What’s Wrong About Right and Wrong?

In the time we live, there is great debate about what are seen as culture issues. These are perhaps the sharpest divides in our social and political discourse. While we can often find ways to compromise on things such taxes and spending; culture issues are much more divisive. What the world declares as culture issues are often in fact moral issues or questions. Perhaps this bit of wordsmithing of “culture Issue” rather than “moral issue” makes it more comfortable for people to disagree. If these hot-button issues are just culture issues, we are free to have different opinions and disagree. If something is seen as a moral issue, it creates a much more uncomfortable relationship between those on opposing sides. Suddenly someone is seen as right, and someone is seen as wrong. And nobody wants to be seen as wrong, especially on an important issue.

What the Church Says

The Catechism of The Catholic Church paragraph 1749 states on The Morality of Human Acts that “Freedom makes man a moral subject. When he acts deliberately, man is, so to speak, the father of his acts. Human acts, that is, acts that are freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of conscience, can be morally evaluated. They are either good or evil.”

Too often the secular world sees Christians as following some set of arbitrary moral code or rules. They see this moral code as rules anyone should be able to follow or reject. The individual has the right to choose what they believe is right and what is wrong. There is popular culture telling us we are not only free but encouraged to pursue our own personal happiness at all costs. If it feels good or makes us happy, we have the right and obligation to pursue it. It sounds quite a bit like Judges 17:6, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Even among Christians we find disagreement on the most divisive moral issues. Sometimes this is because these are now seen as culture issues which believers can disagree about. Or because they are seen as culture issues and not moral issues; an overwhelming sense of compassion can drive one’s view. However, the Church tells us in the catechism paragraph 1849  that “sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods.” If there is a true right and wrong; than true compassion is not enabling immoral behavior. Certainly, Christian charity calls us to accompany, pray for, and love those who choose an immoral action; but the moral truth remains. Many today are afraid to acknowledge there is an absolute truth or moral code. This idea misunderstands the concept of Christian morality. Things are not wrong because God arbitrarily said they are wrong. God says they are wrong because they are bad for us. They do not lead to human flourishing.

That which Leads to Human Flourishing

Contrary to popular misconceptions, the Catholic Church does not impose rules. The Church proposes beliefs, dogmas, and a rule of life that leads to human flourishing. Unlike others, the Catholic Church stands firm in its moral teaching even when the world in which we live pushes back with all its might. The Church’s Moral certitude may not be popular, but the truth cannot change. A parent does not tell the child not to touch the hot stove on a whim. The parent knows the consequences of touching the hot stove. In the same way, God knows the consequences of our sin. He knows the immediate and the unfolding long-term result of each of our sinful choices. That which leads to human flourishing does not change with the times. Touching an old hot wood burning stove will burn just as much as a modern sleek stainless steel electric stove. Sin is not deemed wrong for arbitrary reasons. Sin is bad because it is destructive. It is bad for us.  Whether its Human sexuality, the sanctity of life, or the bonds of marriage and family; no number of German synods can change what is healthy, leads to human flourishing, and brings us in union with God. The Catholic Catechism paragraph 1696 states the way of Christ "leads to life"; a contrary way "leads to destruction."

Clarity and Charity

Certainly, we are called to show Christian charity to the immigrant, sick, and the poor. However, charity without moral guardrails can become enablement. Giving the addict on the street cash instead of food or other support might actually be destructive. Similarly, Bishop Baron has pointed out that the modern concept of human rights is the result of Christianity. But when the push for human rights is divorced from the Christian principles, it can be corrupted and harmful.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states: “without freedom, we cannot speak meaningfully about morality or moral responsibility. Human freedom is more than a capacity to choose between this and that. It is the God-given power to become who he created us to be and so to share eternal union with him... Christian morality and God's law are not arbitrary, but specifically given to us for our happiness. God gave us intelligence and the capacity to act freely. Ultimately, human freedom lies in our free decision to say "yes" to God. In contrast, many people today understand human freedom merely as the ability to make a choice, with no objective norm or good as the goal.”

Natural Law

The Catholic Catechism paragraph 1776 states “Man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . .  His conscience is man’s most secret core, and his sanctuary.” Paragraph 1955 adds, “The "divine and natural" law shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end.” Natural Law theory predates Christianity because even the pagans could sense this law written on their hearts. Natural law was documented in ancient Greek philosophy by Aristotle, and ancient Roman philosopher Cicero, long before Socrates. In Romans 2:15 Saint Paul says of the pagans that “the demands of the law are written in their hearts.” They could see a sense of order to the universe and understood some things lead to positive outcomes while others bring negative consequences.

Catholic Moral theory embraces Natural Law in this sense. As natural law supports the idea that objective truth and morality exist. Catechism 1756 instructs “There are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object.” Paragraph 1954 adds, “the natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie.”

Objective versus Subjective

The world we currently live in opposes the idea of objective truth and moral certainty. Today’s mass media and culture try to promote subjective morality and truth. Even the highly educated and powerful can deny an objective truth. In 1992, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in defending the right to abortion, "at the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." While certainly every human should be free to believe what they want in matters of opinion and theory, Christianity teaches that there are objective truths. Christians are called to believe in the one truth. Jesus Christ is the Way the Truth and the Life. His truth does not reside on the political right or left. However, those on one side or the other are more inclined to be open to His Truth when it aligns with their understanding and resistant when it does not. Catholics social teaching aligns with His Truth and we should seek it whether it fits nicely within our personal mindset or not.