Fr. Anselm, I'm new to online courses. I'm not finding the questions. I finished the first lecture and I plan on finishing the second this weekend. Am I in the wrong spot? Thanks, Jim Parrilli
The introduction Lecture, Catholic Social Teaching. The lecture points out the lack of comprehension of the Catholic faithful understanding or grasping our church's Catholic Social teachings in-spite of the encyclicals of our two most recent Popes have written. The lecture also points out the work of Tocqueville from the 1830's with it's many observations on the role of religion in our American Soceity that still hold water today. Namely, how secular ideas capture the imagination of the people then in-turn the people try to apply these world opinions against eternal truths of the Church. The article concludes that we have hope and much work ahead of us educating the faithful from elementary school through university to bring CST to a better level of understanding
Very good Jim. You are in the right place and you did splendidly. I think that it is most challenging to read through so much material and come to see a point as you did.
Sometimes there could be more than one answer to address a question. Your observation is very good. Keep up the good work.
The dignity of the Human Person: In the beginning of the lecture the topic of human dignity according to political view. The political view and society speak of human dignity using the idea of Rights of a person. These rights are exercised as choices. The rights and choices are built upon worldly claims as opposed to eternal truths using faith and reason. Human dignity doesn’t have an expiration date or model number. People who are disabled or elderly are still awash with dignity and should be treated as such. There is no human act that can remove dignity. Human dignity is both given and achieved. By living a life praising God and following his laws and decrees one will lead a virtiuos life and inturn will increase their capacity to extend the dignity they achieve to all they come in contact with. Though the UN declaration on Human Rights is a document that has established some good first steps. I agree with Glendon, that the articles or rights would have been better served as creating obligations to do what is right, to provide dignity.
Excellent insight to the lecture at-large Jim. I would like you revist the last paragraph of my lecture and reflect on my proposal concerning Catholic influence. What do you suppose I mean by that vis a vis the lecture but extend that to your own life or your life to be as a deacon.
Fr. Anslem, Each Saturday mornin, I help out at our local nursing home in providing a Communion service to the residents that reside there. At first, I was apprehensive thinking that I'd be the right guy to help there. Within the first few minutes of my first visit I was able to see past the disabilities where mental of physical that these wonderful men and women have and I was able to see Christ in them. I admit I have the blessing of not knowing the residents past life. I do not know who they were if "captains of industry" or "the strong Matriarch of the family". They are my brothers and sisters and deserve all the dignity available. The other part of the question as I see it, is the education of the faithful. It is a continuing process for the whole of the Church, laity and ordained. By making and taking the time to explain the position in beginning and end life situations. Going over the encyclicals and providing a commentary before the nightly news makes a mess of it.
Lecture 3 & 4 The meaning of the common good. In the secular world, the common good is a shallow pool, just filled with instrumentals, compared to the depth of real Common Good as exercised by the church. Measuring the common good we should measure the ability to reach the ultimate good by helping man toward the way of salvation and inturn helping his fellow man, growth and development of our souls.
I agree whole heartedly with the responsibility of the government (society) to ensure this pathway by leading and practicing the virtues of the eternal truth. As in your translation of Pacem in Terris, paraphrasing, to be in the bright light of truth, communicating knowledge freely to one another, fulfilling duties and inspired to seek the goods of the soul. Having decisions being made with the chief virtue prudence. Showing the way of right and wrong in the way of a virtuous life. Presently, our society draws no line in the sand and/or benchmarks to follow towards, what would now be considered as. a uncommonly good and rich life with the promise of the eternal life.
Good insight Jim. I like your very real example of ministering to the church at St. Convalescence. More properly, FYI, you are conducting a "Liturgy of the Word" with communion. "Communion Service" tends to be reflective of the vernacular of our separated brothers and sisters. Nevertheless, a very practical application.
I want to you to revist and specifically address the question of CATHOLIC INFLUENCE, which I have been unable to see in your writing. I DO SEE the practical application but what about the larger question of Catholic influence? Look at the lecture and see where you find it most prominent actually and potentially (you did take philosophy, right??)
Anthropological philosophy ay? Quite distinct from philosophical anthropology. So when you say three years ago...does that imply that your anthropological perspective has changed philosophically since that time, or does it imply that you don't remember anything from the Early Greek period, (or from three years ago)? Aaaaah, but philosophy is eternal, even if anthropology has not evolved into what it might become in the eschaton. Anyway, thanks for revisting my question on Catholic influence. You're doing a fine job. I'm doing quite well too, but of course you know that already from the excellence of my lectures don't you?
From the lecture: In the Catholic mind, human beings retain their dignity when they are receiving care and may even grow in dignity. Think of the person who accepts his dependence and suffering as a way of identifying with the passion of Christ…… Christ is the Ultimate good, beauty and truth. Though we may not understand the circumstances in which we receive this suffering it comes from God so it must be good and for our betterment ---- Every generation . . . needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."(16) It is a correct view of the human person that limits and guides freedom. In later lectures I will address this subject at greater length. ….To get to the Truth one always must do what he ought. In early Greek philosophy if one was born blind he would have been considered as cursed because he wasn’t born as he ought to be. --- The ultimate end of a Christian community is both to educate the faithful to the love of God and neighbor with their whole heart and soul and to be a living witness to that love. If a person's dignity depends on growing in true love, then there should be no doubt that human dignity is both a given and an end, a high goal to be achieved by laborious efforts with the help of God's grace. …..The vision of Plato’s ladder comes to mind as one develops from the lowest of lows, one gains knowledge decision making capabilities, the right choices and as one ascends to the top one is constantly looking to the ones at the bottom of the ladder trying to help them to the one beauty the one good. ----- Under the influence of Kant even many Catholics look at human dignity simply as a given and not also as an achievement of a person who avoids serious sin, loves his family, friends and neighbor, and seeks to realize communion with God. Catholics rightly look to God's creation of man in his image and likeness as the foundation of dignity, but then fail to see that living in accord with God's image is the way of realizing their dignity in their everyday life. It should be obvious that our longings and loves either increase or diminish our dignity, but this is not the case…. All people have dignity and no man can take it away but living a dignified life increases our compassion towards our fellow man and makes the one who is living with out dignity a pause that hopefully will unlock his wrong guided life back to the way life ought to be. -------
Kass's reflection on Kant, bioethics and the everyday events of daily life has confirmed Catholic teaching on dignity as a given and an achievement. What remains to be done, as Glendon suggests, is to flesh out and make intelligible the full meaning of human dignity through conversations in both private and public places. Otherwise, dignity will remain "a shaky foundation for human rights." Rights will be respected when people both realize that it is beneath their dignity to violate them and acquire the virtues which will enable them to live a dignified life. Of course, this means that rights will frequently not be respected, since people will not always make the effort to live a dignified life. Catholics, especially the hierarchy and intellectuals, could make even more of a contribution to the well-being of the United States if they are able to persuade American citizens that human dignity is both a given and an achievement. But that teaching has to be more fully recovered by the Catholic Church in the United States from papal encyclicals and the documents of Vatican Council II….. The language has to change from rights to duties, responsibility for others and towards others. We are all conceived in the same fashion. During the 9 months in our mother’s womb we are given all the talents to be ready when God Calls us out into the world. As we begin our journey back to God. This is where our view of a dignified life needs to begin our very common beginning.
