Are you one of those who demand absolute freedom for anything? - Daily Reflections August 9,2014

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

 

We live in a world that does not want the responsibility of maintaining a relationship with God at the individual level, and yet, when a disaster occurs or something goes wrong, God gets the blame. The phrase, “How could God allow such a thing to happen?” is one that immediately comes to mind. This is hypocrisy at its best. We cannot have it both ways. What we are experiencing is a not-so-subtle form of rebellion against authority. This is a rebellion supposedly in the name of the god of “personal freedom,” but is really just a slide towards moral decay. People do what they want in the name of exercising their various rights.

       The biggest problem with the modern understanding of rights is that it rarely, if ever, comes with a concomitant understanding of responsibilities. There is no right without a corresponding responsibility and sometimes the responsibilities are quite onerous. This is the price we pay for our humanity. If we want a socially cohesive society, then we have to be willing to circumscribe absolute freedom with the idea of the common good.

       I write this reflection 20 months before you read it. It is just a couple of days after the massacre in a school in Newtown, Connecticut, where the vast majority of the victims were six- and seven-year-old kids. The US Constitution supposedly protects the rights of individuals to carry firearms. Well, the lawmakers also have a responsibility to ensure that the so-called “right” does not end in such massacres. If the right to bear arms cannot be controlled, then the lawmakers must take at least some responsibility for the consequences. They have the power to ban assault weapons from the hands of the general public, but they choose not to in the name of freedom. This is a ridiculous argument that cannot be defended in any meaningful manner. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you one of those who demand absolute freedom for anything?

 

Lord Jesus, help our lawmakers to act responsibly on the firearm issue. Help us understand our responsibility to protect the innocent and those least able to protect themselves.