Neo-Catholics: Implementing Christian Nationalism in America

by Betty Clermont

Overview

Volumes have been written about the role the Religious Right played in achieving its ultimate goal - the presidency of George W. Bush. But few know the primary and essential role played by Catholics in instituting and directing the Religious Right as the means for the neoconservative takeover of the U.S. government, a group the author calls neo-Catholics. The first neoconservatives - Irving Kristol, Allan Bloom, and Francis Fukuyama - were proponents of the philosopher Leo Strauss who considered the ideal state as one ruled by an intellectual elite with religion used to mollify and intimidate the masses into obedience. Not only did Catholic leaders have a millennium of experience in propping up monarchs and dictators, but also Catholics were the largest denomination in the U. S. Neoconservative Catholics were ready, willing and able to implement the American brand of church/state unification: Christian Nationalism. This book examines how hawks and neo-conservatives in the Republican Party forged a nexus with powerful right wing Catholics that would change the face of American Catholicism, the structuring of social policy in the United States, and the American agenda in the world. At the start of the 1980s, the Church's social justice agenda had been committed to alleviating poverty, to demilitarization, to affirmative action,and to ending capital punishment-an agenda antipathetic to the Republican platform. By the end of the nineties, its justice agenda was marginalized, and political action was mobilized around concern for the dying and the unborn. Clermont's rigorous and extensively documented research examines how it was done.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780932863980
Publisher:	Clarity Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	560 KB

About the Author

Betty Clermont is the holder of a theological studies in the employ of the Archdiocese institutions from the inside out. Progressive News, an editorial contributor articles for Voice of the Faithful, sex-abuse scandal.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 1968-"Neoconservatism" Begins 13

Chapter 2 Catholicism: The Neoconservative Religion of Choice 20

The Knight of Material 20

Opus Dei 22

Opus Dei in America 25

The Vatican Bank 27

The Papacy: "A Perfect Vehicle" 30

Chapter 3 Hawks and Neocons Align 33

Ronald Reagan Materialized Out of Nowhere 33

The Nixon/Ford Administration 35

The Heritage Foundation 37

Chapter 4 Formation of The Religious right 40

The Moral Majority 41

The National Conservative Political Action Committee 43

The Conservative Caucus 44

Building an American Nationalist Christian Theology 45

Abortion 46

Support for Israel 49

Chapter 5 Two Popes Named John Paul 52

John Paul I 52

And the Winner Is...Wojtyla! 56

Chapter 6 John Paul II and Latin America 62

Liberation Theology 62

Right-wing retrenchment Under John Paul II 66

The Neoconservatives Confront Liberation Theology 68

John Paul II Tours Latin America 69

Chapter 7 Making Movie Actor Reagan "God's Man" 83

The 1980 Presidential Campaign 83

Foreign Backers 84

The Iran Hostage Crisis 85

Infesting the Reagan Administration 87

Deploying the Against the USSR 88

The Us and the Holy See: Government to Government 93

Finding "Parallelism" on Abortion, Star Wars and Latin America 94

Chapter 8 Pope John Paul II and The Media 97

The Pope John Paul II Cultural Center 100

Fatima 100

Joaquin Navarro-Valls 102

Chapter 9 The Neo-Catholic Church 106

"Reform" of the Episcopate 106

The Last Hurrah for Progressive Prelates 109'

