Thanks to infidels.org for the image.
This image makes me think about society and where the Church's moral influence ends and where society's influence begins.
1. One paragraph summary of the key idea summarizing the topic of the week.
The topic of the week was the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. We looked at the Catholic idea of Conscience and several excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the moral ooutline for Catholicism. We also looked at the Ten Building Block of Catholic Social Teaching in an effort to see how we should treat our fellow man. Basically, we tried to get a handle on the moral positions of the Catholic Church so that we can know them for when we look at specific issues and so that we can possibly compare them to our own morality.
2. List and explain three of the most important ideas you want to remember from this week.
$ The Catholic Idea of Freedom- The Church that we have "freedom to" do what we want and be how we please. It is not "freedom from" such things as sin and hatred which is the common misperception. It is much more pleasing to be given rights to do things insted of just freed from the bad.
$ The Principle of Subsidiarity- This building block teaches that a large group can never handle a situation as well as a samller group; problems are best taken care of by those immediately affected, not by large, outside help. Thinking about this principle made me wonder about things like the Iraqi war, because we are not Iraqi, so why should we set up their country? I also thought about myself and how I tend to try and be involved in too many issues and help too much. I am not the best person to be helping in some situations because I am not familiar enough with a situation, and I need to remember that.
$ The L-I-S-T-E-N method- One of the moral decision-making methods was the L-I-S-T-E-N method. The idea of employing this method is to help make a correct moral decision when faced with a moral dilemma. This could be useful in the future.
3. One image of that reminds you of the topic.
4. One good question I should keep with me to ponder.
How do I make moral decisions in my life? Do I choose based on what I know is right and wrong, or do I choose based on emotion?
For myself, the answer to these questions depends on time. If I have time to step back, think, and then act, I more often than not make a good, moral choice. If I need to make a decision immediately or in the middle of a situation, I more often pick immorally, especially in small matters like lying.
5. What should you try to do to make you a better person, a more moral person, from this study?
The big thing for me is being able to think about and put into practice morals fairly in line with the Church. I want to have a close relationship with God and be a holy person living a meaningful life. To do this, I feel like I have to follow as best I can the Church's morals and my conscience. Following these will not be easy in situations where I need to make a quick decision, but with practice in small matters, I can work my way up to being a man of integrity today, preparing to be a man of integrity tomorrow.