Chris,
According to John R. McGreevy Catholicism and American Freedom (2003) the polemic of a Catholic communalism against a Protestant and Enlightenment individualism was an important part of the 19th Century Catholic Revival in Europe.
In today’s ecumenical world we seem to have largely dropped the individualism polemic against Protestants, however individualism continues to be used by many Catholics to describe aspects of secular or popular culture which they dislike.
Meanwhile the polemic has come to be used within Catholicism by liberals and conservatives to describe things within Catholicism which they dislike, with both the behavior of laity in the EF being described as individualistic by OF supporters and that of priests in the OF being described as individualistic by EF supporters.
The mutual interrelationship and development of both persons and communities which I see as a social scientist seems evident in a lot of theology.
So the individualism vs. community polemic may have outlived its usefulness. I tend to talk about persons and community just to keep away from the baggage of the past, and because person as well as community is valued in the Catholic tradition.
Report Comment