The Neo-Catholic Papacy 111

Obedience 113

Homosexuality 114

Education 115

The Neo-Catholic Episcopate 118

The 1996 Presidential Campaign 121

Chapter 10Neo-Catholic Protagonists 124

Michael Novak 125

George Weigel 127

Richard John Neuhaus 129

Rev. C. John McCloskey III 132

Rev. Frank Pavone 137

Rick Santorum 138

Chapter 11 The 2000 Presidential Campaign 142

The Catholic task Force 142

The 2000 Neo-Catholic Campaign 144

Looking Ahead to 2004: Goodbye Evangelicals, Hello Catholics 149

Chapter 12 Political Patronage In The Guise of Charity 153

Charitable Choice 153

The Faith-Based and Community Initiative 154

Faith-based Legislation 158

Faith-based Discrimination in Hiring 161

Primary Purposes and End Goals 163

Chapter 13 The Sex Abuse Scandal 166

The Philadelphia Grand Jury report 167

History of the Scandal 169

Republican and Vatican responses 170

Neo-Catholic responses 173

Targeting Boston's Liberal Catholics 176

The John Jay Report 178

Anything But Mea Culpa 180

Blaming Predation on Homosexuality 180

An American (or Boston) "Problem" 182

Abuse Caused by "Culture of Dissent" 182

Clerical Sexual Abuse is "History" 183

victims Are in This for the Money 185

And Besides, Social Programs Will Suffer 186

Targeting Priests But Not Other Professions 186

But Not Celibacy 187

Officially, Homosexuals Are the Scapegoats 188

Chapter 14 The 2004 Presidential Campaign 189

The war in Iraq 189

The US Neo-Catholics Tout "Just war" Doctrine 191

The Pope Strives Tirelessly for Peace 196

Purging the Vatican Doves 199

The Neo-Catholic 2004 Presidential Campaign 202

The Attack on John Kerry 204

The Vatican Intervenes for Bush 209

Republican Catholic Outreach 213

Deal Hudson: The "Most Influential Campaign" Catholic in Washington 216

Vatican Grants Knighthood to Pro-choice Official 217

Countdown to Election Day 218

Kerry Wins ... 220

Bush Wins the Catholic Vote 221

Neo-Catholics on Torture 222

Chapter 15 Pope Benedict XVI 225

From "God's Rottweiler" to Opus Dei's Pope 225

The Heart of the Matter: Money 227

Relations With Other religions 230

Jews 230

Muslims 231

Europe as Christendom, and Vice Versa 283

A Singular Status at the UN 234

Vatican Overtures to Russia and China 236

Chapter 16 Benedict XVI visits The US 244

Us Donations to the Vatican 244

Navigating the Diplomatic Thicket 244

Hosting the Vicar of Christ 248

Addressing Sex Abuse and Immigration 252

Assessments of Benedict's Visit 253

Chapter 17 The 2008 Presidential Campaign 260

Summation of the Bush Presidency 260

Iraq 260

Torture and Deaths of Detainees 260

Deaths on the Border 262

The New Poverty 262

Abortions 262

The Campaign Begins 262

Bush Visits Benedict-Again 267

Communion Denial Strikes Again 270

Putting Abortion Back on Center Stage 275

The National Conventions 280

Sarah Palin 282

Christian National Initiatives 288

The Post-Convention Campaign 289

The Catholic Vote Proves to be Elusive 292

Epilogue 296

Mission Accomplished 296

Christian National Failures 298

A New US/Vatican Relationship 301

The Poisoning of US Religion 302

The Future 304

Endnotes 308

Index 346

Editorial Reviews

" Betty Clermont helps us recall, in excruciating detail, a history of the U.S. Catholic right and its tremendous influence in the U.S. government since Ronald Reagan began forging ties with the Vatican. In vivid scene after scene, Ms. Clermont lets the documented facts tell the story, of how the American bishops diverted our money (not theirs) away from programs promoting social justice into political action that could only make Republicans smile. A darn well written study in the abuse of power by lordly bishops who rest assured because they rest assured." —ROBERT BLAIR KAISER covered Vatican II for Time magazine. He is the author of Cardinal Mahony: A Novel.

"Betty Clermont's The Neo Catholics tracks the links of Republican politics, big money and Catholic ideologues with a muckraker's zeal. Even those who do not share Clermont's every position will be pulled along by her relentless scrutiny of how the pro-life agenda turned into a hothouse for war-mongering and the endless money-hunt." —Jason Berry, author of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II and Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children

"Betty Clermont's The Neo Catholics tracks the links of Republican politics, big money and Catholic ideologues with a muckraker's zeal. Even those who do not share Clermont's every position will be pulled along by her relentless scrutiny of how the pro-life agenda turned into a hothouse for war-mongering and the endless money-hunt." —Jason Berry, author of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II and Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children

Offers a well-documented thesis that you have an explosive mixture when you mix a powerful hierarchical church with political neo-conservatism's elitist view that the rich and powerful always know what is best. This is what [Clermont] chronicles early in the work, explaining that fundamentalist theological leanings and ultra-conservative political ideology combined to create a Catholic Movement which was at ease working with rightwing Protestants. This coalition virtually created Ronald Reagan and set itself up as a bulwark against the purported liberalism, relativism and moral excess of liberals in the 1960s... These players were instrumental in finding common ground with the Protestant Religious Right, which was then assimilated into what Clermont calls "a common religious discourse, political sympathy and sense of priorities." This analysis is largely ignored in other works and represents the first eye-opener for even those who think they are well attuned to the machinations of right-wing dogmatists. A second major contribution is the extraordinarily detailed description of how the Catholic hierarchy, in Rome and in the United States, became deeply involved in the past three presidential campaigns...A third topic rarely covered in detail before is the strong neo-Catholic support for—and benefits received from—President Bush's Faith-Based Initiatives, his effort to give religious charities and even local churches federal dollars for their ostensibly secular programs dealing with hunger, homelessness, addiction and other social crises... The Neo-Catholics is a fine resource for persons interested and concerned about the unsettling union of church and state which always seems poised to enter the neighborhood—any neighborhood. She uses a dazzling array of sources and the endnotes are an invitation to further reading in this area." —Barry Lynn, Director of American United for the Separation of Church and State, reviewed in Conscience Magazine, September 2010

"Betty Clermont helps us recall, in excruciating detail, a history of the U.S. Catholic right and its tremendous influence in the U.S. government since Ronald Reagan began forging ties with the Vatican. In vivid scene after scene, Ms. Clermont lets the documented facts tell the story, of how the American bishops diverted our money (not theirs) away from programs promoting social justice into political action that could only make Republicans smile. A darn well written study in the abuse of power by lordly bishops who rest assured because they rest assured." —Robert Blair Kaiser, author of Cardinal Mahony: A Novel.

"Betty Clermont's The Neo Catholics tracks the links of Republican politics, big money and Catholic ideologues with a muckraker's zeal. Even those who do not share Clermont's every position will be pulled along by her relentless scrutiny of how the pro-life agenda turned into a hothouse for war-mongering and the endless money-hunt." —Jason Berry, author of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II and Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children

"Now a new book lets us place the attack on CCHD in the larger context of a conspiracy by historic conservative lay groups within the Catholic Church, their allies in the Catholic hierarchy, and conservative Catholic business elites to defeat the welfare state, strengthen corporate power, and align public policy with socially conservative, individual morality theology. Author Betty Clermont, herself a lay Catholic and former employee of the Atlanta Diocese, makes this case in the Neo-Catholics: Implementing Christian Nationalism in America. It is well worth reading..." —Mike Miller, Social Policy

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