Fr. Anselm, I tried to make my responses in a different color but it did not stay in the post. I added the periods.....to divide statement and my answer. Sorry for the confusion. JIm
Good insight here Jim. "The ultimate end of a Christian community is both to educate the faithful to the love of God and neighbor with their whole heart and soul and to be a living witness to that love." So I try to influence you by this class, my writings, my teachings and most of all, my life.
"What remains to be done, as Glendon suggests, is to flesh out and make intelligible the full meaning of human dignity through conversations in both private and public places." Indeed Jim. That's exactly the sort of stuff I have been looking for. Bravo! FRA
So as a deacon, you will have to find a way in your ministry, your parish, your family, to "flesh out and make intelligible" all of those things that pertain to human dignity. Old people who can't remember who you are or what you've said; parishioners who seem to complain about anything and everything; your children who seemingly disregard the most fundamental things you've told them their whole lives (especially if they are teenagers - because by then they know more than you!) Yes, in conversations in both private and pulic places. I find it more difficult to do this at home in the monastery among the monks sometimes than I do when giving a lecture. Either way, this is what Catholic influence is all about.
The disorders represented in the present situtation of the Gulf oil crisis. First may I state that we live in the external, so my opinions are characteristics that I can observe but I shall never truly know what the action or the inaction of the adminstration decision comes from. Immedaitely where has wise counsel been sought to combat the spill. The News reports that there have been on going meetings but the credentials of the attendees are not connected to the oil industry. Connected with these meetings inability to help solve the crisis is the fact that 33 countries have offered help, with tankers and oil removal equipment within the first 7 days of the spill. We are now in day 75 and our administration has said no. I see a host of disorders at work with the handling of the crisis, it Can be docility of mind or vain glorie or both. If the administration had in place the virtue of Temperance as defined by St. Augustine, it would have the restraint to keep themselves out of the way from these vices
Pope Benedict's work (then Cardinal Ratzinger)Salt of the Earth has a nice statement on the theme of social problems caused by disorder in the soul or lack of virtue. He says,
". . . the pollution of the outward environment that we are witnessing is only the mirror and consequence of the pollution of the inward environment, to which we pay too little heed. I think this is also the defect of the ecological movements. They crusade with an understandable and also a legitimate passion against the pollution of the environment, whereas man's self-pollution of his soul continues to be treated as one of the rights of his freedom. There is a discrepancy here. We want to eliminate the measurable pollution, but we don't consider the pollution of man's soul. . . . As long as we retain this caricature of freedom, namely, of the freedom of inner self-destruction, its outward effects will continue unchanged."
Environmental problems are caused by disorder in people's souls, as are all other social problems in one way or another. It seems to me when considering the current crisis that some of these "disorders" might be related to selfishness. Worshiping money and profit resulted in a well being dug in the Gulf of Mexico without a "relief well" in plce from the start. I have read that relief wells are standard operating proceedure for the industry in every country of the world - except in the U.S.
We want cheap gas for our cars and gave the oil companies a free pass. We have got to take responsibility for our actions morally, financially, socially, and of course environmentally.
As I mentioned, a detailed explanation of the cardinal and theological virtues is important in order to see in detail why the common good depends on their practice. It is interesting to note that the word cardinal derives from the Latin word, cardo, which means hinge. The moral life and the common good hinges on the practice of these virtues. Given the all too common view that virtue is a private affair, it is not superfluous to point out that Aquinas refers to the cardinal virtues as social virtues.
Alright Jim so here's where I am. The topic is on VIRTUE and Grace. Let's look at the Cardinal virtues mentioned above. Prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude.
1. PRUDENCE It was "imprudent" to allow the oil well to go into operation without a relief well already in place. 2. JUSTICE The people of the world, generations to come,have a right to the Earth as God has given it to us. It is "unjust" to endanger the environment to the living, and the yet to be born. 3. TEMPERANCE - It may be defined as the attitude which makes a person govern their natural appetite for pleasures of the senses in accordance with the norm prescribed by reason. So our desire to run our air conditioners, our boats, our cars (none of which are morally eveil in themselves) can violate temperance insofar as we want NO RESTRICTIONS at all. I want to do what I ant to do and I will use what I want, when and how I want to (almost as a RIGHT). This can defy REASON on any number of levels.
Finally, there is FORTITUDE. Do we have the "guts" to reduce our spending? Call for accountability of ourselves in the workplace? Demand academic honesty? Hold industry to standards though politically unpopular? How about in your own home Jim. Isn't it difficult to say no to the kids or your wife when they want something? Don't you have an almost natural inclination to try and get it for them? I don't mean necessities but perhaps the latest ipod/iphone/idontknowwhattheheckisnext product? Many peoplecofide this struggle to me in the confessional.
Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, had the potential to be the end all of the debate on the topic of social justice. But scholarly intrepation of the document was uneven and divided. Notable scholars at the time defended that Pius XI understood by social justice what Thomas Aquinas meant by legal justice. Thomas Aquinas’s basic definition of justice: "a habit whereby an individual renders to each one his due [or right, i.e. ius ] by a constant and perpetual will." In order to have a just society each member of the society has the duty to live and maintain a virtuous life toward all. Social justice, true social justice has a better chance to begin and grow when this wave of this virtuous life starts from the bottom up in a society and not from the top down. It is our own responsibility, individually first to be sure our brothers are cared for.
A just wage, the concept of a just wage in a capitalistic society can be a hard one for the small business owner to wrap his arms round. The owner looks at the position of the worker through the benchmark of what can I get by paying him vs. the worker looking at what he needs to live. Unfortunately, this battle takes place in every state, city, business and church office daily.
Very nice Jim. I particularly like the way you take a concept like a "just wage" to the struggle of every man.
On the wider front, the Thomistic and papal understanding of legal / social justice is very difficult to understand because it includes two important themes which are foreign to the prevailing modern mentality, namely, virtue and the common good. Neither of these figures prominently in the contemporary understanding of justice and the public interests.
The writings of John Ryan and William Ferree, as I indicated, have been more influential; what I have argued is that their misinterpretation of Pius XI's concept of social justice persists today. We still hear Ryan's view that social justice consists primarily in a more equitable distribution of wealth,(which President Obama has seemingly personally subscribed to) with the state as the principal agent. Ferree's argument that social justice calls for the reorganization of the system as the principal means of overcoming injustice has become a truism.
In this light my proposal is simply that a recovery of the fuller and more authentic Thomistic/papal understanding of social justice would immeasurably benefit Catholic social thought in the United States. It would enable the bishops and priests to show the connection between the practice of virtue and the quest for justice. As I said, doesn't even common sense indicate that vices harm social, economic and political life? Everyone can think of examples to show the harmful influence of pride or excessive ambition, greed, laziness, envy, anger, not to mention lust and intemperance regarding drink. Laws can and should mitigate the evil effects of these vices by such means as stiff penalties for drunk driving and child pornography. Still, it is important for the churches to inspire people to overcome their faults and vices or at least to maintain a constant struggle.
