Fr. Mitch Pacwa on the "Sol Alinsky style of community organizing"

This most recent newsletter from Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., received this morning, has some interesting historical information, some frank talk, and some strong opinions:

 I recently became upset when Newsweek's "Without A Doubt" feature published an article by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend entitled, "Why Barack Obama represents American Catholics better than the pope does." She commend President Obama's "pragmatic approach to divisive policy" and his "social justice agenda." Meanwhile, she claims that the positions of the pope, the bishops and the pro-life activists do not. In fact, Townsend asserts that the Chicago community organizer president could teach the pope a lot about a Catholic approach to politics and the ability to listen to other people's points of view with empathy. Townsend continues her rant against the Church's teachings on various issues regarding human sexuality - contraception, abortion, homosexual unions and women priests, decrying the Church's unwillingness to listen to other points of view while ignoring the various documents on these issues which were written with an intent compassion for the people to whom they were addressed. Townsend shows no indication that she has listened to the Church's teachings on these topics, though the documents are easily acquired in print or on the Internet.

 I recognize the community organizer approach that Townsend commends in this piece. I learned Sol Alinsky style of community organizing as a novice in Chicago when President Obama was a little boy living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Mr. Tom Gaudette, an associate of Sol Alinsky, trained a number of us Jesuits. I was the youngest man in the group, and I was certainly not well developed in the practice of organizing, but I tried my best in COUP - the acronym for Community of United People - on Chicago's near West Side. Most of the folks were African Americans trying to get their public housing projects brought up to city codes; I especially made contact with the Mexican community near Racine and Taylor streets, a line of housing between Italian residents and the public housing projects. I was particularly drawn to work with a street gang, which saw a lot of gang fights in the year I worked there. In fact, I eventually had to leave the area after having seen a friend of mine killed: they made him kneel down and shot him through the head; they merely beat me up.

Despite the trauma, I never forgot the lessons I learned about Alinsky's community organizing. The key to starting an organization was to find an issue that united the people. The issue should be small enough to win a victory, but large enough to matter to the folks. Second, after choosing the issue we had to identify an enemy the community could recognize as the personification of the issue. Usually this was some politician or businessman. Third, an action had to be designed by which the people could attack the enemy and force his or her hand on the issue, thereby giving the folks a victory. That would motivate them to take on bigger and more important issues, while the leaders among the people could emerge. This was a means of bringing power to the people.

Townsend certainly understands these tactics, as does President Obama. Notice how she has focused on issues of human sexuality, since these concern the most intimate areas of any person's life. People feel these issues quite strongly, so it would be popular to take them on. Second, she identifies the enemies who personify the problem: the Pope, the bishops and the pro-life activists. She develops the strategy of making popular popes - John Paul II, who motivated Paul VI to promulgate Humani Vitae, which continued the age old Christian rejection of artificial birth control and abortion, and Benedict XVI, whom she portrays as a man sheltered within the Roman Curia who is more concerned with papal power than with love of the people. Her approach reminds me of the battle cries after Humani Vitae: "I don't want the pope in my bedroom." My response is: "You flatter yourself; he does not want to be in there, either. But the pope will insist that God is Lord of the sexual realm, including everyone's bedroom."

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, President Barack Hussein Obama, and a number of others will arise to make the pope and bishops into our enemies. This will be especially important as the politicians begin pushing the end of life and the prevention of life as money saving programs in the health care proposals. Already Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed three hundred million dollars for condoms as a part of this congress' first stimulus bill - a rather odd idea for a bill focused on stimulating the economy. However, her reason was to prevent births as a money saver for the states. That is one of the ways she sees the birth of children. There will be many more proposals for taxpayer funding of abortions and euthanasia, since early infancy and end of life are the most expensive periods in regard to health care. The proposed health care bill in the House of Representatives will require the elderly to consult with their doctors every five years about alternatives to long term care. The doctors may be required to inform the elderly about assisted suicide, or at least the need to refrain from long term, expensive procedures. "Grandma may just need to take a pain pill," President Obama told us in a town meeting recently.

