Tag Archives: justice

Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the “virtue of religion.” Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor. “You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” “Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”

Faith => Grace => Love

I recently had a revelation regarding the nature of faith. For many, it is a mere assent, an atomic event of belief. If we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we will gain eternal life. After all, did not Jesus Himself tell us as much? To such individuals, who love the Lord with their souls, works of charity are laudable but not required for salvation. For others, faith is reduced to an intellectual exercise. Surely, if one is well versed and observant of the creeds, councils, and other artifacts of Sacred Tradition, he will be saved. For these, who love the Lord with their minds, there is at least a sense in which faith is a life long pursuit, but even they fall short what God asks in their dry academic studies. Still yet there are those who understand that faith requires love. An attempt is made to love their neighbors. It is an affective love, though, and is often represented by permissiveness and fear of discipline.

They are all wrong. However, like every good lie, they contain aspects of the truth. What is that truth? The Pharisees asked a similar question of Jesus. Continue reading

Reporting Tragedies, Raising Awareness, and Helping People

I got an interesting email from the American Progress Action Fund regarding news reports of tragic events, like the devastation wrought by Katrina.

"Like many of you, for the past 48 hours we have been glued to our computers and televisions, watching this tragedy unfold. We applaud the efforts of our news media, in particular ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC, to cover this story. On these networks, together as a nation, we have witnessed images of rooftop rescues and other amazing acts of heroism – along with moments of great personal tragedy. Hurricane Katrina is a truly important story and by doing a very good job of covering it, our TV news programs are providing Americans and the entire world the information necessary to help make a difference."

"Yet, as we watch in horror, we can't help but think of another tragedy a bit farther away – the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan stemming from the ongoing genocide there. Unfortunately, our TV networks are not doing such a good job informing Americans that 7,000 people are dying every month as a result of the genocide, according to the World Health Organization. Their stories of rescue, of heroism, of personal tragedy, and of survival are not being told."

"And so, when the floodwaters have receded in our homeland, and our fellow Americans begin the process of rebuilding their lives and their communities, we hope that the networks will reflect on the important role they play in keeping us informed of tragedies near and far and will continue to cover real news – important news. We hope that the networks will come to agree: Genocide IS News."

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How Many Strikes Until You’re Out?

hulk steroidsSo Rafael Palmiero failed a drug test. Maybe he's guilty of steroid use. Maybe he's not. It doesn't really matter. Even if he is, I'm sure he'll only get a slap on the wrist from the league. Heck, Darryl Strawberry got more chances than cats have lives. On the other hand, Pete Rose was caught gambling once and will never be eligible for the Hall of Fame. The league is basically saying, "You can do all the drugs you like; we'll forgive you. However, if we catch you gambling on baseball, may God have mercy on your wretched soul."

I think MLB's policies toward drug use – steroid, narcotic, whatever – should be made tougher. I'd be tempted to suggest a zero-tolerance policy, but I'm a big fan of second chances, so I'd be happy with a 1-warning policy. The first time a player's caught, in addition to whatever punishment the league imposes, he should be told that the next offense will result in being banned from the league.

This brings to mind a far more serious problem – multiple DUI convictions. Take this woman for example. She's been convicted of DUI charges nine times before and is only facing prison time (and finally having her license revoked for life) now because she injured another driver. What the heck?! Thirteen charges and ten convictions and she's only now losing her license for life and spending a measly eight years in prison?! People get worse sentences for tax evasion!

In my not-so-humble and rather fed-up opinion, I think the federal government should force states to enact tougher DUI laws. Since Congress can't constitutionally make nation-wide traffic laws, they "encourage" states to make the changes they want by threatening to withhold road maintenance funds. They could easily apply that technique to pushing for tougher DUI laws.

What sort of laws would I want? Just look at my above baseball drug policies to know. I think drunk or drugged drivers should get a warning and appropriate punishments for the first offense. If there's a second offense, the driver's license should be revoked for at least twenty years, if not for life. If, however, the first offense resulted in a death, there would be no second chance and the license would be revoked for life. If driver is convicted of DUI while driving with a license suspended because of a prior DUI conviction, the license should be revoked for life and the driver should serve some jail time. I could go on and explain other particular scenarios, but I think you get the picture.

Drunk and drugged drivers get treated too nicely in this country. If we don't stop slapping them on the wrists, they won't stop driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. I'm all about forgiveness and second chances, but just because I forgive you, doesn't mean I trust you behind the wheel of an automobile.

John Roberts’, Catholicism, and Abortion

Rob Carr of Unspace has some questions for his Catholic friends in the blogosphere.

"Hypothetical situation: Let�s assume, for the sake of the argument, that the Constitution had a line in it that said 'Abortion shall be available to all.' It doesn�t � this is a hypothetical question, a 'gedanken experiment.' That�s German for 'thought experiment.'"

"If Roberts were a Supreme Court justice and he were asked to rule on the constitutionality of a law that totally banned all abortions (remember, folks – 'gedanken'). The law is clearly unconstitutional under our hypothetical gedanken experiment. "

"As a Roman Catholic, would he be permitted to rule that the Constitution says the law is unconstitutional? Or would he, because of his faith, be required to rule that the law is constitutional?"

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