A law should defend a principle. A principle should defend a value. A value is directly proportionate to a virtue.
Pius XI was a major player in the area of social justice. His famous encyclical Quadgragesimo anno strove "to restore society according to the mind of the Church on the firmly established basis of social justice and social charity.(no. 126.)" Any reading of "Mit brenneder Sorge" (see http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_14031937_mit-brennender-sorge_en.html ) would indicate the same.
Lecture 7 Gay marriage As in the New Testament Corinthians 6:9 Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor malakoi, nor arsenokoitai nor thieves, nor greedy nor drunkards, nor slanders nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.
All of the vices mentioned above are voluntary. Men and women of every shape size and color, can chose to partake or not, in the acts mentioned above.
Man and woman coming together in love for the creation of a new family, two become one. The relationship is built on the rock foundation of procreation.
Same sex relationships are built for instant gratification, selfish insights and disordered lives. It is true that some of our Catholic brethren have sympathy towards legalizing same sex marriages but there compassion is wrongly guided they have either not been catechized completely and/or simply chose to ignore it.
You quoted the Corinthians passage nicely but there is much more to consider here.
As I mentioned, Professor Bradley points out that arguing for the neutrality of the law "is itself a moral claim" and, therefore, not morally neutral. [Same Sex Marriage: The FInal Answer?] He further argues that the law should not be morally neutral, because government has a stake in the way people understand and practice marriage. Through law the government necessarily teaches citizens about the meaning of marriage.
Also remember that towards the end of chapter 3 in his encyclical, Evangelium vitae, Pope John Paul II reflects on the role of law in a democracy. He begins by taking issue with the argument that "the legal system of any society should limit itself to taking account of and accepting the convictions of the majority" (69). This means that the moral beliefs and practices of the majority should be the norm, whatever they might be. This way of looking at things requires the legislature to acknowledge the autonomy of individual consciences. In other words, individuals may claim for themselves "the most complete freedom of choice," and they may "demand that the state should not adopt or impose any ethical position but limit itself to guaranteeing maximum space for the freedom of each individual with the sole limitation of not infringing on the freedom and rights of any other citizen" (69).
Could slavery have remained in tact forever if the majority of those who had the right to vote endorsed it? Is that why abortion is legal? What about the extermination of minorities if the majority approves it in the "national interest"?
Lecture 7 continued, The government’s most important issue is, to maintain and protect the common good of a society. If a government is following the majority of the society opinion, on a said topic, may be the path to follow, as long as the outcome does not undermine the humanity and dignity of the most basic building block of a society, the family.
As a family would protect the undefendable, so should the government protect the least in a society. But the dialog must change from the rights driven message that we cling to, to a duty and responsibility message towards ourselves’ and neighbors.
Our government (USA) has made some whopper mistakes trying to create morally neutral decisions, as Professor Bradley points out. Moral neutral also has a bias. Adding to this problem is, that elected official that tables their catechized education and life experience, that has formed them into the people they are, and start deciding issues based their observation of popular opinion and voter polling.
“To disregard the right to life, precisely because it leads to the killing of the person whom society exists to serve, is what most directly conflicts with the possibility of achieving the common good.” Pope John Paul II
As Thomas Aquinas states, civil laws that are in opposition to the moral order and or right reason are unjust laws. An example of these laws are abortion, euthanasia and as you mentioned slavery.
The problems posed by rights talk. Mary Ann Glendon’s book “Rights Talk” argues that the rights we hold so dear as Americans, life liberty, the pursuit of happiness… need to be tempered “with a respect to personal civic and collective responsibilities” She says without that the rights are silent and cold, that the “simultaneous reflects and distorts American culture, it captures our individualism but omits our traditions of hospitality and care.”
Pope Leo XIII’s, Rerum Novarum, written in 1891, offers a way of preserving public morality by linking rights to virtues and duties a common unity through the shared responsibility.
John Stuart Mill in his essay On Liberty completely contradicts both Glendons and Leo XIII’s ideas of living with rights tied to duties by the collective. He wrote that absolute independence of the individual is what” merely concerns himself”, He wrote that “over himself, over his body and mind, the individual is sovereign” which later fit nicely into Brandies and Warren justification of personal liberties.
Dealing with faith and reason as our guide St Thomas Aquinas, explains man’s struggle, as “that it is very difficult for man to know the truths about God including the truth that God s the author of Natural Law He continues, “it is necessary that man should be taught by a divine revelation, but although God in creating man gave him the law of nature the evil oversowed another law in man, namely the law of concupiscence. Concupiscence is the disordered desire caused by original sin and personal sin.
Pope John Paul addressed this concern when speaking about person freedom,” exalt freedom to such an extent that it becomes an absolute, which would then be the source of values. Determining what is good and evil which echoes the temptation of original sin with the apple. This perspective makes all ideas relative to what the individual “feels” in their conscience repeating the sophists ideas of early Greek ancestry,
Our people become untethered adrift, following whatever notion agrees with their conscience. Ignoring the eternal truth. Cardinal Ratzinger asks, “Whether there can at all be a communion of all cultures in truth” a truth that all will recognize and use to guide themselves through our journey here on earth.
Great insight Jim. I think you have seized the moment! That darn old concupiscence is always distracting me from my fundamental desrie to serve the Kingdom.
The culture of death meaning the destruction of the family. People who are prone to gather their moral code from secular society head full speed into the culture of death. Thinking of their own rights, they have turned themselves upside down in regards to following the one truth. Children can become a product that is ordered for delivery from a baby factory, with the ability to decide on the health, sex and screen for any potential concerns, the egg and sperm donators (parents) schedule, and the marital act becomes less about procreation and more about self satisfaction alone.
End of life. Euthanasia is being pushed as the humane path according to secular opinion makers. So the very men and women who become doctors that take an oath to protects and save lives now will and are contradicting that oath daily. There are many cases of infirmed that were thought to be in a vegetative state that have recovered fully given the time to recover.
Vanity… We now can schedule an appointment for a surgery consultation where we will be advised (sold) that if we just changed our chin and or nose, maybe liposuction20 or 30 pounds away. Get permanent make up so no matter the time of day we’ll look are best. The latest, injecting poison to paralyze the tiny nerves in the face that will relax and make wrinkles disappear. We no longer work at a problem like loosing weight or leading a healthier lifestyle or as my father would say “push yourself away from the table a little sooner”. Now we get procedures done, all human dignity striped away like so many peels of skin.
We were, thought of, designed and built by the greatest creator, and in his image. We’ve fallen, been forgiven, fallen, been redeemed and still, as always and forever, loved by Him, including our warts and all.
