On October 31, Professor John O'Callaghan continued this thoughtful reflections on the election at the Ethics and Culture Forum. He concludes his reflections with these thoughts:
"So one's own political prudence must judge in such a situation which candidate is promoting the proportionately lesser evil; voting for such a candidate is an effort to limit the damage to the common good. Particular judgments here may be very difficult, but it is antecedently improbable that there will be some kind of perfect equality in the harm done to the common good by the respective candidates. Here I would recommend the excellent discussion posted earlier on this blog (10/19/04) by Brad Lewis on "Proportionate Reasons." In particular, in my previous post I argued that given the fundamental role of innocent human life in the constitution of the common good, in our own day it is difficult to see that there is any proportionate evil that one may judge to be greater than policies that legitimate and promote the taking of human life in abortion and euthanasia, or as David and Brad have pointed out in earlier posts, the deliberate production and subsequent destruction of a human life solely to farm its parts out for the benefit of others. All the other goods that must be protected in the common good find their point and purpose in the flourishing of innocent human life. They are empty "values" subject to social whim, prejudice, and cunning when divorced from the fundamental good of human life itself. No doubt there will be many who with good will may disagree with me in that judgment. When I listen to the brighter angels of my nature, and avoid irascibility, the thought that one or other of us will be wrong does not inflame me. But, regardless, none of us can fail to act to limit the greater evil we judge to be pressing in upon us. If Aquinas' discussion is relevant to our day, prudence demands better of us.
"What do I want if I love someone else? I want him to be happy. In charity, Thomas says, we love others 'as companions in the sharing of beatitude.'"(Josef Pieper, Happiness and Contemplation) On All Saints and the eve of All Souls, pray for our country, and those who would lead it, and "pray for me, as I will for thee, that we may all meet merrily in heaven.""
John O'Callaghan
[email protected]
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Expanding on a theme he articulated in a letter that appeared on this blog on May 20, Notre Dame Philosophy professor, John O'Callaghan, recently explored the reigning confusion over how the faithful Catholic ought to respond when different politicians seemingly emphasize different aspects of the "seamless garment of life." In his October 25 posting (entitled Catholics and Abortion Politics) on the the Ethics and Culture Forum, O'Callaghan convincingly lays out the case for distinguishing abortion from the death penalty (and a host of other issues). He concludes by asking us to ask ourselves whether history will "judge us to be among the Lincolns or the Douglases of our own age."
Monday, October 4, 2004
After a long slumber, I am back with a short note in response to the posts by Rob, Mark, Michael, and Rick regarding Catholics and Political Parties, including the SGP. Even if the thought experiment succeeded and the SGP party was birthed, I suspect that within a matter of a few years it would adopt some position antithetical to Catholic teaching.
The way I see it, our roots are in a relationship - a relationship with the Living Word made flesh - and not in any particular idea-ology. Political parties, on the other hand, are formed, more or less, around sets of ideas, which may be more or less friendly to the Truths proclaimed by the Church. In short, isn't it the necessary lot of Catholics to live uneasily within the secular world of politics?
Michael S.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Several recent posts have highlighted the casual approach to abortion by many segments in our society. Here is another example - Planned Parenthood sells an "I had an abortion" t-shirt.
Planned Parenthood says: "Planned Parenthood is proud to offer yet another t-shirt in our new social fashion line: "I Had an Abortion" fitted T-shirts are now available. These soft and comfortable fitted tees assert a powerful message in support of women's rights."
