Seems hard to be a Christian these days. More and more, our culture looks at the majority of us as out of touch or, even worse, crazy looney birds chasing the Flying Spaghetti Monster hellbent on destroying civilization in our wake. I’m exaggerating a bit on the second part, but not by much.
I can’t do much other than to love, lead by example, and pray. I can also try to explain why Christians (or at least Catholics) do and say the things that seem crazy.
One big cause of friction between Catholics and culture, I’d argue, is the concept of moral culpability. I tried explaining this concept to a few folks during the Kim Davis debacle about a year or so ago. People were arguing that “she’s not getting married why should she care?” I tried to describe how moral culpability may be coming in to play, but it mainly fell on deaf ears. I just got a few eye-rolls, scoffs, and a sense that I was just placed on the idiot list.
I’d like to try discussing that topic again to help give people an idea of why Catholics take the stances that they do when it seems it's ”nun” of their business.
Most of Catholic theology (from a high level) comes down to the nature of 3 things: God, Humans, and Sin.
The nature of God is pretty well documented. God is Omnipowerful, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. God exists outside of time. God is perfect, without sin, and doesn't err.
The nature of humans doesn’t get as much fanfare. Humans (both male and female) were created by God, in his own image, with an intrinsic purpose. Humans were created to be both in communion/relationship with God as much as they were made to be in communion with each other.
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
Hebrews 10:25: “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
There are certainly other passages, but I only included a couple to indicate that humanity’s relationship is not just a vertical one with God, but also a horizontal relationship with each other. God encourages this worldly communion.
The nature of sin is where things get interesting. From a Catholic perspective, sin and evil are not necessarily synonymous. It’s more akin to the “an elm is a tree, but a tree is not necessarily an elm” analogy. Something can be evil, but it doesn’t mean that it is sinful. Sins are always evil.
Essentially, a sin is an act that harms one’s relationship with God and/or harms someone else’s relationship with God. By knowingly committing an evil act against God, or another person, one commits sin. Sin comes in two flavors, venial and mortal. Venial sins are the smaller ones - not meaning they aren’t serious, as one’s soul can die a death from a thousand venial cuts. Mortal sins are the ones that completely cut us off from God and hopes for an afterlife.
A mortal sin has 3 criteria: The situation must be grave matter (something very important), the “doer” must be mentally capable and understand the evil in what’s being done (know it's wrong), and the “doer” must have free will in committing the act (do it anyway).
When we talk about moral culpability, it comes from the idea that we aren’t just responsible for what we do as individuals. We are also responsible for acts that enable someone to commit their own sins. This is the friction between our faith and our culture here in the US.
Unlike Cain’s interpretation (Gen 4:9), we are called to be our “brother’s keeper” as a result of our communal relationship with God. We are called to help not just ourselves to a better life more faithful life, but others as well. We are called to be good stewards, to be lights, and to live the example (granted, we fail… often… I think I sinned 5 times just during writing this blog tonight). This is the crux of moral culpability. We carry consequences for sins we enable.
Abortion (sorry, this is just an easy example to use) is considered a very grave evil. I can’t participate materially or politically in any activities that enable abortion. To participate (either through paying, driving someone to the clinic, performing one, etc), I’m committing a mortal sin even if I'm not the one having it. I’ve enabled and/or encouraged someone to do something that I know is intrinsically evil.
This is usually where I get the scoffs. And, if you are scoffing at me right now, I’d ask you to think about criminal law. If I know someone is going to rob a bank, and they ask me for a ride there and back home, will I be charged for a crime? Yes, I will (assuming I get caught!). We have laws against aiding and abetting. If I can be found liable for a criminal act, is it stretch to understand how aiding in sin can bring moral consequences as well? It’s the same concept.
If someone you loved was an addict, would you consider it moral to help them get another hit of heroin? My guess is that you answered “no”. Same idea.
Personally, I know it’s hard to tell someone you love that “No, I’m not going to help you do that” or “No, I can’t give you my blessing on this.” I’ve lived it. I hate it, because I know these can (and do) lead to broken relationships. People just want to hear that everything they are doing is ok. And, that isn't always the case. As a Catholic, sometimes I'm called to give tough theological love (and to receive it when I'm doing things I shouldn't).
I hope that this sheds some light on why we act the way we do. It isn't to be mean or nasty. We aren't here to harsh anyone's mellow on purpose. We get stuck sometimes trying to balance our faith and our place in the world. We realize sometimes we come off pedantic or sound like a broken record. We get as frustrated as anyone. We don't want to be the buzzkills, but we can't shy away from who we are (or who we ultimately belong to).
If you run into us in one of these situations, and we seem frustrated, just try to cut us some slack. We really are caught between a Cephas and a hard place.
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