John Paul II was very understanding that people are driven by personal circumstances, such as poverty, depression or loneliness to seek abortion or to yield to the euthanasia temptation. He recognizes that their culpability could be significantly decreased for making choices, "which are in themselves evil." He is very disturbed, however, that crimes against life have come to be regarded as legitimate expressions of freedom deserving protection as rights. He explains: "Precisely in an age when the inviolable rights of the person are solemnly proclaimed and the value of life is publicly affirmed, the very right to life is being denied or trampled upon, especially at the more significant moments of existence: the moment of birth and the moment of death." [12] The right to life is denied in the United States because the Supreme Court, as mentioned, declared in 1973 that the right to abortion was a constitutional right. The state of Oregon recognizes a right to euthanasia as does Belgium and the Netherlands.
In my mind, the failure of educated Catholics to understand the full meaning of the rights revolution initiated by Hobbes and Locke made it difficult to foresee the bad use to which rights doctrines would be put. Remember that Hobbes separated rights from the summum bonum. This leaves rights without a moral guide. Of course the Church has made every effort to persuade people to exercise their rights in the light of the good. But it is hard for that teaching to be effective when the Hobbsean view permeates aspects of American culture. This is certainly not what the Founders of this country intended, but the separation of rights from a notion of the good has had a great impact on the United States.
Lecture 10 In light of the lecture, what is the difficulty in applying the principles of a just war in any of the current conflicts of the United States?
The principals. Right authority = A just war needs to be supported and ran by the authority in charge. Clear lines of command.
Proportionality of ends, last resort, reasonable hope for success, or simply put, does the good outweigh the bad.
Right intention = What is the catalyst and the expected goal and/or outcome.
Finally, and most importantly, the survival and protection of the innocents around combatants.
The Iraq war as stated in the lecture was initiated by the concern of WMD in the hands of a tyrant who thought others existence were of little value, namely the Jews and was willingly to give this weaponry to other terrorists. We had the right authority; the President commanded this nation to action against the head of a nation label as being part of the axis of evil. The plan was to rid the world of this evil regime and make the world a safer place. Our nation’s forces would engage the armed forces of Iraq. We would use the deployment of smart bombs to try to eliminate the number of innocents wounded or killed. The time and money spent has been completely unplanned for. The WMD concern has yet been proved. The causality rates, of both American soldiers and innocents have been very low considering the length of the war. I believe the intentions were just, the information faulty. I cannot believe that a President of the United States would deliberately put his country’s young people in harms way if he or she could avoid it. The country of Iraq has suffered greatly, but hopefully, this new government will provide a more just life for its citizenry. The proportionality seems not to support the war decision. Outcome is still unknown.
The Afghan war is another story. We have no clear enemy. No rogue nation, more of a rogue area of the world, where pursuing one group of terrorists only increases the numbers of supports of that terrorist group within the region. The call for the war is for the attack of innocent American lives lost in terrorist attacks. It doesn’t seem that we have a clear plan to reach the goal of shutting down a terrorist network. It seems there have been many missteps. The innocent injured or killed can be very hard to define. The culture we are fighting uses men and women of all ages to deploy their plans. I think it would be hard to defend calling the Afghan war just.
In the Iraq conflict there were a series of UN violations on the part of Iraq that followed the First Gulf War and the conditions imposed. Sadam Hussein violated no fly zones, for example, and broke the international blockade. The WMD argument was another factor added to many. President George H. W.Bush never marched on Baghdad but only expelled Iraq as an occupying foce in Kuwait. He assembled the largest international military coalition in this history of the world for the cause. The second conflict by President George W. Bush lacked that sort of support.
Is not the Afghan conflict a response to the attack of September 11? The Taliban being dislodged is certainly a noble objective. Now what? Is there any hope for success from a military perspective? World history has shown that all invaders have been expelled in time. SHould we anticipate the same? You are correct to assert that given all the principles of a just war, this would constitute a difficult premise.
Lecture 11. Given the 7 themes of Catholic Social teaching, which are: Life and Dignity of the Human Person, Call to Family, Community, and Participation, Rights and Responsibilities, Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, Solidarity and Care for God’s Creation. How do the US Bishops address four moral priorities? Which are; protecting human life, promoting family life, pursuing social justice and practicing solidarity.
What are some of the specifics? Protecting human life the USCCB stands in strong opposition to abortion, euthanasia,, cloning, the targeting by states and terrorist against innocent civilians, the abuses of biotechnology, the preventive use of force, the death penalty and the US’s participation in the global arms trade. Promoting family life the USCCB is promoting the legal protection of marriage “as a life long commitment between a man and a woman”, a just wage for workers, the protection and education of children, including formation of their character in educational settings. The ability for parental choice in the education of children in private or public schools, and the enforcement of responsible regulations to protect children and the vulnerable from illicit material on the internet, TV and radio. Pursing Social Justice the USCCB recommends jobs for all who can work a living wage, the end of unjust discrimination, the right of workers to organize, economic freedom and the right to have private property, welfare reform, tax credits, health care, child care, security in retirement, affordable housing, relief and help for the people suffering from AIDS and addictions, better education for all Practicing Solidarity the USCCB urges the U.S. to take a leading role to help alleviate global poverty to promote religious liberty, to reverse the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weaponry, begin progressive nuclear disarmament, looking for a more generous immigration policy especially those fleeing persecution and they ask the US to be a leader in collaboration with the international community in addressing regional conflicts on the world such as, middle east, Balkans, the Congo and Sudan.
The duty of the faithful is to live their Catholic faith with in the secular world. They have been incorporated into Christ and the Church through the sacrament of Baptism and therefore share in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and royal office. They are to be committed to live towards a life of holiness.
In Lumen gentium, the faithful have a duty to share their opinions on matters which pertain to the good of the church, speaking with integrity of faith an morals and reverence towards their pastors and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons. Secondly the duty is to be leaven in the world by working for social justice “to assist the poor from their own resources” thus can give witness to Christ is a special way.
In Christifideles laici, Pope John Paul II talks about Charities towards on neighbor, through contemporary forms of the traditional spiritual and corporal works of mercy, represent the most immediate, ordinary and habitual ways that lead to the Christian animation of temporal order, the specific duty of the lay faithful.
We the laity do fall short and as the Lecture states many Catholics set their focus and direction on the secular age instead of the one truth. My hunch is that the ostracization that will take place, after one speaks of God is quite palatable. When I told my clients that I was entering the seminary, many I knew professionally for 5 or 7 years, the reception was cool. More than a few never took my call again.
Fr. Anselm, I'm new to online courses. I'm not finding the questions. I finished the first lecture and I plan on finishing the second this weekend.
ReplyDeleteAm I in the wrong spot? Thanks, Jim Parrilli
I think I understand the system.
ReplyDeleteThe introduction Lecture, Catholic Social Teaching.
The lecture points out the lack of comprehension of the Catholic faithful understanding or grasping our church's Catholic Social teachings in-spite of the encyclicals of our two most recent Popes have written.
