"The Four Freedoms"
Letter from Bulletin of July 3, 2005

Dear Parishioners,

Happy Fourth of July! - a time to give thanks for the blessings of our land, to pray that God may “shed his light on thee” in the decisions and directions of our nation, and to reflect on our responsibilities as citizens who stand in a tradition of Catholic Social Teaching.

In January of 1941, in the face of a war against fascist dictatorship and imperial expansion, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt eloquently articulated what he named as the Four Freedoms which we are called to live out and to defend: “In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression – everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way – everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want – which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants – everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear – which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor – anywhere in the world.”

Later Norman Rockwell enshrined “the four freedoms” in his art, first on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post and then in a national drive for war bonds. A worker speaking up at a union meeting, hands joined and heads bowed in prayer, a family’s Thanksgiving dinner and a child being put safely to bed represent freedom of speech, and worship, and freedom from want and fear.

We are proud of these freedoms which are part of our American way of life, but which also fall short of FDR’s dream when we consider the needs of working families, the working poor, inadequate health coverage, immigrants, elderly and children faced by cut-backs and disappearing resources as well as the escalation rather than reduction of weapons of war.

In the current climate of budget deficits and deliberate efforts to cut social programs on federal and state levels, it’s important to ask what exactly is the appropriate role of government in our society and of citizens on behalf of one another. The U.S. Bishops in their statement “Economic Justice for All” are pretty clear on Catholic Social Teaching on the Role of Government, the Common Good and Taxes: “The teachings of the Church insist that government has a moral function: protecting human rights and securing basic justice for all members of the commonwealth. Society as a whole and in all its diversity is responsible for building up the common good. But it is the government’s role to guarantee the minimum conditions that make this rich social activity possible, namely, human rights and justice. This obligation also falls on individual citizens as they choose their representatives and participate in shaping public opinion. . . More specifically, it is the responsibility of all citizens, acting through their government, to assist and empower the poor, the disadvantaged, the handicapped, and the unemployed. . . Government may levy the taxes necessary to meet these responsibilities, and citizens have a moral obligation to pay those taxes.”

This may seem a far cry from the Boston Tea Party and “no taxation without representation” but the real question is how best can government (“representation”) and taxes convey our values and beliefs about human rights and the “four essential freedoms” which we claim to celebrate this fourth of July.

Your Pastor,
Brian Joyce