Church, State and Society An Introduction to Catholic Social Doctrine.

Church, State and Society An Introduction to Catholic Social Doctrine

J. Brian Benestad (Catholic University of America Press, 2011, 500 pp.)

The subtitle to this book is perhaps a little misleading. While Church, State and Society does address some of the social teachings from the Catholic tradition, a few unexpected themes get thrown in the mix. There is a perplexing chapter on law and public policy that seems to place such an emphasis on feeling sorrow as part of the human moral process that "mood brighteners"--which may mean antidepressants--are considered to be a threat to our humanity. Equally facile is the use of the "slippery slope" idea that abortion leads to atrocities on a par with Nazi Germany. Catholic social doctrine may have been better elucidated if the author did not range so far afield from the church documents cited in the less editorial sections of the book.