Of course, Kennedy Townsend and Obama want to make the pope and bishops into our enemies. I, however, ask why? Do the politicians fear the Magisterium's authority to teach us the holiness of human sexuality, the sacredness of Matrimony, or the sanctity of the right to life which comes from God our Creator and never from the state? Do they fear the goodness of our popes or the deep joy in Jesus Christ which radiates from their eyes, attracting many people to the Catholic Church? Do they fear a solid Catholic critique of their proposals to use death of the unborn and elderly or the prevention of new life as a solution to their inability to pay for all of the medical care they have promised but cannot deliver without eliminating the most vulnerable people who might need care?

Let us not fall for the Alinsky tricks of letting community organizers set up our enemies. These organizers try to stay in the background, manipulating the folks to go after an enemy. We Catholics will do well to stand shoulder to shoulder with our pope and bishops as we move forward in history to promote life and love, all the way to heaven. Those who sow division between us and our leaders will march to their own chosen destinations.

In Christ Jesus,

Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.

• Happy 60th, Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.! (July 25, 2009)
• The Dull, Dissenting Americanism of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (July 12, 2009)

Comments

[Dan Deeny]

Excellent article. Fr. Pacwa writes and speaks from experience. Perhaps he can use his skills to convert Ms. Kennedy! We often speak of a ministry to the poor. Perhaps Fr. Pacwa can begin a ministry to the privileged?

[Marguerite]

Please send this article to the American Thinker website; it's excellent and will reach a wide range of readers.

[Brian]

"The proposed health care bill in the House of Representatives will require the elderly to consult with their doctors every five years about alternatives to long term care. "

That sounds scary!

Our leaders need our prayers...

[Ken Hallenius]

This is a very insightful and well-written commentary. I am certainly going to share this with my friends on Facebook and Twitter.

The part about "consultation every five years" for the elderly is getting quite a bit of attention lately, and I already see the left (and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-OR, who wrote the legislation) making an end-run to deny that it means suicide. But, given who wrote it and how vague the language is, we need to keep pushing against it.

Make sure you contact your legislators especially in these next two weeks, while they are home on congressional break! If they get back to the vacuum of Washington without hearing from you, then anti-life strongmen like Henry Waxman will get their paws on the weaker members and ram through life-destroying legislation.

Make your voice heard!

[Subvet]

"...We Catholics will do well to stand shoulder to shoulder with our pope and bishops as we move forward in history to promote life and love..."

Sounds great but too many of our bishops and supposedly "Catholic" organizations (e.g. Catholic Charities) are so eager for passage of a health care bill that their protests on the provisions for abortion and euthanasia are significantly muted. Am I the only one with that impression?

[David Charkowsky]

The Townsend article had me befuddled and mystified. It makes a lot more sense in the light Fr. Pacwa sheds upon it.

[Madrid]

Many poorly-catechized 'Cultural Catholics' are so easily charmed by popular opinion on current moral issues, mouthed by gain-saying politicians.

Their vision is utterly earthbound. They do not see the Cross, with all its beauty, offering to free them from their moral decadence, perversity, and ever-approaching doom. They do not see the loving, caring, and suffering God-Man, Our Lord Jesus Christ. They do not want to hear that He willingly, and out infinite love for them, took on their sins so that they might live with Him forever. They do not want to see Him, nor experience a conversion of heart. They prefer to live in their sin, and seek others who will justify their sinfulness.

(Well over sixty percent of Americans live in adultery -- they will vote for those who do not 'point-the-finger' at their sin -- and help perpetuate the 'Herod Syndrome'.)

We must pray for their conversion, but more importantly, pray for our shepherds that they have the courage to continue to preach, in good times and bad, the Good News of Jesus Christ. They deserve our prayers simply out of gratitude for Who they bring to us - Jesus Christ!

Thank you, Fr. Mitch, for your priesthood!

[Richard P, Morales]

Great article by Father Mitch. He always makes sense out of people who spout nonsense. With all the attacks on our Catholic beliefs I still can't believe that Obama won the majority of the Catholic vote. In my opinion any senior and Catholic who doesn't feel threatened by Obama's policies on healthcare isn't listening. I have been jokingly saying for years, "the generation that is aborting today will be the one that euthanizes us tomorrow". It looks like tomorrow may have come.

