Can You Do Evil To Get A Good Result?

Q - I watched a show called "The Confession", and it was about how a hit man comes to confession and unrepentantly confesses some of his sins.

One murder he confesses is about how he goes to a man's house and gives him a gun and says if he kills himself, he will let his family live. However, if he will not kill himself, the hit man will kill him and his family.

I know this situation is hypothetical, however I was curious about what Catholic Church would say is the correct path to choose for someone who knew suicide was gravely wrong. I was thinking that the man would not be held liable for killing himself because of freewill, is that correct? Thanks.

A - Thanks for the question. Lucky for us both, the Catholic Church gives us tools to answer questions like this. The principles that guide us in complex moral decisions are clear in this situation.

It boils down to this - we can never do something that is evil in order to get a good outcome. Another way of saying it is this - good ends do not justify evil means. In this case the good end would be saving the life of others, but the evil is taking your own life. We can play out the hypothetical situation below.

Here are the two options that the hit man gives the other man, and the moral reasoning why neither are options:

1. Kill yourself and I will not kill your family.
   --We cannot willfully kill ourselves in any situation. Our lives have an intrinsic value, but are not our own. They belong to God, who alone ought to decide the time of our death.
2. Don't kill yourself and I will kill you and your family.
   --Here we must understand that if the man chooses not to kill himself (a good decision), then the decision is not his to make if the hit man kills anyone because of that decision.

The moral reasoning of modern man is relativistic and utilitarian. Most modern people would say the Catholic Church is too strict in the principles and needs to try and do something in such situations, because lives are going to be lost. Yet, a Christian can never be the one who decide to kill an innocent person (even themselves), because we must answer for how we lived our lives, not the choices of others and life is not our own to take.

Modern moral thinking says that morality is relative to time, people, situations, etc. and that we must do what is best in that situation to bring us the most happiness via pleasure (with the least amount of pain). This kind of moral reasoning has no anchor, but blows on the wind of human whims. This is the thinking that has brought us abortion, genocide, cloning, etc.

A good intention, the situation surrounding the act, and the relationships that are part of the situation cannot make an evil act a good one. Our first priority is to God and his moral law. This law, at it's core, is to do good and avoid evil.

BTW - based on the way you describe the show, the priest would not be able to absolve the man from his sins, because he is unrepentant.

I hope this helps.

Federal Government Now Requires Free Contraception for All

As I predicted last week, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services announced new guidelines today that REQUIRE insurance companies to cover birth control and sterilization. This is scary. There is no conscience clause (they say there is but it doesn't work unless you primarily serve those that believe as you do!), which means there is no opting out. They are also giving money to Planned Parenthood through the backdoor.
More:

(CNN) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new guidelines in Washington Monday requiring health insurance plans beginning on or after August 1, 2012 to cover several women's preventive services, including birth control and voluntary sterilization.

According to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius the decision is a part of the Affordable Care Act's move to stop problems before they start.

"These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need," she said in a news release.

In July, the Institute of Medicine issued the results of a scientific review of women's health needs and provided recommendations on specific preventive measures to help them. Today HHS approved those recommendations.

Besides contraceptive use, the list includes free screenings for conditions such as gestational diabetes and the human papillomavirus (HPV), as well as breastfeeding support and counseling on sexually transmitted diseases. The full list is available on the Department of Health and Human Services website.
Continue Reading.

Don't let this one fly under the radar. Call your elected Representatives and tell them you don't want this! Cardinal Dinardo has already spoken out, but we need to as well. Here is a snip of what he said:

The IOM proposal underscores a major deficiency in PPACA – it lacks a conscience clause to prevent the Act itself from being used to suppress the rights and freedoms of those who may have moral or religious objections to specific procedures. This omission is especially glaring in light of the fact that the Act does accommodate the religious beliefs of those who object to participation in government-run benefits programs altogether, those who wish to address illness solely by prayer, and those on Indian reservations who are committed to traditional tribal practices of healing.

As you may know, the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, actively campaigned for the outcome proposed in IOM’s report. The report’s authors note with apparent regret that mandating coverage for surgical abortions is beyond their purview because PPACA forbids such a mandate. Nevertheless, they now recommend that HHS mandate coverage for drugs that can cause abortions.

Last fall the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops presented a detailed case against such a nationwide mandate on several grounds. For example, there are solid reasons to doubt IOM’s claims that expanded contraceptive programs reduce abortions, or that prescription contraceptives enhance the health of women (www.usccb.org/ogc/preventive.pdf). But in this letter I wish to focus on the threat posed by such a mandate to rights of conscience and religious freedom that Congress has protected in the past.
CONTINUE READING

Don't let this happen without working against this plan! If you doubt that it is a bad idea, then check out my previous post which included the following list:
Top 10 Reasons Free Contraception For All is a Terrible Idea.