The lecture also points out the work of Tocqueville from the 1830's with it's many observations on the role of religion in our American Soceity that still hold water today. Namely, how secular ideas capture the imagination of the people then in-turn the people try to apply these world opinions against eternal truths of the Church.
The article concludes that we have hope and much work ahead of us educating the faithful from elementary school through university to bring CST to a better level of understanding
Very good Jim. You are in the right place and you did splendidly. I think that it is most challenging to read through so much material and come to see a point as you did.
ReplyDeleteSometimes there could be more than one answer to address a question. Your observation is very good. Keep up the good work.
Lecture 2;
ReplyDeleteThe dignity of the Human Person: In the beginning of the lecture the topic of human dignity according to political view. The political view and society speak of human dignity using the idea of Rights of a person. These rights are exercised as choices.
The rights and choices are built upon worldly claims as opposed to eternal truths using faith and reason. Human dignity doesn’t have an expiration date or model number. People who are disabled or elderly are still awash with dignity and should be treated as such. There is no human act that can remove dignity. Human dignity is both given and achieved.
By living a life praising God and following his laws and decrees one will lead a virtiuos life and inturn will increase their capacity to extend the dignity they achieve to all they come in contact with.
Though the UN declaration on Human Rights is a document that has established some good first steps. I agree with Glendon, that the articles or rights would have been better served as creating obligations to do what is right, to provide dignity.
Excellent insight to the lecture at-large Jim. I would like you revist the last paragraph of my lecture and reflect on my proposal concerning Catholic influence. What do you suppose I mean by that vis a vis the lecture but extend that to your own life or your life to be as a deacon.
ReplyDeleteFr. Anslem,
ReplyDeleteEach Saturday mornin, I help out at our local nursing home in providing a Communion service to the residents that reside there. At first, I was apprehensive thinking that I'd be the right guy to help there. Within the first few minutes of my first visit I was able to see past the disabilities where mental of physical that these wonderful men and women have and I was able to see Christ in them.
I admit I have the blessing of not knowing the residents past life. I do not know who they were if "captains of industry" or "the strong Matriarch of the family". They are my brothers and sisters and deserve all the dignity available.
The other part of the question as I see it, is the education of the faithful. It is a continuing process for the whole of the Church, laity and ordained. By making and taking the time to explain the position in beginning and end life situations. Going over the encyclicals and providing a commentary before the nightly news makes a mess of it.
Lecture 3 & 4
ReplyDeleteThe meaning of the common good.
In the secular world, the common good is a shallow pool, just filled with instrumentals, compared to the depth of real Common Good as exercised by the church. Measuring the common good we should measure the ability to reach the ultimate good by helping man toward the way of salvation and inturn helping his fellow man, growth and development of our souls.
I agree whole heartedly with the responsibility of the government (society) to ensure this pathway by leading and practicing the virtues of the eternal truth. As in your translation of Pacem in Terris, paraphrasing, to be in the bright light of truth, communicating knowledge freely to one another, fulfilling duties and inspired to seek the goods of the soul.
Having decisions being made with the chief virtue prudence. Showing the way of right and wrong in the way of a virtuous life. Presently, our society draws no line in the sand and/or benchmarks to follow towards, what would now be considered as. a uncommonly good and rich life with the promise of the eternal life.
Good insight Jim. I like your very real example of ministering to the church at St. Convalescence. More properly, FYI, you are conducting a "Liturgy of the Word" with communion. "Communion Service" tends to be reflective of the vernacular of our separated brothers and sisters. Nevertheless, a very practical application.
ReplyDeleteI want to you to revist and specifically address the question of CATHOLIC INFLUENCE, which I have been unable to see in your writing. I DO SEE the practical application but what about the larger question of Catholic influence? Look at the lecture and see where you find it most prominent actually and potentially (you did take philosophy, right??)
Dear Fr. Anslem,
ReplyDeleteI will revisit the lecture. As for philosophy my course was anthropological philosophy, early greek, three years ago.
Anthropological philosophy ay? Quite distinct from philosophical anthropology. So when you say three years ago...does that imply that your anthropological perspective has changed philosophically since that time, or does it imply that you don't remember anything from the Early Greek period, (or from three years ago)? Aaaaah, but philosophy is eternal, even if anthropology has not evolved into what it might become in the eschaton. Anyway, thanks for revisting my question on Catholic influence. You're doing a fine job. I'm doing quite well too, but of course you know that already from the excellence of my lectures don't you?
ReplyDeleteFrom the lecture:
ReplyDeleteIn the Catholic mind, human beings retain their dignity when they are receiving care and may even grow in dignity. Think of the person who accepts his dependence and suffering as a way of identifying with the passion of Christ…… Christ is the Ultimate good, beauty and truth. Though we may not understand the circumstances in which we receive this suffering it comes from God so it must be good and for our betterment
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Every generation . . . needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."(16) It is a correct view of the human person that limits and guides freedom. In later lectures I will address this subject at greater length. ….To get to the Truth one always must do what he ought. In early Greek philosophy if one was born blind he would have been considered as cursed because he wasn’t born as he ought to be.
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The ultimate end of a Christian community is both to educate the faithful to the love of God and neighbor with their whole heart and soul and to be a living witness to that love. If a person's dignity depends on growing in true love, then there should be no doubt that human dignity is both a given and an end, a high goal to be achieved by laborious efforts with the help of God's grace. …..The vision of Plato’s ladder comes to mind as one develops from the lowest of lows, one gains knowledge decision making capabilities, the right choices and as one ascends to the top one is constantly looking to the ones at the bottom of the ladder trying to help them to the one beauty the one good.
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Under the influence of Kant even many Catholics look at human dignity simply as a given and not also as an achievement of a person who avoids serious sin, loves his family, friends and neighbor, and seeks to realize communion with God. Catholics rightly look to God's creation of man in his image and likeness as the foundation of dignity, but then fail to see that living in accord with God's image is the way of realizing their dignity in their everyday life. It should be obvious that our longings and loves either increase or diminish our dignity, but this is not the case…. All people have dignity and no man can take it away but living a dignified life increases our compassion towards our fellow man and makes the one who is living with out dignity a pause that hopefully will unlock his wrong guided life back to the way life ought to be.
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Kass's reflection on Kant, bioethics and the everyday events of daily life has confirmed Catholic teaching on dignity as a given and an achievement. What remains to be done, as Glendon suggests, is to flesh out and make intelligible the full meaning of human dignity through conversations in both private and public places. Otherwise, dignity will remain "a shaky foundation for human rights." Rights will be respected when people both realize that it is beneath their dignity to violate them and acquire the virtues which will enable them to live a dignified life. Of course, this means that rights will frequently not be respected, since people will not always make the effort to live a dignified life. Catholics, especially the hierarchy and intellectuals, could make even more of a contribution to the well-being of the United States if they are able to persuade American citizens that human dignity is both a given and an achievement. But that teaching has to be more fully recovered by the Catholic Church in the United States from papal encyclicals and the documents of Vatican Council II….. The language has to change from rights to duties, responsibility for others and towards others. We are all conceived in the same fashion. During the 9 months in our mother’s womb we are given all the talents to be ready when God Calls us out into the world. As we begin our journey back to God. This is where our view of a dignified life needs to begin our very common beginning.
