Independence Day
In our country, Independence Day has been reduced to barbeque and fireworks. At least for those of us who were born and raised in the United States. We have always had it so good that we don’t appreciate how very good we have it. This year’s Presidential Campaign drives that point home painfully for me.
There are a lot of campaign ‘issues’. Everyone wants to know where the candidates stand on things like abortion, same-sex marriage, the war in Iraq, the economy, and last but not least, immigration. I personally believe that the government should stay out of legislating morality. Obama’s slogan is “Change we can believe in!”. Well, I’d like to talk about that a bit.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m not sure what change, exactly, he thinks we need, or how he’s going to pay for it. That still really concerns me. But here is what I really want to know: if this country is in such bad shape, if we are in such dire need of a complete overhaul, then WHY IS IMMIGRATION AN ISSUE????
Think about it: people from all over the world risk life and limb just to get into this country! And once they are here, they are willing to live in conditions that most Americans would be appalled by. Why are the Mexican people willing to cram themselves into dangerously hot and cramped car trunks and trucks just to get to the other side? Why are they willing to risk their lives dashing across the freeways in San Diego during rush hour traffic? Why do people in Cuba hop onto anything that looks like it might float just to try to get across the water to Florida? Why do people from all over Europe spend every last dime to get here?
Let me give you a hint: it’s not because we are so screwed up!!! It’s because the United States of America is STILL the greatest country on this planet. We are STILL the land of opportunity and hopes and dreams! My mom got to talk to a lady at our church last weekend who was born in Poland. During the Russian occupation in WWII, her family was rounded up and taken to Siberia, to live in hideous conditions, and left to die. (This was the experience of thousands of Poles, btw.) Finally, they were rescued, and taken to the Middle East. Mom didn’t ask, but it was probably Jerusalem, where, for some reason, many of the Polish people were taken after they were able to get out of Siberia. This woman, who is now 82 years old, has since lived in Egypt and all over Europe. About 20 years ago, some friends convinced her and her husband to move to the United States. She told my mother the same thing our own Polish Babcia used to tell us: “This is the greatest country in the world!”
But it is so popular to be ungrateful today. It is all the rage to complain about our world. So, even when there is NOTHING to complain about, people still do. And so we end up with wide-eyed liberal socialists as front-runners for the Presidency! Perhaps we should listen to the voices of those all over Europe who are crying out for us to not follow in their footsteps. Voices of those who understand exactly what our 4th of July celebrations are supposed to be about, and long for the Independence we scorn.
Just a question to rouse some thought: why shouldn’t a government legislate morality? If all the laws were just, would you still be against the government legislating morality? What’s the different between the moral law and the human law?
That’s a good post, btw, for the 4th. Hope the family’s doing well!
I don’t think the government should legislate morality because governments are made up of men, and our elected officials are not always Christian. Even those who claim to be Christian, and even Catholic, often support very anti-Christian agendas, such as abortion. God’s laws are perfect, and eternal. They are the same, regardless of who governs here on earth.
To further clarify: just because something is legal, doesn’t necessarily make it okay, morally speaking. It’s obedience to God and His law that *should* dictate our behavior. Happily, if we are living our lives in line with the teachings of the Bible and the Church, we will almost always be obeying civil law. The opposite is not necessarily true.
So, I believe that if we are diligent in sharing Christ’s message, then those who receive it will no longer participate in those activities that may be legal, but are immoral.
I’m not sure if I’ve answered your question about the difference between the moral law and the human law directly, but hopefully it makes more sense now! Thanks for your comment! It’s great to hear from you!!
It seems that governments never legislate morality, because the moral law and the civil law are entities in themselves, although they can correspond sometimes. While God gives the moral law, man creates the human law, which is necessary to have social order; in this country, the human law is a consensus of the people.
Human law governs the actions of those in a society, therefore the human law states that one cannot get drunk and then walk through the streets naked; this disrupts the social order. It does not (should not), however dictate private action: the law doesn’t forbid someone to get drunk in their own home. In Christianity, it is a sin to intentionally get drunk (Aquinas says that we are rational creatures and to become intoxicated is to willingly give up the rationality that God gifted us with). Therefore, the moral law coincides with the law against public drunkenness.
Does that mean the human law is the moral law? Nope. Some would argue it. They would complain that they should have the “freedom” to get drunk wherever they please. Instead, there’s a law against public drunkenness because some people don’t know that to get drunk is to give up their freedom.