New Book Changes One Small Part of Our World

I am truly honored to be a contributor to a great project that is already making a positive change in a small part of the world, Mombasa, Kenya. The project is the new book, The Church and the New Media and all the royalties go to starting computer labs for those who can't afford them.

Brandon Vogt, the man with the plan and the editor of the book, writes about it all here. A small snip:

All of these swirling thoughts eventually crashed into each other and I finally realized what God was trying to tell me:

He wanted me to write a book on new media, and he wanted it to be a good story. And giving away the royalties would do just that....In the following months, I worked with some friends at Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to set up a project for the royalties--a computer lab in the Diocese of Mombasa, Kenya. We decided that all of the book royalties would go toward buying computers for the lab and to pay for a computer literacy instructor, as well.

Even though The Church and New Media hasn't been officially released yet, CRS has already fronted a large sum of money to the Diocese of Mombasa so they could begin their work.

And today, CRS sent me some of the first pictures of the lab in action. The lab is in the Good Shepherd Catholic Training Center in Ukunda, Mombasa, and is outfitted with ten new computers and flat-screen monitors, and the training has already begun:

Read more about the project and see more pics here.

Brandon truly has a great vision for this project. I hope others will help it to do even more good by buying the book.

South Sudan - 8 Million People Live on Less Than One Dollar Per Day

I complain about small inconveniences in my life.
What a spoiled brat I can be. Father forgive me!
The people of South Sudan, the world's newest country (formed July 9), face crippling poverty and a history of violence. Here is a sampling:

• Almost the size of the state of Texas but only has 100 miles of paved roads
• Half of its 8 million people live on less than $1 a day
• Only 6.4 percent of the population has access to improved sanitation facilities (toilets/latrines).
• Less than 50 percent of all children receive 5 years of primary-school education.
• While 1.3 million children are enrolled, only 1.9 percent complete primary-school education.
• For every 1,000 primary-school students, there is only one teacher.
• 85 percent of adults do not know how to read or write.
• A 15 year-old girl has a higher chance of dying in childbirth than of completing school.

More info here on how to help.

Planned Parenthood Exposed in New Report

A new report by Americans United for Life (The Case For Investigating Planned Parenthood) shows that Planned Parenthood has repeatedly ignored the law and acted scandalously.

Although the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA or Planned Parenthood) advertises itself as an organization promoting health for women and families, it is the nation’s largest abortion provider and has been plagued by scandal and abuse.

Furthermore, PPFA and its affiliates receive hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayers’ funds every year – a significant portion of which comes from the federal government.

PPFA often tries to underplay the significance of abortion to its business model. However, as this report details, abortion has a tremendous impact on Planned Parenthood’s bottom-line. This is true to a greater degree each year, and Planned Parenthood has plans to expand its abortion business.
CONTINUE READING.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the whole thing.
I can guarantee that the mainstream media won't give this story the attention it deserves.

Priest in Mexico Fined For Speaking Against Same Sex Marriage

Coming to a country near you soon.

MEXICO CITY - The spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese in Mexico says an electoral court ruling that he illegally propagandized against a political party that promotes gay marriage is "totally false."

Father Hugo Valdemar says in a statement that he did not consider it propaganda when he told a newspaper in August that no Roman Catholic in good conscience would vote for the party. He says claims that he repeatedly proselytized against Mexico City's ruling Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, are not true.

Valdemar was responding Sunday to Friday's decision by Mexico's highest electoral court ordering electoral officials to have the Interior Ministry fine Valdemar and the Archdiocese.

Valdemar's lawyer Armando Martinez says he is already in an appeals process.

Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage in March 2010.
Continue Reading.

Additional Links:
*Same Sex Marriage: Why Not?
*Two Reasons Same-Sex Marriage Is Gaining Ground

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

THE GOOD - An Aggie Nun makes her final vows.
Sr. Rose Marie, class of 2007, is a Passionist nun in Kentucky. You can read about her first vows here. You can also see a video of Sr. Rose Marie here.
Tip o' the hat to The Anchoress for sending me the link.


THE BAD - Mother to Have Dead Son's Baby
A woman from Austin, will have a surrogate mother impregnated with her son's sperm, and keep her grandchild as her own. Medical ethics mean nothing anymore and moral relativism now rules the roost.


