I had taken it on faith, without even looking, that the Church is openly committed to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, and respect for every person. I took it on faith since itâs obvious to everyone who is born again in Christ, whichever building they walk into on a Sunday. But I had a little time today so here are a few of the references found by a quick google:
Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. âHe must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters.â - CCC 1782
This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits. The council further declares that he right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself - Dignitatis Humanae
In order that this freedom, willed by God and inscribed in human nature, may be exercised, no obstacle should be placed in its way, since âthe truth cannot be imposed except by virtue of its own truthâ. The dignity of the person and the very nature of the quest for God require that all men and women should be free from every constraint in the area of religion. - Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
The very fact that we share a common human dignity provides the indispensable base that sustains the inter-relatedness and indivisibility of human rights, social, civil and political, cultural and economic. - vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/2007/documents/rc_seg-st_20071210_udhr_en.html
It is noted with satisfaction that during the last decades the international community has shown interest in the safeguarding of human rights and fundamental liberties and has carefully concerned itself with respect for freedom of conscience and of religion in well-known documents such as: the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights of December 10, 1948 (article 18) - John Paul II, 1980
- UDHR article 18*: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. ]
I think we can safely conclude, on the basis of that evidence, that some people donât know their own religion
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Well, itâs a parable, so Jesus made it up along with the characters. One explanation for why He has the priest and Levite pass by on the other side, is that their main concern is being defiled by touching the man, in contravention of cleanliness laws. Imho Jesus still loves them of course, though their behavior saddens Him.
Indeed.
By the by, Jesus doesnât like
legalists. They believe that as long as someone follows their religion, their worship and their rules, then Grace is irrelevant, along with conscience, love and mercy. To them, salvation has nothing to do with what is within, it is all about outward appearances: âWoe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean [Matt. 23]". The angrier we are with legalists, the closer we are to Christ
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Then it is an absolute, objective fact that there are subjective elements.
