A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
This past 4th of July, we briefly discussed why our understanding of the concept of "liberty" in the Declarations of Independence depends on a recognition of "natural law." Since then, I came across an article in Crisis magazine that delved a bit deeper into this issue. The author makes a good case that the Founders' use of the term "liberty" does not provide the license to be a libertine; nor does it necessarily imply an "individualism" that favors selfishness over the common good.
Why is this important, and why are we discussing this on Sunday, our "day of rest"?
It's important because some Catholics somehow believe the calls for "liberty" before and during the American Revolution in some way emphasize individualism over the common good in a manner inconsistent with our Catholic Faith. The article takes the position that there is no fundamental contradiction between our faith and "liberty."
To be clear, I do understand that an understanding of liberty that over-emphasizes individualism would create problems for Catholic. The inevitable result of such an understanding allows the individual to determine for himself what is true, what is good, what is right or wrong. Ultimately God - and of course the authority of His Holy Church - is displaced, in deference to the individual's personal "choices." The critics of liberty believe the seeds of our modern "dictatorship of relativism" (as BXVI calls it) were sown in 1776. And if they weren't sowing seeds, they were cultivating those planted by the Protestant Reformation.
But why are we discussing this on Sunday, indeed on this particular Sunday? Well, this Sunday immediately follows the 4th of July, Independence Day. A deeper understanding of why we celebrate our independence from Great Britain helps us turn what has become for many of us a day of fireworks and barbecues into a truly meaningful observation. With such an understanding we can honor those who willingly sacrificed their blood and treasure to create the free and independent United States of America even as we gather with our family and friends to enjoy the day off from work.
As for Sunday being a "day of rest," may I suggest that "rest" can legitimately include times where we can calmly, peacefully consider matters of importance in a way that the rest of our busy week precludes. We don't have to shut our brains down to enjoy a respite from our daily toil. At least it makes sense to me.
Getting back to the subject at hand, I'm no expert in these matters, but I've never bought this argument of a necessary, fundamental and ultimately fatal flaw in the concept of liberty. If you read this excerpt from the article, you'll find an understanding of liberty that does not contradict our Faith. But the author does show how the notion of liberty has been so perverted in our modern age that a Supreme Court Justice recently asserted: "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." Naturally, such twisted logic was used to justify laws permitting abortion.
...the peculiar power by which a human being attains his end is through proper use of his reason and free will; it is through this potential that we achieve happiness. But reason and will are the source of human freedom, because we can know reality objectively and judge what ought to be done. So, while animals act on instinct alone, human beings have to exercise deliberative judgment. This choice is “right” if it conforms to the reality of human nature by maximizing wisdom and love, and wrong inasmuch as it departs from attaining wisdom and love. Liberty, then, is an ordered freedom, an exercise of choice for the sake of an objective notion of happiness. This is in stark contrast to how the right to Liberty has been interpreted in recent decades as an utterly unrestricted power. This is best exemplified in the notorious “mystery clause” from the Supreme Court’s 1992 Casey decision: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” If this were the liberty defended by the Declaration, we could never have formed a society at all. Correctly interpreted, liberty does not mean we can do anything at all; it means that we can work toward happiness in a multiplicity of ways. Pace Justice Kennedy’s remarkable notion of liberty, man is not free to determine the nature of reality, especially the reality of human nature and the happiness that flows from it. Nevertheless, we do have freedom, for God has given different gifts to different people, and each must realize the vocation to which God has called him; our liberty lies in the ability to realize that for which we were created.
Our nation has prospered by protecting the rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. However, in recent decades, as we have forgotten both human nature and the God who created it, these principles have been interpreted in fanciful and destructive ways, causing seemingly insuperable divisions in society. If we take up the public argument required of every civilized people, we can restore the true meaning of these rights. To do so, we need only remember the most basic axiom of Thomistic philosophy: action follows from being. By attending to this, we can protect life in its entirety, and define liberty and happiness according to the truth of human nature, thereby securing the common good longed for by those who first founded the United States in the name of universal human rights.
So it's really a twisting of the meaning of liberty that has created the problem.
For our country to remain that "shining city on the hill," our liberty must remain grounded in the natural law. God, the author of natural law, must be welcomed back into our schools and the public forum. And we must grasp and hold dear an authentic understanding of truth - and of right and wrong - as revealed to us by God most perfectly in the Person of Jesus Christ, through the teachings of His Holy Catholic Church.
