What’s Wrong About Right and Wrong?

In the time we live, there is great debate about what are seen as culture issues. These are perhaps the
sharpest divides in our social and political discourse. While we can often find ways to compromise on
things such taxes and spending; culture issues are much more divisive. What the world declares as
culture issues are often in fact moral issues or questions. Perhaps this bit of wordsmithing of “culture
Issue” rather than “moral issue” makes it more comfortable for people to disagree. If these hot-button
issues are just culture issues, we are free to have different opinions and disagree. If something is seen as
a moral issue, it creates a much more uncomfortable relationship between those on opposing sides.
Suddenly someone is seen as right, and someone is seen as wrong. And nobody wants to be seen as
wrong, especially on an important issue.
What the Church Says
The Catechism of The Catholic Church paragraph 1749 states on The Morality of Human Acts that
“Freedom makes man a moral subject. When he acts deliberately, man is, so to speak, the father of his
acts. Human acts, that is, acts that are freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of conscience, can be
morally evaluated. They are either good or evil.”
Too often the secular world sees Christians as following some set of arbitrary moral code or rules. They
see this moral code as rules anyone should be able to follow or reject. The individual has the right to
choose what they believe is right and what is wrong. There is popular culture telling us we are not only
free but encouraged to pursue our own personal happiness at all costs. If it feels good or makes us
happy, we have the right and obligation to pursue it. It sounds quite a bit like Judges 17:6, “In those days
there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Even among Christians we find disagreement on the most divisive moral issues. Sometimes this is
because these are now seen as culture issues which believers can disagree about. Or because they are
seen as culture issues and not moral issues; an overwhelming sense of compassion can drive one’s view.
However, the Church tells us in the catechism paragraph 1849 that “sin is an offense against reason,
truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse
attachment to certain goods.” If there is a true right and wrong; than true compassion is not enabling
immoral behavior. Certainly, Christian charity calls us to accompany, pray for, and love those who
choose an immoral action; but the moral truth remains. Many today are afraid to acknowledge there is
an absolute truth or moral code. This idea misunderstands the concept of Christian morality. Things are
not wrong because God arbitrarily said they are wrong. God says they are wrong because they are bad
for us. They do not lead to human flourishing.
That which Leads to Human Flourishing
Contrary to popular misconceptions, the Catholic Church does not impose rules. The Church proposes
beliefs, dogmas, and a rule of life that leads to human flourishing. Unlike others, the Catholic Church
stands firm in its moral teaching even when the world in which we live pushes back with all its might.
The Church’s Moral certitude may not be popular, but the truth cannot change. A parent does not tell
the child not to touch the hot stove on a whim. The parent knows the consequences of touching the hot
stove. In the same way, God knows the consequences of our sin. He knows the immediate and the
unfolding long-term result of each of our sinful choices. That which leads to human flourishing does not
change with the times. Touching an old hot wood burning stove will burn just as much as a modern sleek
stainless steel electric stove. Sin is not deemed wrong for arbitrary reasons. Sin is bad because it is
destructive. It is bad for us. Whether its Human sexuality, the sanctity of life, or the bonds of marriage
and family; no number of German synods can change what is healthy, leads to human flourishing, and
brings us in union with God. The Catholic Catechism paragraph 1696 states the way of Christ “leads to
life”; a contrary way “leads to destruction.”
Clarity and Charity
Certainly, we are called to show Christian charity to the immigrant, sick, and the poor. However, charity
without moral guardrails can become enablement. Giving the addict on the street cash instead of food
or other support might actually be destructive. Similarly, Bishop Baron has pointed out that the modern
concept of human rights is the result of Christianity. But when the push for human rights is divorced
from the Christian principles, it can be corrupted and harmful.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states: “without freedom, we cannot speak
meaningfully about morality or moral responsibility. Human freedom is more than a capacity to choose
between this and that. It is the God-given power to become who he created us to be and so to share
eternal union with him… Christian morality and God’s law are not arbitrary, but specifically given to us
for our happiness. God gave us intelligence and the capacity to act freely. Ultimately, human freedom
lies in our free decision to say “yes” to God. In contrast, many people today understand human freedom
merely as the ability to make a choice, with no objective norm or good as the goal.”
Natural Law
The Catholic Catechism paragraph 1776 states “Man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . His
conscience is man’s most secret core, and his sanctuary.” Paragraph 1955 adds, “The “divine and
natural” law shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end.” Natural Law
theory predates Christianity because even the pagans could sense this law written on their hearts.
Natural law was documented in ancient Greek philosophy by Aristotle, and ancient Roman philosopher
Cicero, long before Socrates. In Romans 2:15 Saint Paul says of the pagans that “the demands of the law
are written in their hearts.” They could see a sense of order to the universe and understood some things
lead to positive outcomes while others bring negative consequences.
Catholic Moral theory embraces Natural Law in this sense. As natural law supports the idea that
objective truth and morality exist. Catechism 1756 instructs “There are acts which, in and of themselves,
independently of circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object.”
Paragraph 1954 adds, “the natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern
by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie.”
Objective versus Subjective
The world we currently live in opposes the idea of objective truth and moral certainty. Today’s mass
media and culture try to promote subjective morality and truth. Even the highly educated and powerful
can deny an objective truth. In 1992, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in defending
the right to abortion, “at the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of
meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” While certainly every human should be free
to believe what they want in matters of opinion and theory, Christianity teaches that there are objective
truths. Christians are called to believe in the one truth. Jesus Christ is the Way the Truth and the Life. His
truth does not reside on the political right or left. However, those on one side or the other are more
inclined to be open to His Truth when it aligns with their understanding and resistant when it does not.
Catholics social teaching aligns with His Truth and we should seek it whether it fits nicely within our
personal mindset or not.