Fr. Anselm,
ReplyDeleteI tried to make my responses in a different color but it did not stay in the post. I added the periods.....to divide statement and my answer. Sorry for the confusion.
JIm
Good insight here Jim. "The ultimate end of a Christian community is both to educate the faithful to the love of God and neighbor with their whole heart and soul and to be a living witness to that love." So I try to influence you by this class, my writings, my teachings and most of all, my life.
ReplyDelete"What remains to be done, as Glendon suggests, is to flesh out and make intelligible the full meaning of human dignity through conversations in both private and public places." Indeed Jim. That's exactly the sort of stuff I have been looking for.
Bravo!
FRA
So as a deacon, you will have to find a way in your ministry, your parish, your family, to "flesh out and make intelligible" all of those things that pertain to human dignity. Old people who can't remember who you are or what you've said; parishioners who seem to complain about anything and everything; your children who seemingly disregard the most fundamental things you've told them their whole lives (especially if they are teenagers - because by then they know more than you!) Yes, in conversations in both private and pulic places. I find it more difficult to do this at home in the monastery among the monks sometimes than I do when giving a lecture. Either way, this is what Catholic influence is all about.
ReplyDeleteLecture 5
ReplyDeleteThe disorders represented in the present situtation of the Gulf oil crisis.
First may I state that we live in the external, so my opinions are characteristics that I can observe but I shall never truly know what the action or the inaction of the adminstration decision comes from.
Immedaitely where has wise counsel been sought to combat the spill. The News reports that there have been on going meetings but the credentials of the attendees are not connected to the oil industry.
Connected with these meetings inability to help solve the crisis is the fact that 33 countries have offered help, with tankers and oil removal equipment within the first 7 days of the spill. We are now in day 75 and our administration has said no.
I see a host of disorders at work with the handling of the crisis, it Can be docility of mind or vain glorie or both. If the administration had in place the virtue of Temperance as defined by St. Augustine, it would have the restraint to keep themselves out of the way from these vices
Fr. Anslem,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your encouragement.
Pope Benedict's work (then Cardinal Ratzinger)Salt of the Earth has a nice statement on the theme of social problems caused by disorder in the soul or lack of virtue. He says,
ReplyDelete". . . the pollution of the outward environment that we are witnessing is only the mirror and consequence of the pollution of the inward environment, to which we pay too little heed. I think this is also the defect of the ecological movements. They crusade with an understandable and also a legitimate passion against the pollution of the environment, whereas man's self-pollution of his soul continues to be treated as one of the rights of his freedom. There is a discrepancy here. We want to eliminate the measurable pollution, but we don't consider the pollution of man's soul. . . . As long as we retain this caricature of freedom, namely, of the freedom of inner self-destruction, its outward effects will continue unchanged."
Environmental problems are caused by disorder in people's souls, as are all other social problems in one way or another. It seems to me when considering the current crisis that some of these "disorders" might be related to selfishness. Worshiping money and profit resulted in a well being dug in the Gulf of Mexico without a "relief well" in plce from the start. I have read that relief wells are standard operating proceedure for the industry in every country of the world - except in the U.S.
We want cheap gas for our cars and gave the oil companies a free pass. We have got to take responsibility for our actions morally, financially, socially, and of course environmentally.
As I mentioned, a detailed explanation of the cardinal and theological virtues is important in order to see in detail why the common good depends on their practice. It is interesting to note that the word cardinal derives from the Latin word, cardo, which means hinge. The moral life and the common good hinges on the practice of these virtues. Given the all too common view that virtue is a private affair, it is not superfluous to point out that Aquinas refers to the cardinal virtues as social virtues.
Alright Jim so here's where I am. The topic is on VIRTUE and Grace. Let's look at the Cardinal virtues mentioned above.
Prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude.
1. PRUDENCE
It was "imprudent" to allow the oil well to go into operation without a relief well already in place.
2. JUSTICE The people of the world, generations to come,have a right to the Earth as God has given it to us. It is "unjust" to endanger the environment to the living, and the yet to be born.
3. TEMPERANCE - It may be defined as the attitude which makes a person govern their natural appetite for pleasures of the senses in accordance with the norm prescribed by reason. So our desire to run our air conditioners, our boats, our cars (none of which are morally eveil in themselves) can violate temperance insofar as we want NO RESTRICTIONS at all. I want to do what I ant to do and I will use what I want, when and how I want to (almost as a RIGHT). This can defy REASON on any number of levels.
Finally, there is FORTITUDE. Do we have the "guts" to reduce our spending? Call for accountability of ourselves in the workplace? Demand academic honesty? Hold industry to standards though politically unpopular? How about in your own home Jim. Isn't it difficult to say no to the kids or your wife when they want something? Don't you have an almost natural inclination to try and get it for them? I don't mean necessities but perhaps the latest ipod/iphone/idontknowwhattheheckisnext product? Many peoplecofide this struggle to me in the confessional.
Lecture 6
ReplyDeletePius XI on social justice
Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, had the potential to be the end all of the debate on the topic of social justice. But scholarly intrepation of the document was uneven and divided. Notable scholars at the time
defended that Pius XI understood by social justice what Thomas Aquinas meant by legal justice. Thomas Aquinas’s basic definition of justice: "a habit whereby an individual renders to each one his due [or right, i.e. ius ] by a constant and perpetual will." In order to have a just society each member of the society has the duty to live and maintain a virtuous life toward all. Social justice, true social justice has a better chance to begin and grow when this wave of this virtuous life starts from the bottom up in a society and not from the top down.
It is our own responsibility, individually first to be sure our brothers are cared for.
A just wage, the concept of a just wage in a capitalistic society can be a hard one for the small business owner to wrap his arms round. The owner looks at the position of the worker through the benchmark of what can I get by paying him vs. the worker looking at what he needs to live.
Unfortunately, this battle takes place in every state, city, business and church office daily.
Very nice Jim. I particularly like the way you take a concept like a "just wage" to the struggle of every man.
ReplyDeleteOn the wider front, the Thomistic and papal understanding of legal / social justice is very difficult to understand because it includes two important themes which are foreign to the prevailing modern mentality, namely, virtue and the common good. Neither of these figures prominently in the contemporary understanding of justice and the public interests.
The writings of John Ryan and William Ferree, as I indicated, have been more influential; what I have argued is that their misinterpretation of Pius XI's concept of social justice persists today. We still hear Ryan's view that social justice consists primarily in a more equitable distribution of wealth,(which President Obama has seemingly personally subscribed to) with the state as the principal agent. Ferree's argument that social justice calls for the reorganization of the system as the principal means of overcoming injustice has become a truism.
