4Q Journal #2
I think that SLUH is a place that cultivates many of the Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching and the two in particular that I think are very apparent, are the Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable and the Principle of Human Dignity.
The Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable states that “the opposite of rich and powerful is poor and powerless,” and we are called to put the needs of the poor and powerless before our own. I think SLUH does this considerably well, looking at the flourishing Community Service Program and continues to work for the poor and needy. At SLUH, we also have poor and powerless amongst our own students and faculty, though it may not necessarily mean literally poor and impoverished. We have students that are picked on, faculty members that are hated and they are poor in this respect. Mr. Clark always says that he is a “huge fan of the underdogs, the nerds, and the kids that are picked on,” and he definitely instills that attitude in others here at SLUH.
The Principle of Human Dignity states that “every person--regardless of race, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, employment or economic status, health, intelligence, achievement or any other differentiating characteristic--is worthy of respect.” I think SLUH does an extremely well job of promoting this concept, through many events and also through the Diversity Club. We work towards the acceptance of every person for who they truly are, regardless of what they may appear to be. This is one of SLUH’s strongest assets, as we have many students from all kinds of different backgrounds come together at SLUH each and every day.
I think a building block that SLUH lacks is the Principle of Association. This states that “the centerpiece of society is the family,” and I feel like sometimes the pressure put on students with academics can result in a superior-inferior relationship between students and teachers and I think this takes away from the family aspect of SLUH. Students sometimes undergo so many academic struggles that they are so focused on academics and not so much on others or social relationships.
Another building block that SLUH lacks is the Principle of Participation. For mostly the same reasons, I feel like students can get so caught up in academics and this takes away from their participation in sports, social events, and friends. SLUH is a very strong social community, but it sometimes lacks participation due to its academic standards and pressures.
I think “The Bad Samaritan” was a great part of the course in respects to moral situations. I would like to remember this because David Cash Jr. made a decision, a morally wrong one, and truly believed this was acceptable. Moral standards an acceptances are very important and this video illustrated it after looking at the hatred towards him because of his views. “You make me sick. I’m doing all that I can from not just getting up and walking away from you,” was close to a quote a student said to David, expressing his disgust towards the way David thinks he did nothing wrong. This was a very interesting part of the course and will always be remembered.
Another part of the course I would like to remember is the Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching. I feel like these building blocks had an impact on the way I view the Catholic Social Teaching and most definitely enlightened me about these building blocks. These building blocks prove to be a reference that one can go back to to evaluate himself of herself or society as a whole. I think that this part of the course was definitely worthwhile and crucial in instilling these building blocks in our minds.