The Price of Consistency

Why is it that some people can't let the Catholic Church be? The Vatican keeps being viciously criticised for its standpoint on themes such as Abortion, Use of Condoms, Stem-cell Research etc. and it seems to me that most of these critics have not stopped to think that all the Vatican is doing is to pursue consistency between what it preaches and what it condones.It is my view that the Catholic Church is no-longer the political influence it once was during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and doesn’t wish to be. Unlike what critics seem to suggest between the lines of their blind condemnation of the Church’s morality, the Catholic Church has distanced itself from politics considerably and seeks to act more in the area of its competence, which is to say matters of Faith, Charity and Ethics. It is true that the Vatican State pronounces itself before the world about issues of political relevance, but it is clear to me that this is done where political events overlap with humanitarian issues, questions of ethics and matters of faith. I don’t think that the Vatican seeks to overthrow the sovereignty of any country, as I see no sign at all to that effect.

Yet, how can the Vatican remain silent about what it perceives to be destructive to Christians and, in fact, destructive all Mankind? This is because the Church nowadays remains the guardian of the Universal Truth as Catholics see it. As such, it is the Church’s obligation to safeguard and preach this Universal Truth to those who want to listen to it, and as a consequence, the Church must be consistent with what it preaches. Remember that Catholics and the Catholic Church believe that we received this Universal Truth from God and from Christ whilst he walked among us here on Earth. This means that the Vatican cannot resort to a democratic process to change Truth; after all it is a Universal Truth and we cannot hope to supplant God’s wisdom.

Hence, I think anyone with a sparkle of logic in them will see that the Catholic Church cannot advocate one behaviour and then condone another that presents stark contrast to the first. In order to preserve its consistency with the Universal Truth it defends, the Catholic Church must be unswerving where new trends and new technologies endanger the object of its precepts. For example, if the Church preaches that all life is precious, that murder is wrong and that human life begins at conception, how could it accept abortion? If the Church advocates monogamy and no pre-marital sex, how could it condone the use of condoms? Moreover, why would a monogamous married couple that is not supposed to prevent child birth need condoms at all? The Church must advocate and support only that which is consistent with what it expects of its followers, regardless of what the world thinks of it and what the current scientific trends are.

Finally, let’s face it: Nowadays being Catholic is a personal choice. It is not a compulsory act, nor is it socially mandatory. In the eyes of the Christian Faith, we are each and all free to chose, but the Church’s responsibility is to inform us of the Truth and the consequence of our choices. In this sense, one could think of the Church as a private club where you are not obliged to enrol, but if you so choose, you must follow the rules of the club. You either choose to be Catholic or you choose not to be, so why criticise the Church when it is only preaching to those who chose to be Catholics?

When governments opt to fight a nation’s perceived enemy by pre-emptively striking at their homes overseas, more often than not the initiative results in a new and bitterer generation of enemies. When citizens forgo common sense and let themselves be fooled by foolhardy politicians even in the face of evidence, they surrender themselves to convenience and corruption and condemn their offspring to perpetual strife.

A Little Bit of Hope

The World never needed Hope like it does today. That is not to say that the World, as the term translates to our Global Society, hasn’t always needed and continues to need hope. Yet, as a Society we once had several sources from which to draw this hope, in the form of Religion, Values, Family, even Government, but these things are less in vogue nowadays (in fact one can be severely criticised by his intellectual peers for being a religious person or for wishing to build a family, so many simply keep quiet about it).

Claiming independence from all these sources of Hope of the past through Science and Humanist Wisdom (both aspects I value when not misused to drive other important things away), we have replaced the old sources of Hope with Consumerism and the desire for Fame, Wealth and Power at any cost and without regard for the consequences. This was supposed to keep us placated in the present that we would not need to hope for the future. As usual in History, this served the purposes of a relative few to the detriment of all (including them), until now we find ourselves victimised by our own global-social-greed to an extent where we desperately need Hope and have almost nowhere from which to draw it.

A week ago, I have refilled my personal bucked of Hope a little bit more by witnessing the conclusion of the 6th Jogo da Cidadania (roughly translates to Citizenship Game). In short, this event selects, tests and congregates college undergraduates of different disciplines into teams and coaches them with an impressive infrastructure of dedicated employees and volunteers to enable these idealists to come up with original projects in CSR that are judged and implemented by leading frontline national and multi-national enterprises. It is a demanding process that exacts these youths to their limit, and more than a few drop-out as they realise the practicalities of doing good may not be easy at all if you want it to be sustainable over a long period.

Yet, those that hang on and deliver often produce projects of such quality as to impress seasoned professionals. Having seen the winners and the runners-up delivering hope in those pages and presentations; and then being rewarded for it was once more an experience of hope that our Society may have begun its healing process.

If you don’t speak your mind against a wrong, you are consenting to it by your silence.

Is Self Extinction our Answer?

