The 'integralism' movement is another threat to democracy
October 09, 2024
Kind of indirectly and sporadically, I've been hearing the term "integralist" as part of the church-state separation issue gets increasing attention in this election season.
But until now I haven't had -- or taken -- the time to explore much about who the integralists might be and what they want.
So I'm grateful that the current issue of The Christian Century carries this essay that seeks to make sense of integralism and to warn readers that the name integralist reflects the reality that "they advocate for the integration of church and state."
One reason the integralist movement, if that's the right term, has been more prominent recently is "thanks in part to the affiliations of Ohio senator, vice-presidential hopeful, and Catholic convert JD Vance," writes Rebecca Bratten Weiss, who is digital editor at U.S. Catholic magazine.
She notes that at "a 2022 conference called 'Restoring the Nation,' held at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, Vance delivered the keynote address alongside prominent national conservative movement leaders and integralist thinkers Sohrab Ahmari, Adrian Vermeule, Gladden Pappin and Patrick Deneen. The conference focused on 'reversing the decline of America by recovering the forgotten wisdom of our nation’s Western and Christian foundations.'”
Our democracy clearly is threatened in various ways, but as Weiss writes, "For integralists, who sometimes identify as 'post-liberal,' democracy is a failed experiment. They would like to see our democratic republic dismantled and a new, theocratic regime installed. To this end, they happily make common cause with other conservatives, including those in the MAGA movement."
I'm reminded of conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec who spoke earlier this year at the Conservative Political Action Conference and said this: “Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it.” He also said democracy would be replaced with "this," at which point he showed people a Christian cross he was wearing on a chain around his neck.
Weiss does note that not all integralists agree on all details for the future of the American government, but they do "support the dismantling of public education and the banning of books, reproductive and gender-affirming health care and same-sex marriage. They support legal discrimination against sexual minorities and an end to legal divorce.
"But despite their shared goals, integralism diverges from the populism of Trump’s base in a number of significant ways. Its spokespersons tend to be well-educated and aesthetically discerning, lovers of old books and fine art." And though they "may try to distance themselves from fascism," they share "many of fascism's basic characteristics. . .emphasis on tradition, rejection of modernism, fear of diversity, appeals to social frustration, a tendency toward nationalism, a cult of machismo and heteronormativity and selective populism. This doesn’t mean that integralists are fascists. But throughout history the two have made common cause."
If you want to dig a little deeper into Catholic Integralism, I suggest this article from The Conversation, written by Mathew Schmalz, professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross.
Schmalz writes this: "The basic position of Catholic Integralism is that there are two areas of human life: the spiritual and the temporal, or worldly. Catholic Integralists argue that the spiritual and temporal should be integrated – with the spiritual being the dominant partner. This means that religious values, specifically Christian ones, should guide government policies."
There are, of course, lots of people who buy into that kind of integralism who aren't Catholic, but the leadership seems to be coming from that branch of Christianity.
What is clear is that integralism would undo our democratic republic in countless ways. And I think that's a really bad idea.
(The illustration above came from this site.)
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POPE FRANCIS SPEAKS TRUTH TO THE POWERLESS
On the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel this week, Pope Francis had some harsh words of judgment to share in a letter: “A year ago, the fuse of hatred was lit; it did not sputter, but exploded in a spiral of violence. Anger is growing, along with the desire for revenge, while it seems that few people care about what is most needed and what is most desired: dialogue and peace. I am with you, who have no voice, for despite all the talk of plans and strategies, there is little concern for those who suffer the devastation of war, which the powerful impose on others; yet they will be subject to the inflexible judgment of God.” The Hamas-Israel war has been a disaster for all -- first for Israel, then for the Palestinians and Gaza and now even for Lebanon. The bogus idea that somehow humanity is perfectible looks increasingly silly.
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THE BOOK CORNER
Everything Could Be a Prayer: 100 Portraits of Saints and Mystics, by Kreg Yingst. This is, quite simply, a beautiful volume that can be read one page a day for more than three months and fill you with a deep appreciation for the spiritual wisdom -- and questions -- of others. (Its publication date is Oct. 15 but it can be ordered now.)
The back cover of the book describes Yingst as "an illustrator with a focus on block printing with original works created from carved blocks of wood, linoleum or other materials. . ." And his art in this book is simply stunning.
He offers one-page introductions, with an illustration, of 100 different people, ranging from such familiar modern names as Dorothy Day, George Washington Carver, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Frederick Buechner to names as famous across history as John Wesley, Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas à Kempis and John the Baptist and to such mostly unfamous (at least to me) names as Maurice Ouellet, Guigo II and Bridgid of Kildare.
Each page is a devotional with thoughts about the person pictured in Yingst's art on the facing page. As I say, the art itself is so engaging that readers easily could spend a lot of time just admiring it and never get to the words. But that would be an error.
Maybe this is the book you've been looking for as a resource for the upcoming Christian season of Advent. Or for Lent next spring.
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P.S.: As the United States struggles to preserve its democracy and its future of rule by, for and of the people, India also faces a difficult struggle to assure a good future for its millions of citizens. Markandey Katju, my friend from my boyhood, when I lived in India for two years, writes here about his perception of what needs to happen to assure that Indians don't "remain condemned to horrible poverty, unemployment, hunger, lack of healthcare etc., for themselves, as well as for their descendants.
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ANOTHER P.S.: Tomorrow, Oct. 10, is the annual World Day Against the Death Penalty and the EJUSA Evangelical Network will be joining coalition partners across the country for a National Christian Prayer Call on the Death Penalty. It begins at 5:30 p.m. CDT, and you can register here to attend online.
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