In this light my proposal is simply that a recovery of the fuller and more authentic Thomistic/papal understanding of social justice would immeasurably benefit Catholic social thought in the United States. It would enable the bishops and priests to show the connection between the practice of virtue and the quest for justice. As I said, doesn't even common sense indicate that vices harm social, economic and political life? Everyone can think of examples to show the harmful influence of pride or excessive ambition, greed, laziness, envy, anger, not to mention lust and intemperance regarding drink. Laws can and should mitigate the evil effects of these vices by such means as stiff penalties for drunk driving and child pornography. Still, it is important for the churches to inspire people to overcome their faults and vices or at least to maintain a constant struggle.
A law should defend a principle. A principle should defend a value. A value is directly proportionate to a virtue.
Pius XI was a major player in the area of social justice. His famous encyclical Quadgragesimo anno strove "to restore society according to the mind of the Church on the firmly established basis of social justice and social charity.(no. 126.)" Any reading of "Mit brenneder Sorge" (see http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_14031937_mit-brennender-sorge_en.html ) would indicate the same.
Lecture 7
ReplyDeleteGay marriage
As in the New Testament Corinthians 6:9 Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor malakoi, nor arsenokoitai nor thieves, nor greedy nor drunkards, nor slanders nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.
All of the vices mentioned above are voluntary. Men and women of every shape size and color, can chose to partake or not, in the acts mentioned above.
Man and woman coming together in love for the creation of a new family, two become one. The relationship is built on the rock foundation of procreation.
Same sex relationships are built for instant gratification, selfish insights and disordered lives. It is true that some of our Catholic brethren have sympathy towards legalizing same sex marriages but there compassion is wrongly guided they have either not been catechized completely and/or simply chose to ignore it.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteYou quoted the Corinthians passage nicely but there is much more to consider here.
As I mentioned, Professor Bradley points out that arguing for the neutrality of the law "is itself a moral claim" and, therefore, not morally neutral. [Same Sex Marriage: The FInal Answer?] He further argues that the law should not be morally neutral, because government has a stake in the way people understand and practice marriage. Through law the government necessarily teaches citizens about the meaning of marriage.
Also remember that towards the end of chapter 3 in his encyclical, Evangelium vitae, Pope John Paul II reflects on the role of law in a democracy. He begins by taking issue with the argument that "the legal system of any society should limit itself to taking account of and accepting the convictions of the majority" (69). This means that the moral beliefs and practices of the majority should be the norm, whatever they might be. This way of looking at things requires the legislature to acknowledge the autonomy of individual consciences. In other words, individuals may claim for themselves "the most complete freedom of choice," and they may "demand that the state should not adopt or impose any ethical position but limit itself to guaranteeing maximum space for the freedom of each individual with the sole limitation of not infringing on the freedom and rights of any other citizen" (69).
Could slavery have remained in tact forever if the majority of those who had the right to vote endorsed it? Is that why abortion is legal? What about the extermination of minorities if the majority approves it in the "national interest"?
Lecture 7 continued,
ReplyDeleteThe government’s most important issue is, to maintain and protect the common good of a society. If a government is following the majority of the society opinion, on a said topic, may be the path to follow, as long as the outcome does not undermine the humanity and dignity of the most basic building block of a society, the family.
As a family would protect the undefendable, so should the government protect the least in a society. But the dialog must change from the rights driven message that we cling to, to a duty and responsibility message towards ourselves’ and neighbors.
Our government (USA) has made some whopper mistakes trying to create morally neutral decisions, as Professor Bradley points out. Moral neutral also has a bias. Adding to this problem is, that elected official that tables their catechized education and life experience, that has formed them into the people they are, and start deciding issues based their observation of popular opinion and voter polling.
“To disregard the right to life, precisely because it leads to the killing of the person whom society exists to serve, is what most directly conflicts with the possibility of achieving the common good.” Pope John Paul II
As Thomas Aquinas states, civil laws that are in opposition to the moral order and or right reason are unjust laws. An example of these laws are abortion, euthanasia and as you mentioned slavery.
Very good Jim. Thanks for your insight.
ReplyDeleteLecture 8
ReplyDeleteThe problems posed by rights talk.
Mary Ann Glendon’s book “Rights Talk” argues that the rights we hold so dear as Americans, life liberty, the pursuit of happiness… need to be tempered “with a respect to personal civic and collective responsibilities” She says without that the rights are silent and cold, that the “simultaneous reflects and distorts American culture, it captures our individualism but omits our traditions of hospitality and care.”
Pope Leo XIII’s, Rerum Novarum, written in 1891, offers a way of preserving public morality by linking rights to virtues and duties a common unity through the shared responsibility.
John Stuart Mill in his essay On Liberty completely contradicts both Glendons and Leo XIII’s ideas of living with rights tied to duties by the collective. He wrote that absolute independence of the individual is what” merely concerns himself”, He wrote that “over himself, over his body and mind, the individual is sovereign” which later fit nicely into Brandies and Warren justification of personal liberties.
Dealing with faith and reason as our guide St Thomas Aquinas, explains man’s struggle, as “that it is very difficult for man to know the truths about God including the truth that God s the author of Natural Law He continues, “it is necessary that man should be taught by a divine revelation, but although God in creating man gave him the law of nature the evil oversowed another law in man, namely the law of concupiscence. Concupiscence is the disordered desire caused by original sin and personal sin.
Pope John Paul addressed this concern when speaking about person freedom,” exalt freedom to such an extent that it becomes an absolute, which would then be the source of values. Determining what is good and evil which echoes the temptation of original sin with the apple. This perspective makes all ideas relative to what the individual “feels” in their conscience repeating the sophists ideas of early Greek ancestry,
Our people become untethered adrift, following whatever notion agrees with their conscience. Ignoring the eternal truth. Cardinal Ratzinger asks, “Whether there can at all be a communion of all cultures in truth” a truth that all will recognize and use to guide themselves through our journey here on earth.
Great insight Jim. I think you have seized the moment! That darn old concupiscence is always distracting me from my fundamental desrie to serve the Kingdom.
ReplyDeleteLecture 9
ReplyDeleteMoral issues..
The culture of death meaning the destruction of the family.
People who are prone to gather their moral code from secular society head full speed into the culture of death. Thinking of their own rights, they have turned themselves upside down in regards to following the one truth.
Children can become a product that is ordered for delivery from a baby factory, with the ability to decide on the health, sex and screen for any potential concerns, the egg and sperm donators (parents) schedule, and the marital act becomes less about procreation and more about self satisfaction alone.
End of life.
Euthanasia is being pushed as the humane path according to secular opinion makers. So the very men and women who become doctors that take an oath to protects and save lives now will and are contradicting that oath daily. There are many cases of infirmed that were thought to be in a vegetative state that have recovered fully given the time to recover.
Vanity…
We now can schedule an appointment for a surgery consultation where we will be advised (sold) that if we just changed our chin and or nose, maybe liposuction20 or 30 pounds away. Get permanent make up so no matter the time of day we’ll look are best. The latest, injecting poison to paralyze the tiny nerves in the face that will relax and make wrinkles disappear. We no longer work at a problem like loosing weight or leading a healthier lifestyle or as my father would say “push yourself away from the table a little sooner”. Now we get procedures done, all human dignity striped away like so many peels of skin.
