Resisting Throwaway Culture: How a Consistent Life Ethic Can Unite a Fractured People

by Charles C. Camosy

Winner of the 2020 "Excellence in Publishing Award" from the Association of Catholic Publishers (General Interest category). This is a book about hope in the midst of a polarized culture. Camosy begins with a hopeful starting point in the midst of a crumbling US political two of every three Americans constitute an “exhausted majority” who reject right/left polarization and are open to alternative viewpoints. Especially at this time of realignment, we have been given a unique moment to put aside the frothy, angsty political debates and think harder about our deepest values. A Consistent Life Ethic, especially one which embraces Pope Francis’ challenge to resist “throwaway culture”, has the capacity to unite people who for the last several decades imagined themselves in a polarized culture war. On issues ranging from hook-up culture, reproductive technology, abortion, euthanasia, poverty, immigration, treatment of animals, and mass incarceration, this book articulates a new moral vision in which a culture of encounter and hospitality replaces a consumer culture in which the most vulnerable get used and discarded as so much trash. At bottom, Camosy offers readers a golden opportunity to dialogue about what kinds of values should serve as the foundation for a new political culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion

316 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2019

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note, 12/2/2024: I posted this review (copied and pasted below) in 2019 on another listing of this book which did not include the author’s middle initial, but since I’ve seen several friends reviewing this listing recently, I wanted to add my review here as well.

Original review, 7/2019

I have also written a review of this book in the magazine Life Matters Journal. This review uses some material from that earlier piece, but is its own piece, mostly because of specifics of that publication’s audience (e.g., the audience consisting primarily of Consistent Life Ethic advocates, the group that publishes the magazine being officially secular).

This book came very highly recommended by several of my fellow supporters of the Consistent Life Ethic—a philosophy involving support for a wide array of “life” issues across traditional political lines, including opposition to abortion, the death penalty, nuclear weapons and most other forms of war, and many other types of violence. Many of the people who recommended the book to me know the author personally, though I do not. It started out very promisingly, and I found a lot to like about it. In particular, I wholeheartedly agree with Camosy’s contention that the CLE has great potential to unite people across particularly fraught political lines and create a peaceful culture that values all human beings. I think his explanation of the development of the CLE is excellent. I appreciate that he draws examples from a wide range of sources, everything from Catholic philosophers to popular culture, and cites data on societal trends from sources both conservative and liberal, secular and religious. The book does an excellent job of showing how the CLE handles a variety of contemporary issues, some commonly associated with the movement (e.g., abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia) and others that are less focused on, such as poverty and environmental issues (the environment chapter in particular is excellent). I learned a lot from the book, and picked up both some compelling new arguments and a sense of encouragement. Especially in today’s political climate, supporting the range of positions covered by the CLE can feel very lonely, as most people disagree with you—often very angrily — about something. So hearing someone defend it as passionately as Camosy does was heartening.

My main problem with the book, though, was that Camosy can’t seem to decide who his audience is. He’s a Catholic—as am I—the publisher is Christian, and the CLE was originally a Catholic philosophy. So in some ways it would make sense to expect a purely religious book, and Camosy does say in the introduction that he will focus on Catholic arguments and readers. However, his main thesis, that the CLE can unite not just Catholics or Christians but “people of good will” argues, at least to my way of thinking, for a much less explicitly religious focus, especially if he wants to introduce such people to the CLE’s ideas and try to use it as a way to heal societal divisions.

The book does include many elements that I think would appeal to non-Christian or non-religious people. The author’s examples of the issues caused by “thorwaway culture” draw from many aspects of culture with a wide appeal, everything from current events to popular films, music, and social trends. In fact, I think he draws on popular culture for examples much more than would really be necessary if he were writing primarily for a Catholic/Christian audience, as he sometimes gets sidetracked by cultural allusions and examples. . Also, as mentioned above, the range of news and other sources he cites for statistics is impressive for how much it’s not one-sided. And the his replies to potential objections included at the end of each chapter focus mostly on broader values, in a way that felt chosen specifically to appeal to readers who don’t share Camosy’s religious convictions.

However, when it comes to actually appealing to authorities to back up his philosophical points (even if he’s made them in a broadly appealing way that mentions humanity and dignity), Camosy nearly always uses the authority of the Church, citing Catholic Church documents and the writings of Church leaders, especially Pope Francis (As an aside, I know Pope Francis is more admired in secular society than any Pope in a long time, and I think he has done a lot of good, but I also have problems with many of his positions, particularly how he has handled the recent resurgence of sex abuse issues in the Church, so the almost unfailingly positive tone in which he is discussed rubbed me the wrong way). I think that by appealing so much to Catholic authority at the same time as he is, in other ways writing in a style that felt to me aimed more at readers outside the Church, Camosy is handicapping himself and his message. As a person who has worked with many non-Catholic or non-religious activists on many life issues, I was very mindful of how this balance of authorities might seem to those sorts of readers. I worry that this could be severely off-putting to readers who aren’t already in agreement with the Church, and make them not only put aside Camosy’s book, but also put aside the idea of the CLE, since it seems to be grounded so much in religion. I think Camosy’s ultimate stated goal of uniting a divided culture by means of the CLE, would have been better accomplished if he had included more non-Christian or secular authorities--be they philosophers, world leaders, or others. On the other hand, if the author knew he was going to rely so much on religious authority, it might have been better to focus the book even more explicitly on religious readers. I think introducing the book in a way that seems to invite a more diverse group of people but then not appealing to authorities that will speak to them is in many ways counterproductive, and I think it does both Camosy and the ideas he’s promoting a disservice. I think he could have written a wonderful book about the CLE aimed specifically at his fellow Christians, or, with more effort to find a variety of supporting arguments, could have written an excellent book for a general audience. The book as written felt confusing, because Camosy couldn’t seem to decide which sort of book he wanted to write, and so wrote a book that’s certainly good, but didn’t feel like a great fit for either audience.

I would still recommend Camosy’s book to those interested in learning more about the Consistent Life Ethic, as it’s a very thorough introduction grounded in contemporary issues. Non-Christian readers might struggle somewhat to look beyond the sheer number appeals to religious authority. My fellow Christians may struggle with some other aspects of the presentation given the foregrounding of religious authority. I believe the issues our culture faces today make both versions of the struggle still worth it. But I think a book which did not require that struggle to the same extent would have done more for the CLE as a movement and done Camosy even more credit than the current book—which is well-researched, thorough, and engagingly written—already does. So I think the book is a valuable resource but falls short in important ways from what it could have been.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real need to know information to change the way we look at the homeless.

[Wilfred Barke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christian Life Ethics

CLE as described by Charles throughout the book echoes a mainstream humanistic woke narrative that is destroying the very foundations of Christian civilization.

Isolation from our Creator is the root of all evil. Catholic Christians should stick to their core competency - teaching humanity how to connect with their Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. Only those Christian’s who are in a right relationship with their Creator will bring peace on earth.

[Peggy Haslar · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you feel politically homeless and don't mind your thinking being challenged by the standard of Christ rather than the competing voices on both the left and the right, this book is a must read. Rather than miring himself in advocating for particular policies, Camosy challenges his readers to do some soul searching about the way each of us lives the gospel every day. His book is a richly documented survey of key issues our nation faces and is worthy of repeated readings followed by a prayerful examination of conscience every time your eye leaves the page.

Resisting Throwaway Culture will change the way you think, but if you can't find a place or two among its arguments for action, you might want to read it again. I did.