Citizenship and the Rising Generation of American Christians: A Reflection on "Caritas in Veritate" and Global Political Community
Drew Harmon Wednesday, 14 October 2009
For many American Christians, especially young adults, our political experience is too often comprised of little more than 15-second campaign commercials followed immediately by a 15-minute trip to the voting booth. Such superficial interactions demonstrate our failure to grasp the importance of thoughtful religio-political engagement in a rapidly shifting, trans-national world.
When college students and other young people mine the caverns of political theory, voting behavior, or ecclesial calls "to be informed," they sometimes feel overwhelmed at the many obligations of a citizen. Nevertheless, there are signs that young people are increasingly interested in forming a holistic understanding of politics. For example, some are tapping into the recent charge toward a coalesced, multi-layered citizenship in Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 encyclical, Caritas in Veritate.
With that in mind, in this essay I explore the question of civic engagement, pointing to the necessary complexities of what it means to be a citizen in a globalized world.
Individuals and the Boundaries of Citizenship
As the boundaries of our state and political communities shift, the category—and thus, the power—of citizenship has largely been lost in America's political arena. Many religious people are genuinely excited to take part in the political community but have little idea what it means to truly be a citizen.
Young people are increasingly engrossed in the political process, but they are not as eager to define the boundaries of political engagement. How does a "person of faith" begin to characterize one's civic responsibility? As I read Caritas in Veritate, its integrative approach to politics challenged me. The encyclical commented on many topics, and it even questioned the rampant individualism that so often legitimates free market capitalism and its effects on individuals' multi-dimensional lives. Rather than approaching the complexity of life and the political community from a pragmatic point of view, Pope Benedict emphasized the normative claims that form and reiterate a public-legal community. These ideas made my former "single-issue voting" attitude collapse.
Pope Benedict noted the various responsibilities in each person's life—economic, religious, familial, and educative— and he highlighted the intensely differentiated America of which we are a part. This recognition of sundry duties within society aids those seeking to define and limit the political community for the common good.
The Pope's charge that "The Church's social doctrine came into being in order to claim ‘citizenship status' for the Christian religion"[1] reverberated and prompted me to ask normative questions, such as: What is "citizenship status" for a Christian? What role should the Church play? What is the duty of the political community? What about the other responsibilities individuals have? Indeed, Catholic (and broadly Christian) moral theology has a long history of asking the question of what it means to be a citizen of heaven, and also of the world.
Political Community and Limits of Power
A citizen is supposedly one participating in the political community, but what constitutes a political community and its limits? Should it be the protector of human rights? What are the duties implied thereby? Current events prompt more specific, applied questions: As an American citizen, how educated do I have to be about health care? Looking at international events, one might ask: Should the Honduran military shape the leadership of presidential governance against the country's constitution? Zelaya's forced resignation was not simply a questionable issue of coercion; on a grander scale it compromised Honduras' socio-political institutional integrity.
A similar instance of institutional confusion arises in U.S. foreign policy. The government's multi-billion dollar backing of militaristic regimes throughout the Middle East for purposes other than waging war muddies the water of clear military goals and distinct limitations. As such, military actions in Afghanistan that seek to establish economic stability and provide national governance should be questioned. Why does the U.S. military determine governance structures and political boundaries overseas? As General Stanley McChrystal said in an interview, "The point of security ... is to enable governance. ... My metric is not the enemy killed, not ground taken: it's how much governance we've got."[2] It seems that to maintain the distinctive duty of the military both at home and overseas, clear lines distinguishing what the armed services should or should not do should be established. This would also help reassert confidence and rapport with the American people. Errant understandings of what the military should or should not do unveil a deeper challenge to clearly delineate the state's responsibilities in relation to other socio-political institutions.
Surely this confusion trickles down to citizens, subtly influencing the manner in which they engage in the political community. When the media nonchalantly report, "Then McChrystal's forces and civilian advisers will begin trying to build economic and governmental institutions," most readers gloss over and turn the page without asking: Are these appropriate military tasks?
