Sometimes we forget that liberalism is still a sin. Some people never knew liberalism is a sin. Doctor Don Felix Sarda Y Salvany wrote one of the best books on this topic called, appropriately, Liberalism is a Sin. If you haven’t read it, you need to.
The book was published before Pope St. Pius X coined the use of Modernism to explain the synthesis of heresies poisoning the Church itself, and so the author uses the term “liberalism” to cover both secular (or political) liberalism as well as what we know today as Modernism—the synthesis of all heresies.
The basic principles of liberalism, he tells us, are four-fold:
- The absolute sovereignty of the individual in his entire independence of God and God’s authority.
- The absolute sovereignty of society in its entire independence of everything which does not proceed from itself.
- Absolute civil sovereignty in the implied right of the people to make their own laws in entire independence and utter disregard of any other criterion than the popular will expressed at the polls and in parliamentary majorities.
- Absolute freedom of thought in politics, moral or in religion. The unrestrained liberty of the press.
He tells us why liberalism is a sin:
“In the order of ideas it is absolute error; in the order of facts it is absolute disorder. It is therefore, in both cases a very grievous and deadly sin, for sin is rebellion against God in through or in deed, the enthronement of the creature in the place of the Creator.”
Now, you may be thinking, “well of course liberalism is a sin, and thank God I am not a liberal!” But what you may not realize is that liberalism has infected every aspect of modern American life, which in turn, has poisoned the world. Chances are, in your political life, you have joined forces with liberals to combat liberalism, and perhaps you actually do hold liberal beliefs yourself! I talked about my own experience with the Republican Party previously.
The reality is that liberalism comes in different forms and grades, and in fact, the United States of America is founded on liberalism.
Sarda Y Salvany explains it this way:
“[Liberalism’s] chief manifestation in the United States is in the form of what is popularly called NON-SECTARIANISM. It is a current fallacy, laid down as a fundamental truth, that one religion is as good as another, that everyone has the right to believe what he pleases; that differences in creed are after all but differences in forms of expression; that everyone may select his own creed or sect according to his taste, or even altogether repudiate religious beliefs, and finally, that religion is a thing entirely apart from civic and social life.”
These are the quintessential principles of the United States of America, are they not? And yet, they are principles completely incompatible with the Church founded by Jesus Christ and the teachings of His Church. How can a society or a good government be built on this foundation?
This reality is all the more obvious considering the state of the world today. The level of evil in the world is at an all-time high, and I mean that literally. What you are witnessing is not simple human-level depravity. This is spirtual warfare at an entirely new level of wickedness. The ability of people to accept and promote lie after lie in order to appease their consciences, in effort to try and makes sense of the insanity suffocating them and the world, is really something quite remarkable.
Sadly, even those who claim to be political conservatives have, by in large, failed at combatting this evil. This is primarily because they do not realize how their own adherence to liberal principles undermines and neuters their ability to defeat leftist progressivism, which they pretend is separate and distinct from their own implicit liberal ideas.
This is a consequence of the American conservative/protestant rejection of the Catholic Church and their denial of Christ’s social kingship. The notion of separation of Church and state is seen as a feature, not a fault.
While a political conservative may understand the need to oppose abortion, allow parents freedom to educate their children, and acknowledge other horrors in the culture today, they still deny Christ’s authority in their personal lives and over society.
The truth of the matter is that the war we face is not a war of the left versus the right, but a war of good versus evil—of Christ versus Antichrist—of the City of Heaven vs. the Earthly City.
Sarda Y Salvany warns us that our situation puts faithful Catholics in America in great danger. Our friends, and even family members, can put us at risk without us even realizing it. He warns,
“Therefore, must [the Catholic] be all vigilant, therefore should his courage be great, his attitude firm and his stand bold; for while his circumstances make him friendly to his foe, he must wage a deadly battle for his faith. His task is doubly difficult, he must conquer an enemy who appears his dearest friend.”
These are hard words to swallow. It forces us to rethink everything we thought we knew about our allies and our own founding American principles. Perhaps, however, this is why it seems like the good consistently seems like it is losing out to the forces of evil. Perhaps this is, if not an answer, at least an explanation.
Does Sarda Y Salvany provide any solutions? He does give some ideas. As faithful Catholics, we must reject liberalism and all its hidden manifestations. To do this, he suggests three ways to guard against these dangers, which I have adopted to our twenty-first century situation:
- Organize good Catholics in every locality. Every town and city should have a nucleus of “Catholic men of action.” Even if you only number a few persons, that is okay. Be sure to network and link these associations together. These Catholic action groups must do what they preach and set good examples.
- In general, do all in your power to further the circulation of (Traditional!) Catholic literature, sermons or pastoral letters. The weapon of our times is the printed word, but also now, through electronic distribution.
- Support Catholic schools and Catholic education for adults and children. Sadly, many of the Catholic schools today have been corrupted so you cannot necessarily trust a school because they call themselves Catholic. Jesuit schools, for example, must be avoided at all costs. If necessary, and if possible, be open to homeschooling and stay far away from public education.
I would add one more guiding principle considering our current situation. We need to make a greater effort to evangelize in the public square, and when possible, make converts among our friends, family and allies. Easier said than done—I know. And not to the Bergoglian modernist-version of the Church, but the Catholic Church, including the Traditional Latin Mass. This is a necessary step if we are going to combat the forces of evil in this world.
These are just some beginning and basic guiding principles for organizing a coherent and viable Catholic response to the evils of liberalism. We must open our eyes to how liberalism poisons our very soul and society, and even reject it when most of those who we thought were political allies implicitly defend it.
Source: Liberalism Is A Sin