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How to Print. Reference Books. MORAL ISSUES OF LIFE AND DEATH. Opposing Philosophies of Life. “Quality of Life” Ethic. Is that life desirable? Does living entail too much pain or discomfort?. “Sanctify of Life” Ethic. Life is sacred in its origin: its nature and its end. CCC 2258.
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“Quality of Life” Ethic • Is that life desirable? • Does living entail too much pain or discomfort?
“Sanctify of Life” Ethic Life is sacred in its origin: • its nature and • its end
CCC 2258 2258 "Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy aninnocent human being."
“Illegal Killing” (Hebrew word is ‘rasah’ as opposed to ‘harah’)
Matthew 5:21 21 “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ • Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Mt 5:21). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
CCC 2302 2302 By recalling the commandment, "You shall not kill," our Lord asked for peace of heart and denounced murderous anger and hatred as immoral. • Anger is a desire for revenge. "To desire vengeance in order to do evil to someone who should be punished is illicit," ... If anger reaches the point of a deliberate desire to kill or seriously wound a neighbor, it is gravely against charity; it is a mortal sin. The Lord says, "Everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment."
CCC 2303 2303 Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm.
Matthew 5:22 22 But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. • Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Mt 5:22). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Exception to the Prohibition Against Killing Legitimate Defense
CCC 2265 2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.
Exception to the Prohibition Against Killing • Self Defense • Defense of Others • Defense of society by legitimate authority
CCC 2267 (Church’s Teaching on Capital Punishment) • 2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. • If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person. • Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent."
CCC 2308 (Self-Defense by the State/Nation) • 2308 All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. • However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed."
CCC 2309 (Elements of “Just War” doctrine) • 2309 The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time: • the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; • all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; • there must be serious prospects of success; • the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition. • These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the "just war" doctrine. • The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.
Not all is fair in love and war.(rules of war must be followed)
CCC 2312 2312 … "The mere fact that war has regrettably broken out does not mean that everything becomes licit between the warring parties
CCC 2313 • 2313 Non-combatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely. • Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to excuse those who carry them out. Thus the extermination of a people, nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin. One is morally bound to resist orders that command genocide.
CCC 2314 2314 "Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation." A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons - especially atomic, biological, or chemical weapons - to commit such crimes.
Sins Against Human Life(Summary) • Abortion • Killing the embryo (Use of stem cell) • Euthanasia (mercy-killing) • Suicide
CCC 2270 2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life. • Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. • My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
CCC 2271 2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law: • You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish. • God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and nfanticide are abominable crimes.
CCC 2272 2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,“ "by the very commission of the offense," and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law…
Why is abortion unlawful? • Because the law must protect life • Because all humans have the right to life • Because human life begins at conception
CCC 2273 2273 … "The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death…"
Kinds of “Pro-Choicers” • Those in “legal error” that life should not be protected by law • Those in “moral error” that not all humans have the right to life • Those in “factual” or “scientific error” that life does not begin atconception
CCC 2274 (Embryo) 2274 Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being
CCC 2275 (Embryo) 2275 "One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing, the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival." • "It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material." • "Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity" which are unique and unrepeatable.
CCC 2277 (Euthanasia) 2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable. • Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.
CCC 2278 (Euthanasia) 2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted.
CCC 2279(Euthanasia) 2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.
CCC 2281 (Suicide) 2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.
CCC 2283 (Suicide) 2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.
