It Is Right and Just: Why the Future of Civilization Depends on True Religion

It is Right and Just begins by examining a widely known and often used quote from Marx regarding religion being the “opiate of the masses.” The authors dig deeper into the context and present their argument for what “religion” truly is. The modern definition of religion is the result of years of change. The authors present the following quote:“We speak of religion as if it were a hobby or, if we’re really taking it seriously, a personality quirk: something that you spend time on, something that is meaningful to you and gives you meaning, something that’s just a weird part of your life that makes no claim on the rest of your life—or on that of others.”But is this what our Faith is all about? The authors remind us that our “religion,” our Faith, is an “unchosen duty” which we are obligated to recognize and respect solely because of what Christ did for all mankind. This argument is strongly supported within the text.This is a subject that I venture to say is unpopular. It’s one of the two discussions that we go through life trying to avoid with most people in our lives - politics, and religion. This entire book is a necessary argument in support of the true meaning behind the word “religion” for a world that has over time caused a greater divide between it and everything else.

As a Catholic, I am anxious about our social and religious situation. This brilliant book explains with grace and good historical, philosophical, and Theological primer sources how we, as a society, have gotten into this dysfunctional and chaotic situation. The two writers brilliantly discuss the importance and essential part that true religion plays in our lives. This book has a great impact on my perspective on understanding our actual social environment. The impact has been so real that I already sent two books as Christmas gifts to my loved ones.

Just a few years ago, the term "integralism" was not much more than a sneer -- a sort of cocktail party word dropped by self-consciously modern Catholics to show their superiority to narrow "pre-conciliar" ways of thinking. When I first dove into traditional Catholic thought and worship in the 90s, this term was usually joined at the hip with Maurras and Action Française.In the past decade or so, things have rapidly progressed, for two reasons. First, the old Vatican II guard, either in its progressivist wing or in its ever-hopeful (neo)conservative mold, has been expiring, has lost its oomph. Weigel right now reads like a loaf of stale bread fit for the pigeons. Second, scholars of a younger generation, reading and thinking more widely and more deeply, are rediscovering sources (a real ressourcement) and asking difficult questions about modern liberalism and the myth of Church/State separation and neutrality. Michael Hanby's work in First Things, and the general trend of First Things itself, tells a tale in this regard.More recently still, the work of Pater Edmund Waldstein, Fr. Thomas Crean, Alan Fimister, and others featured on the website The Josias, has revived integralism as a viable and indeed compelling alternative to the standard narrative of a lasting peace achieved between modernity and the Church. In reality, as we can see all around us, the surrender of the Church to a secularizing worldview has accomplished without open bloodshed what centuries of pagan Roman persecution could not: the extirpation of religion as a vital force within and toward and above the State.I was therefore delighted to see this new book co-authored by Scott Hahn and Brandon McGinley, "It is Right and Just: Why the Future of Civilization Depends on True Religion," which I would describe as integralism mainstreamed. Their central motif is the inherently and irreducibly public nature of religion (going back to its original robust conception as we find it, e.g., in Aquinas) and the need not only for individuals to embrace the true religion but also for societies and their governing laws and structures to embody it. Sound familiar? Yes. It sounds like Pius IX's "Quanta Cura" and Pius XI's "Quas Primas."This book is endlessly quotable -- every page has highlightable matter. Let me just offer a tidbit:"When we ignore the necessarily public and social implications of grace, the result is not liberation and independence, but slavery to a never-ending parade of less beneficent idols, powers, and authorities. While the Church can never coerce someone into receiving the sacraments, treating them as nothing more than sectarian beliefs or take-them-or-leave-them spiritual accessories isn't a costless strategic accommodation to pluralism but a denial of their very reality. Grace is for everyone, and everyone needs it. The Church is for everyone, and everyone needs her. Christ is for everyone, and everyone needs Him. This is where the vertical and horizontal axes of justice meet: We owe Him our worship, and in turn, we accept and cooperate with the divine aid we need to bring and to sustain His heavenly peace here on earth. Without the former, the latter is impossible." (119-20)The table of contents alone tells you what the book is going to argue and successfully does argue:1. The Opium of the Masses2. Natural Religion3. Religion Is a Matter of Justice4. Justice Is Individual and Communal.5. Religion Forms Societies6. There's No Escaping Religion7. Liberal Societies Are Necessarily Secular8. Secularism Is Idolatry9. The Genesis and Effects of Idolatry10. Secularism Is Unjust11. Civilization Requires True Religion12. True Religion Integrates Individuals' Lives13. True Religion Gives Form to Families14. True Religion Brings Unity to Societies15. The Future of Civilization Depends on True ReligionLadies and gentlemen, this book is nothing less than a manifesto for a Catholic political and cultural order, in full continuity with the integralist tradition of the Church that was derailed in the 20th century. If I were to offer a course in Catholic Social Teaching, I would make it one of the required readings. (Another required reading would be Crean & Fimister's Integralism textbook.)

This was a thoughtful examination of the follies of secular society and the key role that true religion plays in civilization.

My husband and I found this book excellent and very well written, well-organized, and clear. The soul hungers for worship, liturgy, scripture, wisdom, grace, and connection with God and this book delivers.

Wonderful book. Everyone should read. Dr. Hahn makes powerful points in this book. Remaining lukewarm to the problems of the world and expecting any worthwhile change is not possible.

Clear Concise Life changing

This book was extremely relevant in today's times, as well as history. There is a great deal of information to absorb. I will be reading it a second time to absorb more of the information presented. Great book!

Our future is made in the parallel space and time of Reason and Faith.