Sunday, April 21, 2013

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Living Justice: Part of the Catholic religion is its social teaching. These come from religious texts and the Catholic experience in the world. There are nine key themes in Catholic social teaching. The first is the dignity of every person and human rights. Catholics believed that all humans reflect the image of God in their minds and bodies. Because of this all humans should be treated with respect and dignity. God does not want humans to be enslaved or exploited. Even humans that commit crimes or are out of work, ill or disabled must be treated with respect of children of God. Because of the sanctity of life modern Catholics oppose abortion euthanasia and capitol punishment. The Catholic teachings have not always been in agreement in opposing these. You only have to think of the Spanish Inquisition where the Catholic Church put to death Jews and other non-catholics to see that Catholics have not always practiced this principle of equal dignity. The Catholics also have a distinctive view of human rights because it is based in Catholic theology in which God is the source of our rights. Unlike theories of secular rights the treatment of rights of Catholic social teaching is based on a particular view on the unity which respects the sanctity of creation and God its creative. Other themes are respect for the common good, the value of family life, the proper role of government, the rights and responsibilities of property ownership, the dignity of work and rights of workers, fairness in economic development, working for peace and providing help for the poor and vulnerable. For example, the family has a special place in Catholic social teaching. Church documents sometimes refer to the family as the "domestic church". This is where people first learn about God and the need of justice and charity. Inside the family people have to engage in self sacrifice and generosity in order to help one another. The family is like a port in a storm. Another theme the dignity of work and workers rights have led modern Catholics to support labor unions and to work against the exploitation of laborers. Labor is considered to be good for all people when it is not carried out under conditions of exploitation.

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