"Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. There is no need for the whole universe to take up arms to crush him: a vapour, a drop of water is enough to kill him. But eve if the universe were to crush him, man would still be nobler than his slayer, because he knows that he is dying and the advantage the universe has over him. The universe knows nothing of this.What I love about this passage from Pascal is how it speaks to human weakness. Clearly, when one is attacked, one wants to fight back and assert. Yet, in Scripture didn't Christ say to turn the other cheek?
Thus all our dignity consists in thought. It is on though that we must depend for our recovery, not on space and time, which we could never fill. Let us then strive to think well; that is the basic principal of morality." ~ Pascal
Because of the morally relative nature of our society, it is utterly impossible to carry on an effective dialog regarding such grave matters as human sexuality and life issues through blog debates. All that is accomplished is classification of one or the other person(s) involved as liberal, conservative, anti-woman, pro-death, anti-choice and etc...
It is easy to respond to something someone writes that pisses you off by writing back, but it is infinitely more difficult to actually face that person, as a person, and have a dialog about the issue at hand.
While I love to stir the pot to get folks discussing, this is not a conversation, but rather an ideological tug-of-war that can not be done justice in this setting.
Pascal's latter remarks in the above passage are relevant. He is advocating for a recovery of though, of ideas...of conviction based in absolute values.
We live in a world where nothing is absolute. I beleive in absolute truth. I have seen absolute joy and absolute pain. I've held the hands of friends who have aborted, walked with others who brought their children to term. I've lived with people who use contraception and know folks who struggle with porn and masturbation. What do they all have in common? These are all people, and I beleive they are made in the image and likeness of God. I believe that they all have a unique role in this world that only they can play.
We all struggle, we all make poor decisions, but no one deserves judgment. I apologize if I have come across as judgmental. I do not apologize for believing that there are moral absolutes, however. We live in a broken world where there are no easy answers, but that does not mean we must live by the "lesser of two evils" approach to life, which can fall under the umbrella of utilitarianism.
Like most philosophies, utilitarianism can be utilized effectively, but the circumstances are crucial whenever one is making an ethical analysis of a situation based on a philosophical system. With issues of human life and sexuality, I really think Aristotle's Virtue Ethics ought to be at the forefront of the analytical modus operatum.
There are so many phenomenal writers and thinkers who can better explain and defend these absolute truths I allude to. I intend to make better use of their knowledge, in an effort to better represent the Church and the cultural revolution for which I advocate.
1 comments:
I really liked your post. I agree with the difficulty in finding effective dialog. It seems today everyone is either on the attack, or apathetic to the whole situation. Where are the moderates, those actually willing to talk and listen, rather than shout and rage.
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