Okay sift through my posts as follows. These are all my posts. WHERE did I attack Bernadin? Is it the fact that you consider all issues equal, that we can decide which is of the most mediacy without using the teachings of the Magisterium. I will not turn this into a politcal debate, but that is where your basis for argument lies. A house built on straw.
I have posted on this subject before, but can’t remember which thread. I will try to remember most of what I wrote the first time around. First of all, every human is held to a “consistent ethic of life” every day. In a perfect world, we would have no war, no poverty, no ecological issues. But Adam and Eve sinned and we are their descendents who have not yet earned sainthood, although hopefully, we are trying. Is this attacking him Elizabeth??? I would say you are tilting at windmills except for the fact the windmills you are attacking do not exist.
Cardinal Bernadin’s Consistent Ethic of Life has caused much confusion, not in what he has said, but in the way it has been interpreted. Most non catechized Catholics think that in saying what he did, Bernadin is saying we all have the freedom to make choices, little ones, big ones without listening to, or understanding, what the Magisterium of the Church teaches. They believe, for convenience and comfort’s sake, that ALL life issues are equal in weight and morality. This is not so.
They do this through either ignorance, or obstinance. Usually it is a bit of both when individuals give priority to their own conscience, disregarding what has been taught by the Church. The idea of Superiority of Conscience has been taken to a level so high by these folks, they have fallen right off a cliff.
The moist concrete example I can give you is what happened with the majority of voting Catholics in the last POTUS election. The probabilty of support and funding by the Dem party of abortion, euthanasia, cloning, homosexual unions and embryonic stem cell research, all Intrinsic Evils and said to be “non-negotiable” by the Magisterium and those in solid union with the Papacy, should have been apparent to all Catholics. These five non negotiables were part of the Dem platform in 2008
Apparently 56% of Catholics were instead worried about the economy, which was a worry, but not immediately life threatening to most. So they chose the pro death party because they chose to follow their own subjective consciences which made them comfortable. They chose death rather than life. They were led by the father of lies. Objective TRUTH is the greatest enemy the Devil has. (God is TRUTH) Those Catholics/Christians who VOTED THEIR CONSCIENCE instead of being true to the Absolute Truths taught for centuries by the Catholic Chruch strayed very far from the path Christ gave us.
We must be able to discern, among all the life issues, which has the most immediacy, which cannot be undone once done. The five Intrinsic Evils listed by the Magisterium were ignored through arrogance, pride, ignorance and apathy. That is why we have the administration we now have in DC.
Life itself is the consistent foundation. Without this, there is no house. No. the priests are not mislead in believing in a consistent ethic of life, but some do not give priorities to those issues which are most evil, which, as I said, once done cannot be undone.
There is what is called a Hierarchy of evil and Good when it comes to discerning which issues must have the higher priority. Which issues form the foundation of all others??? These are the most important.
And another thing, although the Church has given opposition to the Death Penalty, the Death Penalty CANNOT be considered to be on an equal level of morality with abortion. The Death Penalty is heinous, but compared to the number of aborted bablies, the number of those receiving the Death Penalty is a drop in the bucket, even if one later finds that the person punished was not guilty. In Biblical times, the scientific knowledge or understanding of human behavior was pretty low. Hopefully, we as a civilization have advanced further than “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”
hierarchy of political decisions" It’s the Hierarchy of MORAL decisions not political. Some posters like to confuse the two.
It must begin with the unborn Elizabeth502, otherwise there is no “other” life to protect.
Elizabeth 502
I’m not confusing anything. The fact is, sincere Catholics, sincerely and genuinely pro-life, don’t set up arbitrary moral hierarchies. That’s what Bernardin’s message was, a message that resonates with the Jesus’ words in fact, as interpreted by the Magisterium. The genuine pro-life Catholic, and the genuine pro-life Christian – the hearers of Jesus’ message – would not look for excuses and loopholes to support pro-death decisions and actions in any form, based on any “hierarchy.” They would support all life, not just selected life, and oppose all that Jesus himself defined as death (which is also what the Church defines as a culture of death).
I said.
These Hierarchies are not subjectively arbitrary, but have been set up as moral guidelines for all people by God Himself. Start with the ten commandments and follow them on down to the tinest issue. Which is more sinful, killing a human or destroying a reputation, intentionally, or unintentionally? Bernadin’s Consistent Ethic of Life theology, unless one has a correct formation of conscience, is that all life issues are equal and they are not. This hierarchy,whether of good or evil also depends on the immediacy of the issue and whether it is a matter of Intrinsic Evil, that which once done cannot be undone, or a matter of Prudential Judgement. Check it out.
