Can doing something right be morally wrong?

[SteveGC]

Like I said, whatever you say.

I’m canceling that check I wrote to my parish. Maybe my intentions were wrong when I wrote it. You can tell the priest why Bookcat!

Your position is that it is “legalistic” to not donate money to a hospital if your primary intent in doing so is for vainglory?

Exactly what legalisms are we following by doing that? Legalism infers that one outwardly follows rules and rituals at the exclusion of having the accompanying proper inward relationship with and obedience to Christ.

IOW, being legalistic in one’s faith means you are banking on physical acts of piety to gain favor with God, while neglecting the necessary conversion of heart and exercise of love towards others.

Which scenario fits this legalism best:

1. Give to a hospital large sums of money (outward physical act of piety) for the sole purpose of personal recognition (neglect of love for others, abundance of pride)
2. Don’t give to a hospital large sums of money (delay the outward physical act of piety) until such time that your narcissism does not govern your intent (allow Christian love to outweigh the need for personal gain).

Jesus taught us that it’s #1…and gives us no reward for it. Well, He does say ‘you have received your reward in full’.

 

[Newbie2]

Whatever you say. It’s legalistic and slightly disturbing. No wonder so many Catholics seem neurotic.

Maybe God doesn’t care why you do something. Perhaps He would rather you give money to charity and doesn’t care why you do it.

Beats me, I can’t read the mind of God.

Intention matters.

Let’s look at the other side; bad acts. Does intention matter in those sort of acts?

I get in a fight at a bar, defending my wife; the other guy is the aggressor, and in the process of merely defending her and myself, I hit back, he falls down, hits his head and dies from a closed head injury.

Does God see my actions aside from my intentions? Do intentions just matter for bad actions and not for good? Do intention never matter?

Scripture is full of examples of bad intentions that are condemned. Why does God place importance on one’s “heart” i.e. disposition, motives, intentions in Scripture if intention does not matter?

To address the question in the OP, the answer is yes, it is wrong to do even good with the wrong motive. How to remidy the situation is not to fail to do the good, but to allign one’s motives and intentions with true charity, and this is only accomplished with help from the HS.

 

[puzzleannie]

It is not irrelevant. It is an extreme example for illustration.

The CCC gives this one:

“On the other hand, an added bad intention (such as vainglory) makes an act evil that, in and of itself, can be good (such as almsgiving)”

moreover it is doubtful that the gift itself will be of any benefit despite appearance, or at least of much less benefit than it would have been had the intention been honorable.

 

[Cristiano]

I tend to be aligned to the line of thinking that doing something morally right follows similar guidelines to the ones that we have for mortal sin.

The act must be the right one, it must be done with the right intention, and it must be done in the right circumstances. For example If I feed a starving kid (right act), because I want to help him (right intent), but I kill him because he was so malnourished that he could use only an IV and not a club sandwich (wrong circumstances), then I do something that is not moral.

Prof Peter Kreeft has a good speech on the topic (moral relativism) on his website.

 

[Bookcat]

I tend to be aligned to the line of thinking that doing something morally right follows similar guidelines to the ones that we have for mortal sin.

The act must be the right one, it must be done with the right intention, and it must be done in the right circumstances. For example If I feed a starving kid (right act), because I want to help him (right intent), but I kill him because he was so malnourished that he could use only an IV and not a club sandwich (wrong circumstances), then I do something that is not moral.

Prof Peter Kreeft has a good speech on the topic (moral relativism) on his website.

This too in the CCC explains what you have said.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=8299290&postcount=4

 

[Cristiano]

This too in the CCC explains what you have said.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=8299290&postcount=4

Considering that we are aligned on this I have a followup question for you. If we do something that does not meet our definition of morally right behavior, doesn’t that mean that we do commit a venial sin? It can be as minor as we like but isn’t it still a sin? Here I am specifically thinking of the scenario with good act, good intention, wrong circumstance.

 

[PJM]

=Sir Knight;8299108]Per scripture and the CCC, we know that the ends does not justify the means – meaning that we can not do a wrong thing even for a good reason. Without getting into the specifics, what about doing the right thing for the wrong reason? Would that be morally right or morally wrong?

An example would help clarify your position; but doing RIGHT is it’s own reward.

 

[Bookcat]

Considering that we are aligned on this I have a followup question for you. If we do something that does not meet our definition of morally right behavior, doesn’t that mean that we do commit a venial sin? It can be as minor as we like but isn’t it still a sin? Here I am specifically thinking of the scenario with good act, good intention, wrong circumstance.

Such could be yes sinful …and could be venial or mortal depending on what is involved.

 

[Cristiano]

Such could be yes sinful …and could be venial or mortal depending on what is involved.

That it what I was thinking, but in some cases it is not considered a very popular theory because it would make some people feel bad.

 

[Bookcat]

That it what I was thinking

Yes it is simply the case that a circumstance could make an otherwise good action with good intention…involve sinning in one way or another. Not to scruple about things of course.

 

[Bookcat]

it would make some people feel bad.

Well it can be good for if someone does sin for sin to make one feel bad in a reasonable way. So they see that what they are doing is not good. One though should avoid scruples in this area! For we act in a world where there are all sorts of circumstances intermingled. One should be prudently circumspect but not scruple. And not let any scruple hold them back from good (see my post way above on that subject).

 

[fred_conty]

Fixing a door on an aged persons house so that an imprint of the key can be made
to use to enter later and burglurize the home.