These current events and the questions they raise demonstrate how defining the political community has implications beyond the American polity, manifesting significance on the trans-national stage. This global transformative power of technology, sociology, and politics is felt in our lives every day as the world and its systems become both integrated and differentiated. Globalization has a marked impact on public life, requiring individuals to re-examine civic responsibility.
Citizenship and Globalization
Globalization's challenges have prompted calls for a trans-national, global governmental structure to revive, protect, and regulate state activity—what Pope Benedict calls a "true world political authority."[3] With these realities in mind, the July 2009 G-8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy gathered leaders of the developed world to discuss the global unrest brought about by the economic collapse, climate change and energy consumption, and intense poverty. Its primary objective was to create possibilities for solidarity across a rapidly shrinking globe. The specter of increasing inter-governmentalism—exhibited through groups like the G-8—further necessitates a distinctive definition of citizen for those committed to civic engagement.
This need prompts the question: How have American Christians commonly responded to globalization? What does it mean to be a Christian, an American citizen, and a global citizen? Many American Christians have endorsed America as a "New Israel"—God's chosen nation, selected to advance Western democracy throughout the world, to free it of its "idols" in favor of a true and proper political freedom. Brumudi's fresco in the Capitol dome, The Apotheosis—or deification—of George Washington, exhibits an historical view of America's privileged place in God's purposes. Adherents of this view sincerely misunderstood—perhaps understandably—President George W. Bush's call "to shape the world, not merely be shaped by it."[4]
The idea of American exceptionalism is not only prideful but also as deeply at odds with the biblical narrative. In responding to American exceptionalism, Christians first need to reflect on the biblical meaning of Israel within the context of God's redemptive purposes throughout history—rather than equating God's chosen land as America—and then seek a more nuanced public expression of faith. This expression should extend beyond single-issue politics and be defined by holistic vision and engagement. For example, what does it mean for the Church (or a member of the Church universal) to speak prophetically into the health care debate and to offer a vision of individuals as more than profits or financial burdens, but as made in the image of God? Or to examine the global economic crisis as more than just dollar signs but with a deeper conceptualization of the many social spheres that happen to have economic elements?
We need to realize how our world is shrinking, flattening, integrating, differentiating, and globalizing; this is the first step toward a fuller and more robust citizenship. We need to broaden our horizons and see the effects of these changes on a grander scale, and humble ourselves for the common good as we realize how individuals are called to responsibilities in many different areas of life.
Conclusion
How should American Christians in general, and young American adults in particular, go about promoting a fuller and more robust citizenship? Holistic education of individuals is essential. Academics, politicians, public servants, and ordinary citizens alike could start by seeking a meaningful articulation of the state and its responsibilities, and they could do so across their many disciplines. They could examine how various social institutions affect one another. These explorations would be foundational to the discussion, and would emphasize the need to understand—and limit—the state.
Pope Benedict's proposal of "Charity in Truth" offers solid moral capital when it comes to examining citizenship in a globalizing world, fueling the charge to promote justice and further the common good. Whether or not one agrees with Pope Benedict, his emphasis on normative claims to establish and reiterate a public-legal community is essential. As we define the political community, we must also understand our place is history. Where do we find ourselves? How did we get here? More particularly, what does civic duty look like with a state defined as only one institution among many that promotes justice? As Christians and people of faith find themselves in the political community, they must pose these normative questions of meaning and responsibility to illumine everyday experiences. When people of faith begin to answer and act, we might begin to see what it means to claim American "citizenship status" in a shrinking, globalized world. We will realize that the path of civic engagement is a lifetime exercise, not a single-issue sprint.
[1] Caritas in Veritate, 2009, paragraph 56. The text of the encyclical is available here: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html
[2] "A New General, and a New War, in Afghanistan," Time, July 20, 2009.
[3] Caritas in Veritate, 2009, paragraph 67.
[4] Bush, President George W., "Introduction," National Security Strategy of the United States, 2006.