These twin problems of ethics and truth make Alinskyian organizations such as the IAF a dangerous CCHD grantee, because people subjected to IAF training are being taught a way of looking at the world, or at least, a way of looking at politics, that contradicts Catholic social justice teaching, Catholic ethics, and the natural law.
And yet, over a third of CCHD money is spent on Alinskyian organizing.
Thanks in part to its CCHD grants, the IAF has tripled its presence around the United States in the last decade - and much of that presence is in Catholic parishes. Do these Alinskyian organizations do no good? Of course they do, but it isn't enough to do good works. Legitimate social justice activism must be predicated on the truth, understanding that although some Church teachings may not be popular (consider the reception of Humanae Vitae), justice can only be accomplished when moral laws that govern the human spirit are obeyed.
That said, the "works" performed by Alinskyian community organizations often are quite controversial. For example, a close look at the major CCHD-funded Alinskyian organizations' - IAF, PICO, Gamaliel, ACORN, and DART - educational policies reveals a support for education "reform" that has often resulted in deeper academic failure. That failure pales beside the moral failure of the Church to its people who have been trained in Machiavellian politics with the Church's blessing, but it's a practical consequence of a faulty philosophy.More . . .
