The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

This week on the Just Third Way Hour we have Part I of Norman Kurland's presentation at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Summit.  This is an edited audio version of the video, which makes it easier to listen to the points raised.  (This link should get you to "Episode #16, but if you click on the link and you get a later or the current episode, go to the "Episodes" tab and click on that, which gets you the listing of all the episodes of the show):

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 17

It appears that April Showers are bringing forth flowers of hope for the Just Third Way.  A number of initiatives appear to be getting a little traction around the world, from the state of Michigan to the country of Poland.  In addition, research into the roots of today’s problems is revealing some surprising things that bode well to shake up what “everybody knows” about the history of the nineteenth century, especially the development of socialism:

10. A Living Wage?

One thing that a number of Pope John Paul I’s biographers have struggled with is the puzzle of his working-class background and the fact that his father was a socialist, combined with his obvious distrust of socialism of any kind.  They see a contradiction in his open sympathy for workers versus his theological “conservatism” (actually orthodoxy).  As a result, chroniclers tend to gloss over or downplay his comments about socialism by asserting — without proof — that he was only opposed to certain kinds of socialism, notably Marxist communism.

9. Capitalism v. Socialism? Justice v. Charity?

As Popes Leo XIII and John Paul I well knew (and as Karl Marx summed up), socialist theory can be stated most succinctly as “the abolition of private property.”  As we saw in the previous posting in this series, that is why Leo XIII declared that widespread capital ownership is the sure specific for socialism, modernism, and the New Age.

8. Is Theft Ever Justified?

As we saw in the previous posting in this series, Leo XIII, in common with John Paul I a century later, faced the serious challenges socialism, modernism, and the New Age presented to traditional institutions of civil, religious, and domestic society.  Both popes were fully aware of the dangers the “new things” represented.

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

This week on the Just Third Way Hour we have Russell Williams of The Challenge interviewing Dr. Norman Kurland, president of the Center for Economic and Social Justice.  Tune in for a lively and informative discussion:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 16

This has been a busy week for a number of people involved in the Just Third Way, with a large number of meetings with some very interesting and intriguing people and institutions.  We also received a very encouraging report from CESJ’s overseas correspondent, who has been working very hard at introducing the Just Third Way with key people and institutions in politics, academia, and the Catholic Church:

7. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

The turmoil surrounding the Second Vatican Council was in no wise different from that of the First.  Problems facing John Paul I as the first “post Vatican II pope” were similar, even in many cases the same as those facing Leo XIII.  This makes sense, for Vatican II was construed as a continuation of Vatican I, although so many interpretations have been forced on to Vatican II that many people forget what the whole thing was about.

6. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

     What is interesting about the “legend” that has grown up around Pope John Paul I is the claim that he somehow favored or leaned toward a socialist interpretation of Catholic social teaching.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  His father was an ardent socialist, but his mother refused to marry his father until he promised he would not interfere in any way with their children’s religious upbringing — and he kept that promise, eventually renouncing socialism and becoming reconciled to the Catholic Church.  John Paul I had a great love for all people, but very carefully refused to give the socialists an inch, being advised by the future Pope John Paul II that they would take a mile.

5. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

In the previous posting in this series we saw that, just like Pope John Paul I in the twentieth century, Pope Gregory XVI was confronted with the “democratic religion” as socialism was originally called, among other related things that eventually evolved into what would become known as modernism and the New Age.  Gregory therefore set to work to counter the unreason of a social theory that Pope Pius XI would later declare “utterly foreign to Christian truth” with logic and the natural law philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Just Third Way Hour Podcast

Today we have podcast of Dr. Norman Kurland’s interview on The Challenge with your host, Russell Williams.  The Challenge is a long-running show out of Hartford, Connecticut, and we think you’re sure to enjoy it.

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 15

Most recent news on the national and international scene has little or nothing to do with the Just Third Way, except that implementing Just Third Way reforms would go a long way toward resolving them.  Still, there are one or two things happening that are directly of interest:

4. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

In the previous posting in this series, we looked at the difference between legal justice and social justice and why, despite the fact that both “look” to the common good, they are not the same thing.  This is a key point because it goes straight to the heart of everything to which Pope John Paul I was opposed, viz., socialism, modernism, and the New Age, particularly the goal of establishing “the Kingdom of God on Earth” — a materialist paradise devoid of genuine spirituality to replace traditional religion.  As he explained in his homily on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1976 while still Patriarch of Venice,

3. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

Today, as we noted in yesterday’s posting, we will be looking at the “problem of legal justice” from the standpoint of CESJ co-founder Father William J. Ferree, S.M., Ph.D.  This is not as clear-cut a question as many today believe who take as a given that “social justice” is simply socialism with a religious whitewash.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

2. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

In the previous posting in this series, we introduced our subject by noting that Pope John Paul I was head of the Catholic Church for a bare thirty-three days — one day for every year of the traditional age of Jesus’s life on Earth . . . which has no significance of any kind whatsoever (the coincidence, that is!).  Nevertheless, John Paul I still managed to say a few things about the Church’s social teachings, at least enough to see that he was in tune with every pope since Gregory XVI, which is when Catholic social teaching emerged as a discrete discipline within the larger body of Catholic thought.

The Just Third Way Podcast

This week on the podcast of "The Just Third Way Hour" we do a reprise of Dave Hamill interview with producer/director Joyce Hart, who is working on a documentary about Louis Kelso.  Joyce is the producer of the award-winning film, Sisters of Selma.  This episode has been among the most popular of the series, so you might want to tune in!

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 14

There are some interesting things happening around the Global Justice Movement network this week.  As usual, the worse things get economically and politically, the better things look for the Just Third Way . . . as a solution, that is:

1. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

Pope John Paul I was head of the Catholic Church for only thirty-three days.  Even in that short period of time, however, he made it abundantly clear not only that he was a “Vatican II pope,” but a “Vatican I pope,” with all that implies — something we hope to make clear in this brief series.

“The Worst Law in America”?

In its “Review & Outlook” section on Monday of last week, March 26, 2018, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece entitled, “The Worst Law in America.”  Without getting into an argument as to whether the referenced “Martin Act” in New York state really is the worst law in the entire United States — a claim that could no doubt engender some very lively discussion — we do have to admit that the Martin Act is pretty bad.  As described by the editorial staff,

You Can’t “Take It Or Leave It Alone”

Aristotle

Today we come to the sixth characteristic of social justice, and the final installment in our series on the laws and characteristics of social justice.  Appropriately, this characteristic is that you cannot simply refuse to participate in social justice; you cannot take your ball and go home.  That might sound harsh, especially given what most people think of as “social justice” these days, but it’s a necessary aspect of what it means for human beings to be (as Aristotle called us) “political animals.”

The Just Third Way Podcast

This week on the podcast of "The Just Third Way Hour" your host Dave Hamill interviews Joyce Hart, who is working on a documentary about Louis Kelso.  Joyce is the producer of the award-winning film, Sisters of Selma, so you might want to tune in!