The Catholic Bishop of West Virginia wants Catholics to give up their guns.
For the "common good."
...My concern is that the broad possession of handguns in our state poses a clear danger to everyone who lives here. God has commanded us: You shall not kill. That applies both to killing others and to killing oneself. Life is a precious gift which we should respect and cultivate in ourselves and others. If the easy availability of firearms puts our people’s lives in danger, which I believe it does, then prudence should lead us to reduce their number and availability and take other measures to ensure public safety....
The good Bishop confuses "duty to self and family" with "duty to State" ('common good').
Earlier in his piece, the Bishop cites two (presumably valid) studies which contradict each other on the question 'Whether self-defense use of guns is more efficacious than self-defense use of other means.' While the Bishop has an opinion on the question, it's as valid as the contrary opinion, as he shows with his citations. But that's a minor quibble compared to his version of 'prudence.'
While Catholic doctrine allows one to sacrifice oneself for others, there is no Catholic doctrine which suggests that one may sacrifice one's spouse, children, or neighbors for the 'common good.'
Another way to put it is this: 1) Defense of family and neighbors is the implied priority in Church teaching. 2) Defending others is contingent on defending oneself. Therefore, giving up the most efficacious means of self-defense is certainly not "prudent." Instead, it is prudent to retain the guns but to have a preference not to use them--unless it is the only remaining option.
Sometimes we have to remind good people about what are 'first things.' Let's hope the Bishop understands that next time.
1 comment:
The conciliar church is not the Roman Catholic Church.
The seat of Peter is empty.
When a Bishop of the conciliar church speaks and the 2000 year magisterial teaching are trashed we are not obliged to follow and listen.
Time to find a Latin Mass.
Recently, Archbishop Viganò wrote, “Change – or better still, aggiornamento – has been so much at the center of the conciliar narrative that it has been the hallmark of Vatican II and has posited this assembly as the terminus post quem that sanctions the end of the ancien régime – the regime of the ‘old religion,’ of the ‘old Mass,’ of the ‘pre-council’ – and the beginning of the ‘conciliar church,’ with its ‘new mass’ and the substantial relativization of all dogma.”
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