We were, thought of, designed and built by the greatest creator, and in his image. We’ve fallen, been forgiven, fallen, been redeemed and still, as always and forever, loved by Him, including our warts and all.
John Paul II was very understanding that people are driven by personal circumstances, such as poverty, depression or loneliness to seek abortion or to yield to the euthanasia temptation. He recognizes that their culpability could be significantly decreased for making choices, "which are in themselves evil." He is very disturbed, however, that crimes against life have come to be regarded as legitimate expressions of freedom deserving protection as rights. He explains: "Precisely in an age when the inviolable rights of the person are solemnly proclaimed and the value of life is publicly affirmed, the very right to life is being denied or trampled upon, especially at the more significant moments of existence: the moment of birth and the moment of death." [12] The right to life is denied in the United States because the Supreme Court, as mentioned, declared in 1973 that the right to abortion was a constitutional right. The state of Oregon recognizes a right to euthanasia as does Belgium and the Netherlands.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, the failure of educated Catholics to understand the full meaning of the rights revolution initiated by Hobbes and Locke made it difficult to foresee the bad use to which rights doctrines would be put. Remember that Hobbes separated rights from the summum bonum. This leaves rights without a moral guide. Of course the Church has made every effort to persuade people to exercise their rights in the light of the good. But it is hard for that teaching to be effective when the Hobbsean view permeates aspects of American culture. This is certainly not what the Founders of this country intended, but the separation of rights from a notion of the good has had a great impact on the United States.
Lecture 10
ReplyDeleteIn light of the lecture, what is the difficulty in applying the principles of a just war in any of the current conflicts of the United States?
The principals.
Right authority = A just war needs to be supported and ran by the authority in charge. Clear lines of command.
Proportionality of ends, last resort, reasonable hope for success, or simply put, does the good outweigh the bad.
Right intention = What is the catalyst and the expected goal and/or outcome.
Finally, and most importantly, the survival and protection of the innocents around combatants.
The Iraq war as stated in the lecture was initiated by the concern of WMD in the hands of a tyrant who thought others existence were of little value, namely the Jews and was willingly to give this weaponry to other terrorists.
We had the right authority; the President commanded this nation to action against the head of a nation label as being part of the axis of evil. The plan was to rid the world of this evil regime and make the world a safer place.
Our nation’s forces would engage the armed forces of Iraq. We would use the deployment of smart bombs to try to eliminate the number of innocents wounded or killed.
The time and money spent has been completely unplanned for. The WMD concern has yet been proved. The causality rates, of both American soldiers and innocents have been very low considering the length of the war.
I believe the intentions were just, the information faulty. I cannot believe that a President of the United States would deliberately put his country’s young people in harms way if he or she could avoid it. The country of Iraq has suffered greatly, but hopefully, this new government will provide a more just life for its citizenry. The proportionality seems not to support the war decision. Outcome is still unknown.
The Afghan war is another story. We have no clear enemy. No rogue nation, more of a rogue area of the world, where pursuing one group of terrorists only increases the numbers of supports of that terrorist group within the region. The call for the war is for the attack of innocent American lives lost in terrorist attacks. It doesn’t seem that we have a clear plan to reach the goal of shutting down a terrorist network. It seems there have been many missteps. The innocent injured or killed can be very hard to define. The culture we are fighting uses men and women of all ages to deploy their plans. I think it would be hard to defend calling the Afghan war just.
In the Iraq conflict there were a series of UN violations on the part of Iraq that followed the First Gulf War and the conditions imposed. Sadam Hussein violated no fly zones, for example, and broke the international blockade. The WMD argument was another factor added to many. President George H. W.Bush never marched on Baghdad but only expelled Iraq as an occupying foce in Kuwait. He assembled the largest international military coalition in this history of the world for the cause. The second conflict by President George W. Bush lacked that sort of support.
ReplyDeleteIs not the Afghan conflict a response to the attack of September 11? The Taliban being dislodged is certainly a noble objective. Now what? Is there any hope for success from a military perspective? World history has shown that all invaders have been expelled in time. SHould we anticipate the same? You are correct to assert that given all the principles of a just war, this would constitute a difficult premise.
Nice work Jim.
Lecture 11. Given the 7 themes of Catholic Social teaching, which are:
ReplyDeleteLife and Dignity of the Human Person, Call to Family, Community, and Participation, Rights and Responsibilities, Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, Solidarity and Care for God’s Creation.
How do the US Bishops address four moral priorities? Which are; protecting human life, promoting family life, pursuing social justice and practicing solidarity.
What are some of the specifics?
Protecting human life the USCCB stands in strong opposition to abortion, euthanasia,, cloning, the targeting by states and terrorist against innocent civilians, the abuses of biotechnology, the preventive use of force, the death penalty and the US’s participation in the global arms trade.
Promoting family life the USCCB is promoting the legal protection of marriage “as a life long commitment between a man and a woman”, a just wage for workers, the protection and education of children, including formation of their character in educational settings.
The ability for parental choice in the education of children in private or public schools, and the enforcement of responsible regulations to protect children and the vulnerable from illicit material on the internet, TV and radio.
Pursing Social Justice the USCCB recommends jobs for all who can work a living wage, the end of unjust discrimination, the right of workers to organize, economic freedom and the right to have private property, welfare reform, tax credits, health care, child care, security in retirement, affordable housing, relief and help for the people suffering from AIDS and addictions, better education for all
Practicing Solidarity the USCCB urges the U.S. to take a leading role to help alleviate global poverty to promote religious liberty, to reverse the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weaponry, begin progressive nuclear disarmament, looking for a more generous immigration policy especially those fleeing persecution and they ask the US to be a leader in collaboration with the international community in addressing regional conflicts on the world such as, middle east, Balkans, the Congo and Sudan.
11B. Lecture
ReplyDeleteThe duty of the faithful is to live their Catholic faith with in the secular world.
They have been incorporated into Christ and the Church through the sacrament of Baptism and therefore share in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and royal office.
They are to be committed to live towards a life of holiness.
In Lumen gentium, the faithful have a duty to share their opinions on matters which pertain to the good of the church, speaking with integrity of faith an morals and reverence towards their pastors and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons. Secondly the duty is to be leaven in the world by working for social justice “to assist the poor from their own resources” thus can give witness to Christ is a special way.
In Christifideles laici, Pope John Paul II talks about Charities towards on neighbor, through contemporary forms of the traditional spiritual and corporal works of mercy, represent the most immediate, ordinary and habitual ways that lead to the Christian animation of temporal order, the specific duty of the lay faithful.
We the laity do fall short and as the Lecture states many Catholics set their focus and direction on the secular age instead of the one truth. My hunch is that the ostracization that will take place, after one speaks of God is quite palatable.
When I told my clients that I was entering the seminary, many I knew professionally for 5 or 7 years, the reception was cool. More than a few never took my call again.
Well done Jim. We're moving right along now.
ReplyDelete