Grim would like various Catholic priests and Bishops to read Aquinas, so he quotes him referring to the Kyle situation.
...The natural inclination of humans to achieve their proper end through reason and free will is the natural law. Formally defined, the natural law is humans’ participation in the eternal law, through reason and will. Humans actively participate in the eternal law of God (the governance of the world) by using reason in conformity with the natural law to discern what is good and evil.... On the level that we share with all substances, the natural law commands that we preserve ourselves in being.... Natural law also commands those things that make for the harmonious functioning of society...[e.g.] thou shalt not steal.....
Following that is a digression which accurately translates the 5th Commandment.
Grim follows up on the clear implications of Thomas' disquisition.
...So you can kill, but not murder. When might killing not be murder? Well, when it is necessary to fulfill the natural law: to preserve life, and the harmonious functioning of society. For example, when resisting a horde intent on burning and looting your village. Allowing looting and burning might actually kill people who were just minding their own business, and it will definitely degrade the harmonious function of society. The latter is the higher and better end, notice: you might think avoiding death was more important, but in fact on Aquinas' model that is just a thing that we have in common with plants and animals. The better end, proper to human beings as creatures of reason, is to preserve a harmonious society that fulfills the human good in a fuller way.Dying to do that is honorable; it is why we praise soldiers who fought and died for our way of life. Killing to do that is acceptable, if necessary, and at least according to George S. Patton it is preferable to kill than to die for your country. ...
Worth repeating: if the Mayor of Kenosha and the Governor of Wisconsin were not wimpy little twits, this whole thing may not have happened.
But it is GOOD that it happened; it serves as a basis for re-discovering Aquinas' Natural Law and its lessons.
It would be nice if Aquinas was read a little more often by certain priests, now that you mention it.
ReplyDeleteAquinas was put in the rubbish bin when modernism was embraced at the Seminaries. Hence the lack of correction when the unnatural is extolled by society. Rebellion against natural law is rooted in rebellion against the author of that law, IE: God.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the rebellion has grown wildly!
Aquinas was the guy that said early gestation unborn babies were vegetables and animals. He was quoted by name in the Roe v Wade decision by the side favoring legal abortion. We should be very careful about what Aquinas says.
ReplyDeleteT.A. didn't have MRI machines.
ReplyDeleteBut he made the ONLY point that really matters: it is "quickening"--the infusion of a soul by God--that defines the beginning of human life.
No surprise that Blackmun--or whoever--chose to reconstruct T.A.'s writings. The Devil also quotes Scripture very well, ya'know.
Aquinas was also not trying to justify abortion before he believed quickening occurred. A good judge would throw out anything a pro-abort would use from Aquinas to justify abortion.
ReplyDelete