THE UGLY - Lottery for In-Vitro Fertilization - Win a Baby!
This is disgusting. Life isn't just a commodity to be traded, now it is a prize to be won. Don't forget that IVF is immoral, in all cases, but that doesn't seem to matter when there is money to be made.
Tip o' the hat to CMR for the links.

Pope says Food is a Right For Everyone

Two Reasons Same-Sex Marriage Is Gaining Ground

Catholics have not done a good (or even adequate) job of addressing the attacks on marriage. These attacks continue to grow stronger and without an understanding of how to defend marriage and the reasons behind the break-down of marriage, we will continue to see our culture slide into the anti-marriage mentality. Before I get into the reasons why same-sex marriage is gaining ground we need to explore some of the fundamental reasons why same-sex "marriages" are not good for those in them or society.

WHAT MARRIAGE IS.
Marriage is the basic cultural building block of society. One man, one woman, and their children unite as a family - every bit of evidence shows that families thrive in monogamous and stable homes with two biological parents of opposite sexes who remain married. This means that there is less poverty, crime, strife, etc. in homes where marriages do well. This is because the mother and father of children cannot be replaced. Two fathers or two mothers cannot provide what one mother and one father can. The role of the father can't be replaced by a woman and the role of the mother can't be replaced by a man. Studies back up this claim. Thus, same-sex couples can never provide all that children need to thrive. When families suffer the rest of our culture suffers.

Furthermore, same-sex relationships are not the same as male-female ones. While a same-sex couple might have strong affectionate feelings for one another, nature shows us they cannot bond as a married couple can. They cannot procreate and their bodies are not made to compliment one another. Think of this - a male or female by themselves is incapable of creating human life. They need the other. Thus, our bodies are incomplete without the opposite sex.

NOT ABOUT LOVE.
True love is to choose what is best for the other regardless of the cost to myself. This means same-sex relationships can never have loving sexual relationships. This is because the true act of sex is about giving yourself away, but in same-sex relationships you can't do this because the body isn't made to be given to someone of the same sex. A married couple can say, with their bodies, I want to create life and bond with you. I want to be one with you. This is impossible with same-sex couples, because while the body might still be saying this, the act itself is ordered toward selfish pleasure - not creating life or bonding the couple as one flesh.

NOT ABOUT EQUALITY.
Many people say that same-sex couples "deserve" the "right" to marry and that those that oppose them are merely bigots who want stamp out the rights of others. This isn't the case. The Catholic Church consistently teaches the respect of others, regardless of sexual orientation. It also teaches us to love and serve all. But, we must also work for truth and the common good. This means while we fight against same-sex marriage, we do not fight against individuals.

That being said, marriage laws are by definition discriminatory. They discriminate FOR families (not against non-married persons) in order to build up what is good for society. Where do children thrive? In the traditional family. If we tear that down, then society will suffer. Thus, the government needs to help support this building up of what is good for society.

Thus, marriage is about more than two people who have good feelings for one another. It is about the good of society - which is why the government got involved in it in the first place.

Some may argue that a same-sex couple should be able to do things such as share property rights, visit in the hospital, etc. But, all of these legal hurdles can already be overcome with current laws and a few documents.

So, what they are really looking for is social acceptance of their behavior. This is why the Catholic Church is enemy #1 for advocates of same-sex marriage. They cast us as homophobic, archaic, and mean-spirited. Which is not the truth.

Catholics need to fight such lies. But, to do so we need to know where it all comes from.
----
My thesis is that there are two main cultural culprits that have gotten us to where we are today:

1. Contraception
2. Pornography

REASON #1 - CONTRACEPTION - THE ROOT OF THE ISSUE:

Contraception has caused a number of cultural issues, not the least of is the fundamental re-orienting of the purpose of sex for the majority of people. What is the purpose of sex to modern man? Pleasure. This contraceptive mentality has changed us as a people. Sex is for pleasure however we can get it and is what we wish it to be. Sex is not for making babies or for bringing two spouses together. It is purely a selfish act of fulfilling a 'need', not a giving of self to another.

Contraception makes us turn inward, rather than outward - it perpetuates this selfishness on our part. It also sees marriage as an optional social construct (an attitude which harms women and children most of all)

This mentality is tearing apart our culture. I have seen it time and time again. It happens when sex between two people becomes about me rather than you. Thus the fruits of contraception include:

• Divorce rate doubled between 1965-1975 from 25% to 50%
• One demographer has shown that access to the pill paralleled the increase to the divorce rate
• 41% of births are to unwed mothers in 2008 (72% of black babies)
• 41% of pregnancies end in abortion in New York City
• 50% of marriages end in divorce.

