Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Catholic Five Non-negotiables and the Seven Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching

How do the Catholic Five Non-negotiables measure up to the Churches teaching on Social Teaching? Is it possible to vote for the same candidate and follow both of these ideologies?
I have posted an entry here on the Catholic Five Non-negotiables. So as not to repeate myself, I shall only list the Catholic Five Non-negotiables in this post. If you need background info please visit the above mentioned blog post.

Catholic Five Non-negotiables

  • abortion
  • euthanasia
  • embryo stem cell research
  • same-sex marriage
  • human cloning

Major Themes from Catholic Social Teaching

via: http://www.ccfj.org/catholic.htm
1. Dignity of the Human Person
Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God. All people are sacred. People do not lose dignity because of disability, poverty, age, gender, or lack of success, race or ethnicity.
2. Community and the Common Good
Human dignity is realized in community with others and with all of creation. The human person is both sacred and social. Society must be shaped to contribute to the individual and the common good through our economic, political and social institutions. Promoting the common good is not compatible with homelessness, hunger, unemployment, and injustice.
3. Rights and Responsibilities
People have a fundamental right to life, food, shelter, health care, education and employment. People have a right to participate in the decisions which affect their lives.
4. Option for the Poor
The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. We are called to look at public policy decisions through the eyes of persons who are made poor and kept poor. A just society is achieved only when the needs of the poor in society are given first priority.
5. Solidarity
We are one human family. Our responsibilities to each other cross national, racial, economic and ideological differences. The interconnection among all peoples calls us to value and respect the experience of all. We are called to work globally for justice.
6. Dignity of Work
People have a right to decent and productive work, fair wages, private property and economic initiative. The economy exists to serve people, not the other way around. Work provides a person with an opportunity to contribute to the common good and to participate in the social and economic order. Living wages with benefits and good working conditions are essential.
7. Care for God’s Creation
Our stewardship of the Earth is a kind of participation in God’s act of creating and sustaining the world. In being responsible partners with the Earth, we learn about and respect its resources and systems. In our use of resources, we must be guided by our concern for the welfare of others, both around the world and for generations to come.
It is my opinion that if the Seven Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching are followed, the Catholic Five Non-negotiables become  a moot point. I also see the Catholic Five Non-negotiables as a  way to try to align Catholics with the Right Wing politics of the United States, which is ultimately in support of corporate rule and the exploitation of humans and the environment for short term profits. How are all these things reconcilable?


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