Of mental reservation, lies
I've really had a bucket
-ful. I read long dissertations
On Truth, and think,"Well chuck it!"
When faced with murder, rape, seems we
Must check the Cathechism.
Saints Augustine and Acquinas,
Before we make decision
On whether to choose Life or Truth:
When murder may ensue,
To save an innocent life, I'd lie.
For me, better be true
To family, neighbours, those I love,
Than bow to an abstraction
And make a god of truthfulness.
Better the infraction
Of Truth (what is it? Ideas clothed
In speech, blurred in translation),
Than stand aghast, afraid to lie,
While Rachel mourns her Nation.
For what was good for Raphael,
For Rahab, Esau, And Pope
Pius XII will do for me.
Mercy my duty and Hope.
Words are the dress of thoughts, or so
Lord Chesterfield remarked.
Language translated, dress of dress,
Dog-matically barked,
By those who try to confine God
To Truth or Love or Beauty.
He's no abstraction, but Infinite,
Personal. And our duty
Is to obey, love, follow Him,
And after Him, love our neighbour,
Not erect doubtful words as gods
And use them to belabour
The brave, who for the Love of God
And neighbour, like serpents, wise
Weaponless, helpless, terrified, struck
With weakness's weapon: lies.
Notes:
1. Yes, "chuck it", with a nod to the shade of Bowdler!
2. I am aware of the weak, half-rhyme or assonance of Cathechism - decision, and hope to improve on it.
Hatred Explained
-
So, what is emerging one week after Charlie Kirk’s brutal assassination?
The assassin was the “boyfriend” of a male who fancies himself a woman.
That is, h...
5 hours ago
3 comments:
Chris,
Nicely done!
I love your zeal for the Lord and for women and children.
Thank you for your witness.
Well said, Mr. Left-Footer!
I thought you might like to see who else is standing with the likes of Rahab, Pius XII, Irena Sendler, and you:
Peter Kreeft wrote:
"........You promised the Jews to hide them from their murderers. To keep that promise, you have to deceive the Nazis. Physical hiding and verbal hiding are two sides of the same coin, whether you call it lying, or deception, or whatever you call it. What it is, is much more obvious than what it is to be called. It’s a good thing to do. If you don’t know that, you’re morally stupid, and moral stupidity comes in two opposite forms: relativism and legalism. Relativism sees no principles, only people; legalism sees no people, only principles.
The closest analogy I can think of to Live Action’s expose of Planned Parenthood is spying. If Live Action is wrong, then so is all spying, including spying out the Nazis’ atomic bomb projects and saving the world from a nuclear holocaust
If you say that morality changes in wartime, I reply that police ‘sting’ operations are an example of legitimate peacetime spying. An undercover policeman saves children from becoming drug addicts by pretending to be a drug customer to expose the drug dealer. Is this pretending ‘lying’ or not? I don’t much care, except as a professional philosopher and logician. I do much care that the ‘sting’ works and my kids are protected. Do you care more about protecting your own moral correctness than protecting your kids’ lives?
If lying is always wrong, then it is wrong to lie to a nuclear terrorist (the “ticking time bomb” scenario) to elicit from him where he hid the nuclear bomb that in one hour will kill millions if it is not found and defused. The most reasonable response to the “no lying” legalist here is “You gotta be kidding”—or something less kind than that. Thomas Aquinas said that even torture is sometimes justified; in emergency situations like that; if torture, then a fortiori lying.
If you were watching your son or daughter being raped while you were disarmed and tied up and had only words as weapons, and if there was some lie you could tell to the rapist that would stop him, do you really mean to tell me that you would not tell that lie? If so, I thank God that you were not my father."
There's more where that came from over at CatholicVote.org
http://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=14306
IMHO the deep thinkers view life through their tidy philosophical/theological constructs. As you have well stated, that is not how we are called to live life. I wonder if they spend much time out here amongst the great unwashed with the likes of the not-so deep thinkerslike me..........
The Exile
Carol - Thank you!
The Babylonian Exile - Thank you for your solid and energetic defence of common sense.
Patrick - Thank you!
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