There are many ways in which the world says the ends justify the means. Would anyone like to give examples?
Abortions & Abortifacients - Some argue that these choices are safe, rare, and promote women’s health, but at the cost of an unborn human life.
Rąpe - I once had a moral relativist argue that this evil act against another is justifiable in some cases—namely if the human species were not reproducing at a sustainable rate. I argued that it is always wrong.
Unjust Wars - We have politicians who want to “spread democracy” around the world, and one way they do this is by waging wars against other countries. Other times politicians send young men & women to fight their wars for resources (oil, land, etc.) I love a good game of RISK as much as the next person, but not at the risk of real lives and coercion.
The Death Penalty - This one is somewhat controversial among Christians. I have held both sides of this issue over my life, but have come to believe that in most cases, the death penalty should not be common practice for a few reasons.
Private message me if you would like to tell me why I’m wrong.
Getting Intoxicated - Some convince themselves that getting buzzed or high sparks creativity or enhances their charisma (or as my roommate in college called it, coordination in a bottle). Others do it to escape or alleviate depression, but it often causes more of it, in addition to liver damage. I have seen it wreck Marriages, Families, Relationships, and Friendships.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) - Although conceiving a baby in Marriage is good, what often happens in IVF is that multiple human beings are created and the healthiest of these are selected and the others are discarded. We have friends who chose this route and they kept all three of their babies, but the chances of some of them having birth defects is also common when created in a lab. It is one of those things, we are called to celebrate life, but the ends do not justify the means. This is another one of those controversial topics that requires gentleness and truth.
We have other Catholic friends, who’s sister skipped the whole Marriage part and did IVF with someone who is not her husband. She gave birth to, and single-parents, twins.
I invite Christian Married couples to look into, and Pray about, the Billings Ovulation Method if you are trying to conceive a child.
Getting the Ends - When I was in college, there was a song on the radio called Ends by Everlast. In a creative writing class, our very attractive teacher (irrelevant) had us dissect the meaning of this song. Ends is slang for money.
Book of Revelations…
Let’s not be too casual with the wording here. The proper reminder is that the ends do not justify any means. Of course, an end or objective does justify appropriate or reasonable means, something that occurs multiple times daily. A similar mis-statement is often encountered, namely, when someone says, erroneously, that money is the root of all evil. The correct statement is that the love of money is the root of all evil. (Although, money is not the only idol that leads to evil.) Frank
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Great point. I corrected the title of my post : )
I won’t argue here, but I would highly recommend the below book on the subject. I was always pro-death penalty before coming into the Church and was always told in RCIA that the Church taught that it was wrong. This book along with a statement by CDF stating that the death penalty was something faithful Catholics could disagree on help put my mind at ease.
I’m a little confused. Are you in support/against the death penalty? I have been taught that this an issue that Catholic Christians can disagree. I used to be all for the death penalty, but have had sort of a conversion towards the opposition of the practice. Only in very rare circumstances would I be in favor of it (you can private message me if you really want a graphic description of when I think the death penalty might be warranted).
You are correct about Catholics being allowed to disagree on the use of the death penalty per the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. What I was taught in RCIA (and what Francis seems to indicate in his changing of the Catechism) is that the death penalty is always morally wrong. What the book I linked to shows is that while Catholics can disagree on whether or not the death penalty is prudent, the Church (prior to John Paul II) has always maintained that the death penalty isn’t just moral, but is actually a good. To answer your question directly, yes, I am in favor of a more robust usage of the death penalty.