Now pick one of these that is good for our culture.

When sex isn't about babies or bonding, then it becomes selfish. Once this happens, the family breaks down. Once the family breaks down, society breaks down.

REASON #2 - PORNOGRAPHY - THE DEATH OF MARRIAGE:

If contraception weakened marriage, pornography is killing it. More and more marriages are being ravaged by pornography and the trend will not slow down anytime soon. With 80% of young men and 33% of young women regularly using porn, more people will be unable to really love another person. Why? Take a look at this:

• Shown to devalue the other person and sex within marriage.
• Porn creates fantasies that real persons can't live up to.
• Porn sets up sexual habits or addictions that create "boredom" with only one other person.
• Porn creates distrust within marriage and is cheating on your spouse.
• Sexual satisfaction is decreased significantly.
• Porn strips sex of love and makes it about using others and objectifying them.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. It gets much worse when you really crack open the stats.

Suffice it to say, porn kills marriages. Thus, it is destroying our culture. But, at the root of porn is the contraceptive mentality that sex is about ME.

HOW CONTRACEPTION AND PORN LEAD TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE:

How does it all fit together? Well, it is quite simple.

1. Contraception strips sex of it's intended purpose - babies and bonding.
2. Pornography re-defines sex into pleasure alone.
3. Thus, once someone has bought into contraception and pornography, they won't be able to argue that same-sex relationships are wrong, because there is nothing left to argue about. Who are they to tell someone what they are doing is wrong? Who are they to say someone shouldn't have pleasure when having sex?

We have given away too much. The stakes are too high. So, what do we do?

THE GOOD NEWS

The good news is that there is THE Good News - the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christ CAN restores hearts.
Christ CAN forgive sin.
Christ CAN change our culture.

But, we have to do our part. This is the action plan.

• We have to pray for our culture and for all people.
• We can't see anyone as the "enemy".
• We have to educate ourselves.
• We have to speak up and fight back.
• We have to vote our morals and faith.
• We have to evangelize others so God can change their hearts.

This battle for our culture is not lost yet.

Further reading:
**What is Wrong With Porn?
**Contraception - What the Church Teaches.
**"Same Sex Marriage: Why Not?"
**The Debate about "Same-Sex Marriage"
**Special Report on Gay Marriage

The United Nations - In Need of Deep Reform

Some of the recent activity out of the United Nations included:

• UN Report Calls for Comprehensive Sex Ed for Ten Year Olds as a way to Fight AIDS
• The UN has Commissioned A Study to Find Laws and Practices that Discriminate Against Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
• 5 UN Agencies Join to Promote Universal Abortion Rights.

How any of these achieves the goals of the UN as set out in the UN Charter is beyond me.
The Preamble reads:

PREAMBLE

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

• to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
• to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
• to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
• to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

AND FOR THESE ENDS

• to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
• to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
• to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
• to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS
Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.

Pray for our leaders, our government, and the United Nations.

Teaching Kindergartners a "Gender Diversity" Curriculum

This elementary school curriculum in Oakland could become law in California.



A few things the group, Gender Spectrum advocates for schools to do (links provided to their site):

• Encourages schools to keep gender identity secret from parents if parents don't agree with their choices.
• Force schools to allow boys to dress in girls clothes and vice-versa.
• Encourages families to "take stock" in their religious beliefs if they are in conflict with these kinds of views.

More available here.

Here is what I have posted about these ideas previously:

The problem with all of these ideas is that they make a false separation between the body and the "true self". If you aren't your body, then what are you? If the real you isn't your body, what happens to the real you when it doesn't have a body to hold it any longer? What is the body, if it isn't a part of you?

Continue reading.

Tell me your thoughts.

Around The Catholic Web

Items which might interest you.

• Scripture scholar, Michael Barber, gives a detailed explanation to why there were "tongues of fire" present at Pentecost. Good stuff!
• Our Sunday Visitor sifts through the data on the decline of Catholics who marry. Some very interesting numbers, but also quite sobering.
• In 2004 The City of San Francisco starting allowing gay marriage. In 2010, they banned Happy Meals. In 2010 the city council condemned the Catholic Church. With this kind of track record, it should come as no surprise that they now are allowing a vote to ban circumcision, despite protests that such a law would infringe upon the free exercise of religion.
• Some good news - the new constitution of Hungary protects life from conception.
• More good news - The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist are moving forward with their plans to build a priory in Austin. They have 60 acres in North Austin!
• Finally, if you are an owner of a Kindle and want some recommendations for free and or cheap Catholic books, that are also good reads, then check out this list by my buddy, Brandon Vogt.