I personally think you’re being scrupulous, traffic laws are meant to protect those on the road. You endangered yourself and others, but I do not think it was a mortal sin, at least. What you did was wrong, but in the legal sense.
No offense, but it may sound like you have OCD. City planners and civil engineers, when setting speed limits know people are going to go at least 5 mph over the limit, it’s why limit’s are so low. Now if you were in heavy traffic and only doing 5 mph over and swerving in and out, then yes that might be a mortal sin. Plus it also depends whether or not you have other passengers as well.
Having studied any number of car reviews over the years, there’s also something called “speedometer error,” which means that it’s fairly common - or at least, used to be on older cars - for a speedometer to overstate the actual speed by some factor, frequently 5 mph at speeds around 45-50, so you may not have been actually speeding after all. On the other hand, don’t try using this as an all-purpose excuse with your neighborhood policeman!
With regard to the law, you are mistaken. The Church teaches that we are to submit to all legitimate civil authority – that is to say, we are to obey laws that are not unjust. Refusing to do so is therefore contrary to Church teaching.
I have no desire to get buried in a debate about speed laws. But it should suffice to say that you are not a lawyer, or you would not make the statements you have.With regard to the law, you are mistaken. The Church teaches that we are to submit to all legitimate civil authority – that is to say, we are to obey laws that are not unjust. Refusing to do so is therefore contrary to Church teaching.
Now, whether it is mortally sinful would depend on a number of factors, I’m sure – for example, how much one is speeding, whether one is being reckless in addition to speeding, etc. To merely say, however, that speeding is no big deal, is to flout the law, plain and simple. As Catholics, we have a duty to obey the law – period.
NB: I struggle with a habit of speeding, too – it’s remarkably easy to do when a) one is late, and b) a good portion of one’s drive to work is over a nice, long, straight bridge with 4 lanes in each direction…
Peace,
Dante
I still respectfully disagree and think it is more like a penalty in a football game as I originally posted. The laws of submitting you refer to tell us to suck it up and take the penalty which is the ticket rather than go off on a police chase or something and try to outdrive the cop. Seems like a really cool and fun thing to try one time but it certainly would be sinful let alone very illegal with serious complications.With regard to the law, you are mistaken. The Church teaches that we are to submit to all legitimate civil authority – that is to say, we are to obey laws that are not unjust. Refusing to do so is therefore contrary to Church teaching.
Now, whether it is mortally sinful would depend on a number of factors, I’m sure – for example, how much one is speeding, whether one is being reckless in addition to speeding, etc. To merely say, however, that speeding is no big deal, is to flout the law, plain and simple. As Catholics, we have a duty to obey the law – period.
NB: I struggle with a habit of speeding, too – it’s remarkably easy to do when a) one is late, and b) a good portion of one’s drive to work is over a nice, long, straight bridge with 4 lanes in each direction…
Peace,
Dante
This is not my take on moral theology – the Church is quite specific about our duty to obey the law. It doesn’t make stipulations about whether the law is in place because of safety considerations or not; the law is the law, and as long as it’s not unjust, we have a duty to obey it. Period.
You’re entitled to your opinion, but the bottom line is that the Church teaches we have a moral obligation to obey the law – not just to pay the ticket if we get caught. This type of moral relativism is more problematic than you might think; it opens the door for all sorts of “spirit of the law vs. the letter” judgement calls that would not arise if one merely did what one was called to do in the first place – in this case, obey the law.
That is a very short hand version of what Moral Theology has to say, and also one about speeding laws.
As you are entitled to yours. I still disagree and will always post my opinion each time this topic comes up. I have seen no evidence to the contrary that my interpretation of the submit to authority is sufficiently proven wrong.
Here’s the problem, as I see it: whereas I offered an authority that has actually spoken, you offer your opinion that speeding tickets are like “penalties” in a game. You haven’t demonstrated (as otjm did) that the principles of moral theology do not apply to this situation; you merely dismiss moral theology as irrelevant and subscribe to your unfounded opinion.