Something impresses me today and that is our inability to say NO to our children. It used to be that when a child came with any absurd proposal to his parents, the parents themselves would filter that proposal by simply saying NO to it. Yet, nowadays when we are too consumed with our daily chores and ambitions to raise our children properly, we find ourselves feeling guilty of the fact and inundating them with material gifts and facilities to compensate for our absence. Naturally, as a result of our complacency, our children grow to become selfish and tyrannical; sometimes becoming frustrated and delivering themselves into the use of drugs, the practice of violence and utter hopelessness that affects our world. Their destructive approach to frustration is, first and foremost, the product of all the NO's we have not said to them that they would not learn that the world goes beyond their needs and wants.

Ironically, instead of arguing this point as it should, post-modern couples argue instead that the cruel world that our parents created through us, their offspring, is far too hazardous for new children. I have heard countless times that "it is an irresponsibility to put a child in this world" or that "it is a selfish act to have children". Such defeatism is the product of nothing but fear and is itself the selfishness it pretends to avoid.I for one wish to share with my children the wonder that is to be alive. The beauty that the world insists to offer us despite our many faults to it. The summer sunsets and the winter frost, the sound of rainfall and of the waves, the flowers and the creatures that I have had a joy to know. How can I deny posterity to the sensation of love and love's first kiss, the experience of an adventure, the thrill that is learning nature's secrets and man's minds. I firmly believe that these things far outweigh the murders on TV, street violence, the wars and the poverty of so many; each and all ugly reflections of the evil that is human greed.

No. Denial to generate new life will not solve our responsibility to our children, which goes beyond making them content and goes well into making them truly capable of happiness. As with all things, we must take responsibility for our actions and we must have faith in that there is more than our own competence to thank for the successes necessary to bring new hope to our battered reality. Hope lies not in our extinction, but in our good conduct in upbringing the next generation that they become reflections of our love for them.

Moral inconsistency is the most frequent flaw in contemporary institutions. Moral unaccountability is the most dangerous one. Greed is the most harmful, for it corrupts everyone and constitutes the source of the other two.

Another Day

by Noel-Morgan:

The alarm-clock roars ominously
With tyrannical command to threat
The slumbering arm slowly unfolds
To quiet herald presently

The dawn awakes inexorably
‘Tis not the day his cause to fret
Nor matin’s frost to make him cold
But futile toil of untold aim

For money work to money spend
He works all day always the same
Though he will never understand

There is no fun nor is there play
For he who works towards no end
A slave; a curse to all of Man

Amid all the inconsistencies that happen in politics, the greatest constant is corruption.

The Price of Silence

I've been reading a book by the illustrious sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, Globalization: The Human Consequences - ISBN 0-7456-2012-4. Already in the first chapter something caught my attention, and I'll transcribe it here so that you may share in my bewilderment:

"The price of silence is paid in the hard currency of human suffering."

Is that not what we all witness in our daily lives? Whether we see it around us and amongst us, or whether we merely watch it on TV, what is evident to all of us is that there is much human suffering all about us. What we each know in our hearts is that suffering begets suffering and that we are each and all responsible for interrupting this cycle of misery. That we may or may not be the direct cause of someone’s agony is far less relevant than the fact that we may act to resolve it and to put an end to that suffering.
Nevertheless, let us all not fool ourselves in that most of human suffering is caused by humans; greed being the chief motivation. Some among us are actually architects of the main torments that torture humanity, but all of us are responsible to some extent.
Inaction, silence, apathy are all symptoms we all share in our Society. We each shield ourselves within the comforts and distractions of our lives; making ourselves content to acknowledge that there is suffering and that there is nothing we may do to end it. Yet, there is much that each individual can do. Among the simplest attitudes one finds that by choosing well those who would lead us, by denying disreputable practices their unjust reward and by fomenting just practices in our working environment and in our families, we would be already contributing to an extent toward the purging of human suffering. Should we endeavour to do more? Absolutely! However, in pursuing to reward justice and fairness, which is to say among many things that one should earn that for which he has worked and that alone, we would have a start.
Defeatism: Therein lies the sin of our ways.

