A Nation for All
How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division
Chapter One
The Common Good
In recent years, references to the common good have papered the
public square. Presidential and congressional candidates infuse
their stump speeches with common good language. Political think
tanks organize forums on the common good. It's debated in the
pages of intellectual journals and the mainstream media. Senator
Robert Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, for example, made the common
good the defining theme of his successful 2006 campaign against
incumbent Republican Senator Rick Santorum, who had written
his own book about conservatism and the common good.
It's not hard to see why this often misunderstood concept
of moral and political philosophy has caught on with a new
generation of public officials, political consultants, and grassroots
social justice activists. At a time when war, corporate scandals,
the fraying of traditional community bonds, and the economic
dislocations of globalization have left many people feeli ... read full excerpt from A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division ebook
