Dale Ahlquist - Beyond Left and Right

Call to Be Catholic opened its year's line up of spearkers with Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Chesterton Society, EWTN personality, and prolific author. So much of the public debate about Catholic thought revolves around politically hot issues like abortion, homosexuality, and euthanasia. The Church's teaching is far deeper than mere political rhetoric and slogans, however, and as our title suggests, is beyond left and right.
Dale draws much of his material from G.K. Chesterton, a British author and intellectual from the early 20th Century who scandalized British society by converting to the Church. Chesterton went on to write both some of the finest Catholic apologetics and some of the best English literature of his time.
Dale's talk focused on how normal, down to Earth, and sane the Church's teaching really is. Normal people, according to Dale, fall in love, get married, and have families. This natural situation is what the Church fosters and nurtures. What does this have to do with politics? Dale notes that most of those with the time and energy to become politically active are those who have not fallen in love, gotten married, or started families. Thus, though we may have the right to vote, we do not have the right to choose what to vote about. The activists and polemicists who drive most of the media and social debate.
It is from this basis that Dale begins to explain modern Catholic Social teaching. Beginning with Rerum Novarum by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, the Church has set forth some guiding principles of social justice which affect people in industrialized, modern societies. Chief among these are the ideals of distributivism and subsidiarity. Distributism deals with the idea that property is a good, and the just stewardship of resources is part of God's command. Flowing from this, the necessities of life and dignified existence flow from the just use and distribution of property. Subsidiarity is best summarized as "Small is Better." Problem solving and human societies function best when decisions are made at the lowest possible level. Human to human interactions are far more just and equitable than bureaucratic actions. These two principles tend to frown on both big business and big government.
Reaction to Dale's talk was spirited. He has the ability to talk about very dense ideas in an engaging and humorous manner. Ive known Dale for awhile and he is a fine gentleman and has a contagious enthusiasm for his topic. His ability to connect with an audience and present such high level material to a non-academic audience was a terrific start to the year.