The Price of Attitude

I have of late come to realise that standing up for one's ideals is quickly coming out of fashion. I don't really know if it ever was in fashion, but I am certain it is not in vogue nowadays. Coming to this conclusion was not difficult per se, but having found it, I have had to endure some hard truths. The first of these truths is really very painful. I have observed that speaking up for your ideals (whatever they might be and in whatever context, I’m not discussing any particular standpoint) makes those around you uncomfortable. I'm serious. Whether or not they agree with you is less important than the fact that you are bringing something to their attention that they would prefer to ignore. Many-a-person will simply distance himself/herself from you rather than face a difficult subject. The second truth I discovered is that once you stand on your own, people tend to fear you. At first, it felt strange to me to observe the signs of fear on people who knew me as a very controlled person for a long while; yet, when they made the decision to ‘belong no matter the cost’ they compromised much. These people often choose to avoid you because you can do something they are too afraid to perform. The third truth is that people prefer to justify their poor choices at your expense. If you stand on your ideals and refuse to validate their way of life, you will become a pariah. Finally, a person, who assumes an attitude of courage in defiance of what they judge to be wrong, or dishonourable or inappropriate stands in stark contrast to the vast majority who surrender their beliefs and values to peer pressure, media control and popularity. One such person becomes a constant reminder that an individual of whatever background can stand for what he/she believes in, if that individual is unwilling to let go of an ideal. This makes many people uncomfortable in your presence, and they stick their heads in the ground, rather than face you. Hence, I have come to understand that the price of attitude is learning the truth about those whom you deem friends. The hardship of this lies on the fact that most of those you once regarded as your friends become uneasy with you and forsake your friendship on behalf of the preservation of their own ego. Yet, there is one consolation in all this, which is the fact that those who remain your proclaimed and public friends truly are. I’m not saying that those who remain must agree with you, quite the opposite really, but they are the ones who respect a person of opinion and attitude. In all honesty, those acquaintances you lose were not worth your time anyway, and those you find out to be people of honour and discerning, who can see beyond an opinion and into your heart, these are truly worth having as friends. Therefore, whoever you are and wherever you are, my advice to you is dare to pay the price. Not paying this price drives you into paying an even steeper price; that is to say that you will compromise your values, your soul and ultimately your own identity.

What's More Valluable?

Our Western Society has been tending towards the valorisation of material wealth for a few hundred years now, but it was not always thus. There was even a time when material wealth was something, upon which others frowned. Nowadays, our Society tells us wealth is the means to happiness. You and I were very likely born in this context of valorisation of wealth and we take it for truth, when in fact it doesn't necessarily have to be so.I know more than one person who values wealth far below other things. Some regard honour and character as their most prized possessions, and would gladly sacrifice their financial health on behalf of these two characteristics. Other people have a strong need to be loved and/or desired, and they value those things above money. They'll often give away their wealth to achieve the attention they require. Then, there are those altruistic few who covet simply to aid their neighbour. They'll live simple lives and give up the constant 24/7 working hours many of us choose to maintain in exchange for the opportunity to be where they are needed, and thus feel happy. Finally, there's even one chap I know, a physicist, who values his free time to play board games and only works six hours four times a week.These people more often than not won't make as much money as the average ambitious workaholic executive, nonetheless they are no less happy. Are they wrong to give up material wealth? Our Society would think so, but how can we dismiss the fact that these people achieve a kind of happiness many of our rich citizens never do? We cannot.There has to be a greater sense to one's life than to 'make money to spend money'; specially when one gives up so much to make all this money the media tells us we need to spend in order to be happy. To me, it doesn't add up. Most of us wakes up, goes to work, shops on the way home or during lunch, watches the tele, goes to sleep and wakes up the next day to make more money so we can spend it to achieve happiness through a vacation trip somewhere or a new car or another type of 'toy' of some kind. Can't we find a shortcut to happiness? Can't we simply live it out? Of course we can! So why is the accumulation of wealth beyond the basic needs of a man so essential to our Societies? I'm quite positive it is not so the average bloke can achieve his happiness.Don't take me wrong, I'm not against the accumulation of wealth as a means to do something, nor am I against travelling during vacations (I even like it). But is it the only way to happiness? Not by a long shot! I've learned a lot by looking at how some of the people I mentioned above live their lives. They work alright, but just enough to make a living. The extra money some of us prize so much and see as a way to fulfilment, they don't make. Funnily enough, it seems not to weigh so much against their happiness, when they are living it out on a daily basis.

Honour is on Sale

People in the West have lost their way. We have become corrupted in values we once cherished above our very lives, and we have substituted them for the emptiness of consumerism. It was once thought that honour, family and duty were highly desirable qualities. We prized charity and self sacrifice and we valued truthfulness and commitment to justice. These were good and treasured values which contributed to make people better. One became a better person because we would not be content with victory without honour. The world became a better place, because we would not suffer our brethren to be abused or treated disdainfully. The ends did not justify the means in the old days.Yet, in the present, it is victory that counts; victory at any cost and at the price of even honour, family and duty. Victory, for us, is rewarded with fame and money and can erase the vilest evils done to attain it. You are justified in whatever you do if you succeed; that is our motto nowadays. It is almost inconceivable that we would change the moral evolution of ages for the ephemeral material gain that we now covet as a society, but it becomes clear when we understand that our Western Society has surrendered its ancient values to hedonism and financial gain. We have emptied ourselves of what made us whole, and now desperately seek to fill the void. Unlike many of our Eastern brothers, we, the Peoples of the West whose proud past made us what we are today, have forgotten that it was not the end that made us so, but the way we threaded to achieve that end that resulted in our success.What is progress without justice? Perhaps one day we will realise our folly, and remember with a heartache that we were once a better people because we sought to become better as a people. Perhaps we will one day rescue ourselves from the confusion that our hedonism has brought to us. And in that day, we shall remember that it profits one nothing to gain the whole world if, in the process, one looses oneself.

If you’re unsure whether something is wrong or not, but you still pursue it without first clarifying the issue, you ARE doing something wrong.