Saturday, September 24, 2005

The Sin of Stupidity

According to the teachings of the Church, except for the sin of blasphemy against the holy spirit, all other sins, including the sin of stupidity, can be easily forgiven by grace from divinity. In fact, looking at the insane social results of the teaching of the Church during these past centuries based upon the Old and the New Testament, stupidity is not a sin. It is a virtue. Poch Suzara

1 comment:

John Paraiso said...

the Holy Spirit, you can blaspheme against the Holy Spirit all you want and the possibility of salvation will remain open to you as long as you live.

EEEEKKKKK! Wrong answer! The Bible is very clear on that issue.
Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come (Matthew 12:31-32).

Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation—because they said, “He has an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:28-30).

And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven (Luke 12:10).

Are you not reading your Bible?

On the issue reagrding what Catholic teachings are evil:

The great St. Augustine provided the basis of Catholic doctrine about just war. according to him, "If the Christian Religion forbade war altogether, those who sought salutary advice in the Gospel would rather have been counselled to cast aside their arms, and to give up soldiering altogether. On the contrary, they were told: 'Do violence to no man . . . and be content with your pay.' If he commanded them to be content with their pay, he did not forbid soldiering."
According to the holy bishop of Hippo, just war must seek to obtain or restore peace, and in this sense, it is an instrument of peace. By peace he understands the tranquility of order, the right disposition of things according to their proper end.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153 , the great troubadour of Our Lady, the meek melifluous Church Doctor, was also a great orator and preacher of the Crusades, He was the official preacher of the Second Crusade.

In his famous opusculum, De laude novae militae (In Praise of the New Knighthood), Saint Bernard addressed the Knights Templars -- using St. Augustine's arguments on the famous reply of Saint John the Baptist to the soldiers -- he wrote:

What then? If it is never permissible for a Christian to strike with the sword, why did the Savior's precursor bid the soldiers to be content with their pay, and not rather forbid them to follow this calling?

I do not mean to say that the pagans are to be slaughtered when there is any other way to prevent them from harassing and persecuting the faithful, but only that it now seems better to destroy them than that the rod of sinners be lifted over the lot of the just, and the righteous perhaps put forth their hands unto iniquity.

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) developed and completed the doctrine of just war in several aspects.

Quoting Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas returned to St. John the Baptist's argument favoring the legitimacy of military life and, therefore, of war and added many other points.

He introduced the concept of common good as a basic element for the licitness of war.

The military profession must have as its goal defending the public good, the poor and oppressed, the cult due to God, and the Church. Soldiers are therefore instruments of legitimate authority which prevents or punishes, even with death, the misdeeds of criminals.

Quoting the sermons of St. Gregory the Great, he justified capital punishment as a means to avenge outraged justice, correct and instill fear in evil, and thus re-establish and guarantee both the peace of society and the Church and a nation's stability and prosperity. Such actions are virtuous when motivated by the love of justice and charity.

For soldiers to fight in just wars, the saint explained, supernatural or divine help, which are the Virtues, is needed. The first such virtue is fortitude, a supernatural help that makes man more courageous and perseverant in the fight.

Bellicose action, he added, can only be performed with wisdom and ability, when done with prudence, which directs man's actions in life with rectitude.

According to St. Thomas Aquinas there are three conditions for just war:

1) It must be declared by legitimate authority. Saint Paul says: "He beareth not the sword in vain: for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil" (Rm. 13:4).

2) The cause must be just. He quotes Saint Augustine: "A just war is wont to be described as one that avenges wrongs, when a nation or state has to be punished, for refusing to make amends for the wrongs inflicted by its subjects, or to restore what it has seized unjustly."

3) It must be waged with good intention. "For it may happen that the war is declared by the legitimate authority, and for a just cause, and yet be rendered unlawful through a wicked intention. Hence Augustine says (Contra Faust. xxii, 74): 'The passion for inflicting harm, the cruel thirst for vengeance, an unpacific and relentless spirit, the fever of revolt, the lust of power, and such like things, all these are rightly condemned in war.'"3

Subsequent Doctors
Theologians after St Thomas like Francisco de Vitoria (1485-1546) and Francisco Suarez (1548-1617) completed the Scholastic theory of just war with the principle of proportionality:

Besides a just cause, a summons by legitimate authority, and a right intention, these theologians teach there must be a balance between the good to be recovered or preserved, the unjust situation to be remedied or prevented, and the evils that necessarily come in the wake of war, particularly the number of deaths.

All peaceful means must be exhausted before having recourse to war.

These theologians point out that the need for justification applies only to offensive not defensive war, since the principle of legitimate defense in the face of an attack is evident.

Doctrine of the Popes
The above-mentioned doctrine of the Fathers, Doctors of the Church and Theologians, was accepted and incorporated in the Magisterium of the Church as taught by the Popes over the centuries.

Under the general title "Just War at the Service of the Divine Precept of Peace," the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes, France, succinctly summarized the teaching of the popes on just war:

Order and peace can have recourse to force. However, force, in itself, is incapable of restoring peace, since peace is the fruit of the union of justice and charity.

Some enemies of justice cannot be led to accept the necessary conditions for peace without the use of force.

The importance of a certain good justifies entirely its defense by force against an unjust aggression. The Catholic Faith must be included as a most precious good. It is therefore legitimate to defend the Faith with the use of arms.4

One of the Pontifical documents referred by the Monks of Solesmes, is the Allocution to the Military Committee of the American Congress, by Pius XII, on October the 8th, 1947:

Law and order may at times have need of the strong arm of force. Some enemies of justice can be brought to terms only by force. But force should be held always in check by law and order and be exercised only in their defense. Nor is any man law into himself.5

More recent Popes have insisted on the principle of proportionality and the means to employ in the defense or recovery of a material or moral good. However, the fundamental principles were already expounded by the great doctors and popes over the centuries.