Fundamental Catholic Understanding of Morality - Religion Essay Example

The Catholic understanding of morality is based on bible teachings, and that life involves more than a set of rules. It is, therefore, crucial to understand these principles because they act as and how-to manual of living a new life fully and obtaining the abundance of the life that Christ promised. The Catholics believe Christs centrality with regards to morality and that Jesus taught the first thoughts of the Catholic morality and love is considered to be the greatest commandment of the Lord. This implies that love requires an essence with regards to moral rules and that all aspects of morality are spoken by all prophets and Christ himself. The Catholics basic moral code only describes the minimum that is necessary to live in union with Christ and that if one falls below that stated level, it implies that Christ cannot live within us. The maximum that one can give is giving oneself to others hence taking the example of Christ when he gave himself to the world.

There are determinants of morality according to the Catholic teachings, and they include the object that is chosen, end view of the intention and the circumstances of the action. The object is viewed as an act that one decides to perform, and whether the act is good or evil, it depends on the object that is chosen by will. Human reason gives humans the ability to recognize the essential nature of the various objects that can be chosen and judging whether they are good or evil. The intention of the other hand implies whether the act is performed with good or bad will. Good intentions, however, do not choose the nature of the object that is chosen from. The circumstance of the act do not often change the nature of the act as either good or bad by increases or diminishes the morel goodness of evil acts.

Life according to the Catholic teachings is a series of relationships and that every person is related either in the right or wrong ways to others, self, and God. Therefore morality is divided into three parts, social ethics, individual ethics and the meaning and the purpose of human life. These three elements are related with regards to the hierarchy of independence, and that social morality is highly dependent on individual morality, which then depends on the purpose of human life. That is one cannot function without the other, and it is what gives meaning to the human life.

The Uniqueness of the Catholic Understanding of Morality as Compared to Secular Ethics

The modern secular morality is known to the last question, that is, the purpose of human life, and that is what religion is about. That factor alone makes the general understanding of morality among the Catholics unique. The saying of Thomas Meron is highly emulated, and it acknowledges that humans cannot be at peace with one another unless they are at peace with themselves and that we cannot be at peace with themselves if we are not at peace with God. Basically, according to Catholics, the problems of the human life fit into that sentence. The essential moral rule for the right is to love God, neighbours, and the things of the world including animals and plants.

The three universal moral rules that are obvious to every individual and are even thought during Catechism apply in every case of human life. The rules include the fact that one may never do evil for good to result from it; the Golden Rule that do other what you wish them to do for you and that Charity proceeds by way the of respect to ones neighbour and his conscience. The rules are also viewed as not sufficient for morality, and three acts are put across that are either morally indifferent which are permitted and the morally evil which are forbidden and the morally good which are commanded. The third category of acts go beyond the call of duty, and it includes the heroic sacrifices, martyrdom and turning the other cheek to others. These evangelical gospels are summarized under Christs Beatitudes that gives a deep understanding of the beauty of morality.

Secular News that the Catholic Church has strongly adhered to Catholic Morality

Catholics have been responding to various media issues in the news regarding morality. One of the issues is abortion that they have continued to condemn it strongly over the years. From the beginning, the Catholic Church has consistently upheld the sanctity of the life of the unborn child and condemned any acts of direct abortion. The catholic condemns all forms of procedures that destroy a zygote, embryo, blastocyst, or fetus because they acknowledge that human life must be protected right from conception. They acknowledge that the right to life must be given to every person, include those who have not been born. The Catholics have quoted various scriptures in the bible that acknowledges that since conception, the body of a child is alive because it has a soul, which is the life-principle of the human body. The other argument that has been brought forth by the Catholic Church is the commandment that state that one shall not commit murder.

According to the Catholics, abortion is also murder, because it involves killing an innocent soul that is still in its maturity stages. According to all Christians, life is sacred and taking life from a person, whether born or unborn is morally wrong. The secrecy of human life is based on the fact that it involves the creative actions of God and it remains a special relationship with the Creator. Based on the revelations from the Bible, with special emphasis of incarnation, the Catholic Church condemns the practice of abortion and they been having various teachings for the last three decades on the act, including the Didache, asserted, the Epistle of Barnabas and Athenagoras among other teachings that have condemned abortion.