Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching
that I DO see at SLUH
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The Principle of Solidarity
.
1. I see Solidarity at SLUH in two ways; one is more local and SLUH oriented, we treat each other as brothers generally (the term Brotherhood even hangs on a banner in our halls) and depend on each other to help fulfill the duties of our class and our school. This idea is closely linked to the Parable of Talents, in that, our solidarity at SLUH allows us to each use our gifts to make the school the most complete loving place possible. The second way I see Solidarity at SLUH is more global. Students volunteer to help the poor in our community, in Mexico and in Honduras. We donate money, time, and effort into helping those less fortunate that we are. This loving and generous nature of the SLUH community nurtures an attitude of Solidarity within its halls.
2. The The Principle of Stewardship
.
I see stewardship in the SLUH community in the form of carpooling, and recycling. Since I have come to SLUH, each year it seems there is a heightened concern for the global environment, and SLUH has responded to that concern in my opinion. Though ideally there would be more carpooling or even bike riding to school, I think that the students and faculty are doing a satisfactory job to limit the amount of gas used on a daily basis. Also the amount of recycling done at SLUH has increased each year, and we now have recycling opportunities for paper, plastic, and cans. I think that the SLUH community is generally taking the Principle of Stewardship seriously and striving to better the environment by taking small but noticeable steps.
Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching that I DON’T see in the United States
1. The Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable
Though I do see some help for the poor in the United States in terms of welfare, I think that there should be much more help for those that are poor, or needy. I have learned while at SLUH that being poor almost never stems from laziness or a lack of desire to work, but from a vicious cycle of minimum wage jobs, and a lack of higher education. Perhaps a better public schooling system should be set up to educate those in need so they too could get a higher paying job and end the cycle of poverty. Or, perhaps private schools should make ther education more accessible to the lower classes with things like work grant that SLUH offers, or scholarships set up by alumni.
2. The Principle of Respect for Human Life
link 2(euthanasia)
I have a hard time seeing this in the United States where things like abortion and euthanasia exist. To me the lack f respect is obvious. Though I’m sure that those that want abortion to remain legal and want euthanasia to be legal are not evil, I do think that they have a misinformed conscious and that perhaps the Catholic Church should further their efforts in trying to rid them of their misinformed conscious. I realize that these issues are not black and white, like if someone is suffering and wants to die, why should they not have the ability or right to? or if a girl is raped by a family member and becomes pregnant shouldn’t she have the right to an abortion? I honestly don’t know what I would do in these situations or if I had to decide if in those situations one can legally get an abortion or be euthanized, but I think that in the United States that these issues are not taken as seriously as they should be.
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The Principle of Solidarity
.
1. I see Solidarity at SLUH in two ways; one is more local and SLUH oriented, we treat each other as brothers generally (the term Brotherhood even hangs on a banner in our halls) and depend on each other to help fulfill the duties of our class and our school. This idea is closely linked to the Parable of Talents, in that, our solidarity at SLUH allows us to each use our gifts to make the school the most complete loving place possible. The second way I see Solidarity at SLUH is more global. Students volunteer to help the poor in our community, in Mexico and in Honduras. We donate money, time, and effort into helping those less fortunate that we are. This loving and generous nature of the SLUH community nurtures an attitude of Solidarity within its halls.
2. The The Principle of Stewardship
.
I see stewardship in the SLUH community in the form of carpooling, and recycling. Since I have come to SLUH, each year it seems there is a heightened concern for the global environment, and SLUH has responded to that concern in my opinion. Though ideally there would be more carpooling or even bike riding to school, I think that the students and faculty are doing a satisfactory job to limit the amount of gas used on a daily basis. Also the amount of recycling done at SLUH has increased each year, and we now have recycling opportunities for paper, plastic, and cans. I think that the SLUH community is generally taking the Principle of Stewardship seriously and striving to better the environment by taking small but noticeable steps.
Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching that I DON’T see in the United States
1. The Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable
Though I do see some help for the poor in the United States in terms of welfare, I think that there should be much more help for those that are poor, or needy. I have learned while at SLUH that being poor almost never stems from laziness or a lack of desire to work, but from a vicious cycle of minimum wage jobs, and a lack of higher education. Perhaps a better public schooling system should be set up to educate those in need so they too could get a higher paying job and end the cycle of poverty. Or, perhaps private schools should make ther education more accessible to the lower classes with things like work grant that SLUH offers, or scholarships set up by alumni.
2. The Principle of Respect for Human Life
link 2(euthanasia)
I have a hard time seeing this in the United States where things like abortion and euthanasia exist. To me the lack f respect is obvious. Though I’m sure that those that want abortion to remain legal and want euthanasia to be legal are not evil, I do think that they have a misinformed conscious and that perhaps the Catholic Church should further their efforts in trying to rid them of their misinformed conscious. I realize that these issues are not black and white, like if someone is suffering and wants to die, why should they not have the ability or right to? or if a girl is raped by a family member and becomes pregnant shouldn’t she have the right to an abortion? I honestly don’t know what I would do in these situations or if I had to decide if in those situations one can legally get an abortion or be euthanized, but I think that in the United States that these issues are not taken as seriously as they should be.
back to home page