Sir Knight,
I think that when we apply God’s commands and the precepts of the catechism to our modern understanding of ‘private property’ we run into the sorts of issues we have on this thread.
Have you read Aquinas on property? I posted a bit of it above. Basically, in the Christian understanding of the world, we must recognize that our right to possess private property originates in God, and is designed to maintain our material sustenance. The proper end of ownership of property is directed towards the common good–the support and sanctification of mankind.
So what I’m getting at here is that people don’t have a God-given right to ‘own’ property which works against the material support and **sanctification **of mankind.
Do I think that the ‘vigilante justice’ of the kind I participated in by ripping down a few signs in my dorm should be exercised against every immoral display in the world? No. But in the situations which I was presented with, I believe that removing something which could lead people far away from the Church and into sin is justified–because their sanctification matters more than leaving something hanging on the wall out of legalistic concerns for justice.
There’s a difference. My church’s event wouldn’t lead someone to sin; by contributing to charities, it is contributing to the common good. The event I mentioned above which was being advertised would almost certainly lead someone to sin, or at least to a severely damaged understanding of the meaning of human sexuality.
Where do we have a God-given right to advertise? How is that bringing about the sanctification of souls?
My point is that it doesn’t matter if the person paid for it; they paid for something immoral. They only have the right to use money to acquire goods inasmuch as it makes them holy, allows them to materially exist, and contributes to the common good. It is not in God’s plan for us to use the goods we have been given for immoral purposes.
The point is that it’s a corrupt/unjust decision. The play shouldn’t be here. The administration erred in allowing it. The Church does not teach that we have to sit back and always obey authority, even when their decisions are unjust and work against the common good.
This is almost a Kantian way of approaching things. We are to live the truth in love, not merely follow a list of maxims. I’m all about objective truth, here–that’s why I care so much about vigorously defending the dignity of the human person and Catholic teaching on sexuality. ONE of the ways I do this is by removing offensive posters in public spaces.
