Conception, death and things in between

This story was taken from www.inq7.net
http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=38159

Conception, death and things in between
Posted 00:45am (Mla time) May 26, 2005
By Fr. Ferdinand Santos, Ph.D.
Inquirer News Service

Editor's Note: Published on page A13 of the May 26, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

"THE CULTURE of life" and "the culture of death" are phrases coined by the late John Paul II to describe tendencies in contemporary society that either promote life or lead to its depreciation. In his work, "The Gospel of Life," John Paul described what he saw as the biggest threat to humanity today: a monumental debasement of life through drugs, war and arms, abortion, euthanasia, destruction of the environment and the unjust distribution of wealth. These, he said are often caused and supported by economic, social and political structures that do not promote life, but actually conspire against it. Decrying this as a "culture of death," he called on everyone to promote its antithesis, a "culture of life."

This way of viewing the human condition is a radically holistic one. It sees life in its totality, not from a diminished perspective that fragments and compartmentalizes it. Hence, the promotion of a "culture of life" involves upholding the dignity of life in all its stages, from birth to death and every single stage in between. It means that while life begins at conception, its protection shouldn't end there. While it ends with natural death, its defense cannot begin only when one is near that point. And while improving the "quality of life" is important in safeguarding human dignity, it is an impoverishment of our very humanity when life's initial and terminal stages are reduced to contingencies that have no significance beyond subjective whim.

It is really unfortunate then that John Paul's comprehensive view has been broken up lately and the two phrases he coined are sometimes bandied about like slogans in defense of a more truncated understanding of life. This explains to a great extent, why Christian activism is currently split between those who believe they are promoting life but choose to focus their efforts on beginning and end-of-life issues and those who see these as of secondary importance to the more pressing middle-of-life issues of peace and social justice.

It also explains that odd statement describing John Paul II as "theologically conservative," but "liberal" on social justice issues. By this was meant that while the Pope championed social justice, he was also against abortion and the entire gamut of issues usually identified with it, a position called "paradoxical" by some, if not downright "contradictory" -- as if the rejection of social injustice and the acceptance of abortion at the same time wouldn't be.

In reality, the Catholic Church's teaching on life is neither contradictory nor paradoxical, but represents an ever-widening thrust toward coherence and consistency. The dignity of the human person, understood in its totality, demands a consistent ethic of life. This requires the creation and promotion of social structures and policies that support the total development of persons, from birth to death, and every phase in between.

To be consistent, an ethic that promotes life speaks and acts against any practice that reduces life to a mere object. This would include abortion, euthanasia, war and the death penalty, sexism and an entire range of dehumanizing issues. But it also speaks and acts on behalf of affordable education and health care, just wages, humane working conditions, social and economic security, sustainable development, peace and the promotion of community, as well as care for the environment.

The promotion of a "culture of life" demands the support of a consistent ethic, not a fragmentary version that devalues life. Such an ethic is founded on the God-given value of each person in every stage and area of life. It is the only adequate and realistic point of orientation for the creation of programs and policies that recognize and uphold the inherent dignity of the human person.

The Church's teaching on the value and sanctity of life is a "seamless garment" that cannot simply be cut up to fit specific and usually self-serving agendas. Any view that does so is ultimately self-defeating. Consider for instance the inconsistency prevalent in the First World between liberals who champion social justice but consider the right to abortion sacrosanct and conservatives who go hoarse screaming against physician-assisted suicide but have no qualms buying shoes made in Third-World sweatshops run with child labor.

Neither are these First World inconsistencies peculiar to it. The Philippines is rife with them. After all, a society where the majority of children already born malnourished will not even finish grade school and stand very little chance of leading full lives is not a society that respects life. A society where many who are poor suffer actual hunger and cannot even afford medicines they need to sustain themselves is not a society that values life. A society where an individual can simply be shot while finishing a meal in a restaurant or strangled to death in her home is not a society that protects life. A society where journalists are murdered for pursuing the truth that their profession dictates they must do is not a society that allies itself with life.

A society where the wealthy believe their responsibility to others is fulfilled once they've thrown their scraps to the poor is not a society that promotes life. A society whose civil and religious leaders pay lip service to fighting a "culture of death," all the while conniving -- knowingly or otherwise -- with one another's corruption by turning a blind eye to the other's omissions is not a society that is on the side of life. A society that claims to promote a "culture of life" despite contrary structures and policies is a fraud, a sham, and is bound to self-destruct. And no amount of pro-life rhetoric will change that.

Fr. Ferdinand Santos is a priest of the Diocese of Cubao and is a professor of philosophy and theology at Providence College in Rhode Island, USA. He has also taught at the Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University and San Carlos Seminary and served briefly as chaplain at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.


©2005 www.inq7.net all rights reserved