(You can read the entire article HERE. It's worthwhile.)
Happy Sunday and Happy Birthday America the Beautiful!
Why is this important, and why are we discussing this on Sunday, our "day of rest"?
It's important because some Catholics somehow believe the calls for "liberty" before and during the American Revolution in some way emphasize individualism over the common good in a manner inconsistent with our Catholic Faith. The article takes the position that there is no fundamental contradiction between our faith and "liberty."
To be clear, I do understand that an understanding of liberty that over-emphasizes individualism would create problems for Catholic. The inevitable result of such an understanding allows the individual to determine for himself what is true, what is good, what is right or wrong. Ultimately God - and of course the authority of His Holy Church - is displaced, in deference to the individual's personal "choices." The critics of liberty believe the seeds of our modern "dictatorship of relativism" (as BXVI calls it) were sown in 1776. And if they weren't sowing seeds, they were cultivating those planted by the Protestant Reformation.
But why are we discussing this on Sunday, indeed on this particular Sunday? Well, this Sunday immediately follows the 4th of July, Independence Day. A deeper understanding of why we celebrate our independence from Great Britain helps us turn what has become for many of us a day of fireworks and barbecues into a truly meaningful observation. With such an understanding we can honor those who willingly sacrificed their blood and treasure to create the free and independent United States of America even as we gather with our family and friends to enjoy the day off from work.
As for Sunday being a "day of rest," may I suggest that "rest" can legitimately include times where we can calmly, peacefully consider matters of importance in a way that the rest of our busy week precludes. We don't have to shut our brains down to enjoy a respite from our daily toil. At least it makes sense to me.
Getting back to the subject at hand, I'm no expert in these matters, but I've never bought this argument of a necessary, fundamental and ultimately fatal flaw in the concept of liberty. If you read this excerpt from the article, you'll find an understanding of liberty that does not contradict our Faith. But the author does show how the notion of liberty has been so perverted in our modern age that a Supreme Court Justice recently asserted: "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." Naturally, such twisted logic was used to justify laws permitting abortion.
...the peculiar power by which a human being attains his end is through proper use of his reason and free will; it is through this potential that we achieve happiness. But reason and will are the source of human freedom, because we can know reality objectively and judge what ought to be done. So, while animals act on instinct alone, human beings have to exercise deliberative judgment. This choice is “right” if it conforms to the reality of human nature by maximizing wisdom and love, and wrong inasmuch as it departs from attaining wisdom and love. Liberty, then, is an ordered freedom, an exercise of choice for the sake of an objective notion of happiness. This is in stark contrast to how the right to Liberty has been interpreted in recent decades as an utterly unrestricted power. This is best exemplified in the notorious “mystery clause” from the Supreme Court’s 1992 Casey decision: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” If this were the liberty defended by the Declaration, we could never have formed a society at all. Correctly interpreted, liberty does not mean we can do anything at all; it means that we can work toward happiness in a multiplicity of ways. Pace Justice Kennedy’s remarkable notion of liberty, man is not free to determine the nature of reality, especially the reality of human nature and the happiness that flows from it. Nevertheless, we do have freedom, for God has given different gifts to different people, and each must realize the vocation to which God has called him; our liberty lies in the ability to realize that for which we were created.
Our nation has prospered by protecting the rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. However, in recent decades, as we have forgotten both human nature and the God who created it, these principles have been interpreted in fanciful and destructive ways, causing seemingly insuperable divisions in society. If we take up the public argument required of every civilized people, we can restore the true meaning of these rights. To do so, we need only remember the most basic axiom of Thomistic philosophy: action follows from being. By attending to this, we can protect life in its entirety, and define liberty and happiness according to the truth of human nature, thereby securing the common good longed for by those who first founded the United States in the name of universal human rights.
So it's really a twisting of the meaning of liberty that has created the problem.
For our country to remain that "shining city on the hill," our liberty must remain grounded in the natural law. God, the author of natural law, must be welcomed back into our schools and the public forum. And we must grasp and hold dear an authentic understanding of truth - and of right and wrong - as revealed to us by God most perfectly in the Person of Jesus Christ, through the teachings of His Holy Catholic Church.
(You can read the entire article HERE. It's worthwhile.)
Happy Sunday and Happy Birthday America the Beautiful!
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