Well you are WRONG!! Murder is murder. Soldiers killing someone in a war is not murder and I’m sure you know that very well.
i agree but there is another possibility: the person wasn’t raised in a Christian or “spiritual” home. The person still has a conscience and is still responsible for seeking out moral truths… “To whom more is given, more is required” (don’t know what scripture that is…). But i believe most people, even catechized Catholics, etc, commit sin out of ignorance… They may know the truth but only in their heads, they haven’t necessarily “learned” it in their hearts… and/or they rationalize (we humans are so good at THAT)… The consequences of our sinful actions usually persuade us that we’ve done something wrong…I do not think a sin is a sin because we think it is.
I believe it is a sin because God said it is.
If a person wants to argue the point with God at the Judgement, I suppose they could, but I am fairly certain they would loose.
But on a the real subject, what abput an improperly formed conscience? I suppose it would depend on why a person’s conscience is not in line with Church teachings.
Is it because of mental illness? Are they simply not very bright? In those cases, it is probably not the fault of the individual because they are impaired.
Could it be deception, that is was the person deceived really believes somethng is okay? This is far more rare that many people will admit. But if they have been lied to and they believe the lies, I think culpability is lessened, but certainly not eliminated. Adter all, did they try to find the truth?
Is it because they do not want to know? Willful ignorance is not a good thing. It is a form of denying the truth.
Maybe they are just lying to themselves. Self-deception is a very popular pastime among humans, few are completely immune. Myself in particular!.
Or perhaps they are looking for a loophole, a opportunity to justify a wrong they know they have done. This is either relativism or legalism. Neither one is particularly useful in developing a good conscience.
(By the way, my definition of a “good conscience” is one that is in line with Church teachings. But more than this, as the person learns more about their faith, their conscience is adjusted. They are not perfect, but at least they know when they have done something wrong.)
I’m not a supported of mobsters. I am interested in mobsters. I study mobsters. I realize they do evil things, but i can’t see how pretty much every mobster has been Catholic, and most of them religious. I bet there would be a big chunk taken out of the catholic pie chart if there were no mobsters.
And that is not what I said. Re-read my post. If you do not know that something is grave matter then you are missing the second requirement for a sin to be mortal. It is in the CCC although and at this moment I do not have access to one. My post is in total compliance with the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Without knowledge of an offense your cupability is diminished or even non- existent.
The state alone has the authority to declare war and to execute criminals; these are never legitimate for individuals. The laws are irrelevant to the question of morality.
There is no relation between what “some people believe” and the truth. People who believe that killing in war is murder simply don’t understand the distinction.
The Church could hardly be clearer: killing in war is not murder; what the mafia does, is.
Yeah, so how do we know that soldiers don’t murder just because they don’t believe that they are murdering?
Your thinking is totally twisted! Mobsters killing anyone - whether another mob member or not - is murder. How can you even consider comparing mobsters with soldiers? Soldiers are defending their country (or another country they have been asked to help). Mobsters just want to kill off people who have offended them in some way. There is absolutely no comparison.
But mobsters are defending their family.
John Gotti becomes pope? Don’t u think that’s bordering on blashphemy?? 4 one thing, u obviously don’t know the procedures 4 becoming pope… In any case… people are good at rationalizing. I have rationalized my sinful (especially un=charitable) behavior b4… Who hasn’t?? I talked to this guy some time ago who said that auto-eroticism is not a sin (the church says it is a mortal sin). This man doesn’t go to any church, hardly ever talks about God except to argue with me about his notion of who He is as opposed to my own… Maybe one has to pray or somehow get in contact with God to at least begin to know what pleases him and what does not (Do u think?).