[Mike Rapkoch]

As always, with the simple, straight up clarity of his thought, and his prayerful love of Christ and His Church Father proves that among the central methods of "cost containment" planned as part of healthcare "reform" is to kill off as many infants, as many of the pld and "worthless," and as many of the infirm or disabled as possible. Obama and company are still motivated by the thoroughly discredited theories of Thomas Malthus and, far more chilling, the will to power philosophy of Fredrick Nietzsche and company. As Father shows, the heart of reform is the power to shrink demand by killing the costliest consumers (none dare call them persons). This is really just one manifestation of the true philosophy at work--nihilism. And in the minds of Obamaists since nature abhors a void, and nihilism (nothingness) is a void, what with God being dead, the Obanaists will happily rush in to exercise the essential power over life and death. And since they cannot create life, the arguments of atheistic biologism proving nothing to the contrary, the power will be exercised by forcing death upon persons--personhood being a reality only for those in power. The message must get out, and in a clarity matching Father Pacwa's. The "People" have handed over power to killers who must be neutralized by public resistance before the murderous dreams of Obama and his henchman becomes a fait accompli.

God Be With Us...our time of trial has come. Let us pray and work to uphold the mighty shield of the Cross before which Obamaism is render powerless.

Mike Rapkoch

[John]

I wonder how much longer it will be before most of us are kneeling with a gun at the back of our heads?

God bless you Father, may God's grace and the love of His flock give you great strength and courage!

John Bowden
http://stblogsparish.com/blogs/bloglist.php
http://stblogsparish.com
http://redwhiteandblueintheface.info

[Louise Brogna]

God bless you, dear Father Mitch. I read your above article(regarding the organizational method of Alinsky). I say, "keep aware and keep sharp, and keep close to Our Lord and Blessed Mother. Onward to Glory"!

[Jack]

Excellent article. Rose Kennedy is surely not pleased with the traitorous conduct of her grandchildren toward the Church.

[William Jerome]

A great, great comment-all Catholics should view it!
Thanks again, Fr Mitch

[Brian]

I seriously doubt that Father Pacwa intended to cast aspersions on every single solitary community organizer. I must warn you to not do so on this board.

[Jack]

Will you turn us into Obama?

[Snookums]

Thank you Father Mitch.

American Catholics need to pay attention befpre it is too late.

[Joe M.]

Could someone please explain the spelling of Mr. Alinsky's first name? Some of contrary opinion are discrediting the contents of this article based upon the use of 'Sol' rather than "Saul'.

[Leticia Velasquez]

Brian,I don't see anyone mocking community organization in general. I believe that the community organization Fr Pacwa did was noble and necessary, God bless him for trying. I tried to work with gangs as a bilingual Spanish teacher and quit after receiving death threats.
Fr Pacwa merely intended to enlighten us about Ms Kennedy Townsend's use of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals to divide Catholics from our God-given leadership.
Find Rules for radicals here: http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/8925/alinsky.htm

[LJ]

From the Wikipedia article on Alinsky;

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky)

"Rules for Radicals" begins with an unusual tribute: "From all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer."

Yes, but we know how that whole kingdom ends, don't we? If Lucifer was the first successful community organizer, I suppose we could call that a ringing endorsement for an exercise in futility.

Is this the ultimate practice of relativism? Change for the sake of change, revolution for the sake of revolution?

Contrary to Townsend's thinking, the revolution that Jesus Christ started was based on absolutes from the absolute source of absolutes, and fulfilled the revolution of Revelation that began with Abraham.
Our revolution is ongoing whereas Alinsky is a johnny-come-lately. We are the radicals, and our "rules for radicals" can be found in the Catechism, the Scriptures and the lives of the saints. If you want to see how radical we are just strike up a conversation with almost anyone about Catholic sexual moral teaching.

Where we fail is in not being radical enough. As Christians we are called to give up everything, right to our very being, to our Lord and Master. What could be more radical than that?

[JLS]

Sounds as if Kathleen Kennedy Townsend would do well in an asylum where she could argue with others there over which of them is the real Jesus.