If you missed class or want to review:
- Start with the first class handout + instructions, below.
- Read and discuss the CCC paragraphs below about our natural rights.
- Then read the update post above.
- Use the following resources from the P&C website to help:
- Important terms relating to the principles of justice (PCS116)
- The Principles of Justice are listed on your Ten Universal Principles handout. If you have misplaced this handout, you may find it again at PCS221.
- Contact me for access to the recording, and for the second handout.
- Complete the homework assignment.
Class handout 1 - Excerpts from Declarations:
- Choose either excerpt for this exercise.
- Read through the excerpt looking for answers to the questions:
(1) Where do our rights come from?
(2) How do we know when they are being violated? - Underline or highlight what you find.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC):
Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity.
~ CCC 1934 on the source of our natural rights
Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy. If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the Church's role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.
~ CCC 1930 on government's duty to protect natural rights