also see pretty clearly below the surface that some of these movements don't acknowledge or acknowledge only in a very superficial reluctant way, the Catholic teachings that are more liberal, on issues like torture, just war, capital punishment, the goverment's responsibility to the poor, the right to health care, and so forth. And when one see's that, and the way some are so adament about abortion and use even small things as a test of orthodoxy, not even accepting pro-life people as pro-life enough, yet openly dissent on any Church teaching that is even remotely liberal, one begins to realize that it is really conservativism that is the ultimate overriding philosophy that's in play there, rather than simply a generic Catholicism or Chrsitianity.
