May 5, 2006--Fanaticism XXXIII--The Lesser Evil
We have been hearing a lot about evil. Remember the Evil Empire? Ronald Reagan’s epithet for Russia and its “empire” of subjugated states. Then after 9/11 there was the Axis of Evil, those countries President Bush identified as a part of the global terror network—Iraq, Iran, North Korea, on so forth.
More recently we have been hearing from those who helped invent the concept of evil itself, the Catholic Church, which is reported to be struggling again with the condom issue. See NY Times article on this linked below.
Clashing are two ideas that in Vatican terms exist in the world of certainty—the ban on contraception and the Church’s advocacy of human life. The new Pope allegedly has asked for a report on whether the use of condoms (banned) might be used to protect human life (required) in those limited circumstances when, inside of marriage, one of the partners has H.I.V. or AIDS.
Defenders of Catholic consistency are outraged that Pope Benedict XVI might be considering such a seismic shift in doctrine. He, after all, has been thought to exemplify strict orthodoxy since, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he headed the Church’s modern form of the Inquisition, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. These defenders of the faith are worried that if there is this shift there will be worldwide headlines screaming, “Church O.K.s condoms.”
Others say that the Church also believes in the doctrine of “the lesser of two evils.” In difficult moral circumstances, such as the use of condoms, the lesser of the two evils might be to use condoms so you don’t succumb to the greater evil—contracting AIDS from your spouse and dying.
Because of pressure from African Catholics, where the Church is still growing and not contracting as in the West, we may in fact see this change.
To help with the situation, here is another way to think about this. As a part of the debate, I heard an American bishop talk about another doctrine—Mortal Sin. A mortal sin produces a macula, or stain on the soul, and a person who dies in a state of mortal sin, i.e., without having repented, has thereby chosen or merited eternal separation from God in Hell. Mortal sins include adultery, murder, lust, missing mass on Sunday, perjury, incredulity, and the use of contraceptives.
The bishop argued that if someone has committed one mortal sin, for example, having had sex with a prostitute, he is not making matters that much worse if he commits a second one. Say, using condoms. That then could be the way out of the problem, maybe even better than the lesser of two evils straddle:
Since you are already going to burn for missing church on Sunday, use a Rubber.
More recently we have been hearing from those who helped invent the concept of evil itself, the Catholic Church, which is reported to be struggling again with the condom issue. See NY Times article on this linked below.
Clashing are two ideas that in Vatican terms exist in the world of certainty—the ban on contraception and the Church’s advocacy of human life. The new Pope allegedly has asked for a report on whether the use of condoms (banned) might be used to protect human life (required) in those limited circumstances when, inside of marriage, one of the partners has H.I.V. or AIDS.
Defenders of Catholic consistency are outraged that Pope Benedict XVI might be considering such a seismic shift in doctrine. He, after all, has been thought to exemplify strict orthodoxy since, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he headed the Church’s modern form of the Inquisition, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. These defenders of the faith are worried that if there is this shift there will be worldwide headlines screaming, “Church O.K.s condoms.”
Others say that the Church also believes in the doctrine of “the lesser of two evils.” In difficult moral circumstances, such as the use of condoms, the lesser of the two evils might be to use condoms so you don’t succumb to the greater evil—contracting AIDS from your spouse and dying.
Because of pressure from African Catholics, where the Church is still growing and not contracting as in the West, we may in fact see this change.
To help with the situation, here is another way to think about this. As a part of the debate, I heard an American bishop talk about another doctrine—Mortal Sin. A mortal sin produces a macula, or stain on the soul, and a person who dies in a state of mortal sin, i.e., without having repented, has thereby chosen or merited eternal separation from God in Hell. Mortal sins include adultery, murder, lust, missing mass on Sunday, perjury, incredulity, and the use of contraceptives.
The bishop argued that if someone has committed one mortal sin, for example, having had sex with a prostitute, he is not making matters that much worse if he commits a second one. Say, using condoms. That then could be the way out of the problem, maybe even better than the lesser of two evils straddle:
Since you are already going to burn for missing church on Sunday, use a Rubber.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
2:56 PM
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