Faith Resources Newsletter - Number 77 - April 2018

Don’t ask Our Lord for anything else except Himself – He knows what else we need.   Fr John O'Neill Message from the Manager Our second edition of Cardinal Newman Faith Resources Newsletter for 2018 will be a little shorter than usual. We warmly welcome all our readers and supporters and sincerely thank all those who have helped us in our extending our premises. It has been a very busy time, packing away stock, and dismantling and covering the present shelves. Through the goodness of God’s providence we had a wonderful team of workmen who have finished cutting an archway through the brick wall, moving light switches and power points, replacing lights and painting patched walls. We had the blessing of donated high quality display shelving that was destined for the tip! We cannot thank God enough for providing this and just at the right time. We are open with the repacking and reorganising of shelves almost finished. It is an exciting time as we now able to display much more than before and have new shelves dedicated to spiritual reading from wonderful Catholic authors including Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, Scott Hahn, Fr Robert Spitzer, von Hildebrand, G K Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc and many more. There is a stand for the large range of booklets from the Catholic Truth Society. These are a blessing for those who have busy lives and find more than fifteen minutes reading time a day a huge task. Please note that we have many new releases available from Tan Books, Sophia Institute Press, Ignatius Press, Scepter Publications, Ignatius Our Sunday Visitor, Gracewing, Angelico Press and other reputable Catholic Companies. Half of the new room will be Parousia Media’s production (only) site and Cardinal Newman Faith Resources will now be selling all their products from our own rooms. This means you can now buy the full range of Parousia Media, Lighthouse Talks, St Joseph Communications, Jason Evert’s Chastity Project, Catholic Answers, Ignatius Press Multi-Media Products and more from our outlet in St Marys. This association with Parousia Media will be a big step in our mission of catechesis and evangelization. Please feel free to visit us and peruse at your leisure. If you cannot come in you can call us on 0296732235 during opening hours or visit our website. If there is something you require we will do our best to source any good Catholic materials for you. Father Tierney’s Handouts regarding the Parliamentary submissions on religious freedom are extremely important and very informative this month so we ask you to take the time to go through them. We thank all our readers for your prayers, financial support and patience during this busy time. May God bless you and your families abundantly, Gai Smith Manager Featured items Say Yes to Christ! by Scott Hahn $5.00 This talk teaches the importance of giving our complete “yes” to Jesus Christ and fully recognizing him as King of Kings, and Lord over all. Dr Hahn delves into Scripture to show that by dedicating ourselves to the Lord, he can accomplish more in us and through us than we ever could on our own. This talk is filled with wisdom to help us grow closer to God. Could God Love Someone Like Me? CD by Fr Mike Schmitz $5.00 Fr Schmitz speaks powerfully about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Leonie Martin: A Difficult Life by Marie Baudouin-Croix $28.95 A sister of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Léonie Martin (1863-1941) was a daughter of Zélie and Louis Martin. The least gifted of the five Martin sisters and an emotionally disturbed child, she suffered much and caused anguish in her family. Marie Baudouin-Croix has carefully researched Léonie's life, including her mother's voluminous correspondence. In letters to her daughters and other family members, Zélie confided the challenges faced in raising Leonie. Yet Léonie was the first in the Martin family to understand and follow Thérèse's Little Way. Cardinal Newman Catechist Consultants — 19th March, 2018 — HANDOUTS n. 156 “Clear, brief and easily assimilated by all” Freedom of Religion for Prime Minister’s Expert Panel, first, of 4 parts Download as a PDF TRUE RELIGIONS all worship, or at least acknowledge, a Supreme Being called God. In the broad sense, religion is a belief system which offers answers to ultimate questions such as the origin of things and of man, the meaning of life on earth, how to conduct oneself, and man’s destiny after death. In an even broader sense, atheism is almost a religion, an anti-religion religion, since it often functions like one. Nowadays, atheism often asserts an ever aggressive body of thought and fervently strives to stamp out all ordinary religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. THESIS 1: Freedom of Religion in one of four freedoms which stand or fall together: These four freedoms involve freedoms from external coercion or repression, and freedoms for action:- Freedom of Thought, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Publish one’s thoughts. Freedom to Act according to one’s beliefs: to act not on whim but as one ought. Any religion seeking to negate the freedom of another religion to function is usually acting contrary to natural morality. As a last resort, a government may restrict it as far as is necessary.   THESIS 2: Religion is foundational to a culture and a civilization:- A civilization emerges from and depends on a culture, and a culture emerges from and depends on a Religion.   THESIS 3: Whatever is received (or heard) is received (or heard) according the mindset of the recipient, and whatever is uttered is uttered according to the mindset of the utterer. THE GOD-QUESTION NOT ONLY politicians and their committees, indeed all citizens, cannot avoid the God-question. Whether God exists or does not exist makes all the difference in one’s Declaration of Interests. It is a vital aspect of one’s mindset:- MIND-SET or “World-View” To what extent is my judgement on Freedom of Religion decided by my mindset? Is the truth and value of my judgement enhanced or retarded by it? Where do human rights come from? What sorts of rights can civil law confer? What can cancel, negate or limit them? Arc there limitations on governments, or are they totalitarian? If they are not omnipotent, what are their limitations? Is “enjoyment” of freedom of religion simply some sort of privilege conferred by government? Where do governments get authority? What rights have citizens or countries if they negate human rights? Are human rights complementary to and correlative with human duties? Will conscientious objection to taking part in the immorality of others be disallowed? Is modern atheism a substitute religion which insists on and enforces Godlessness? Is the rise of modem atheism already forcing Godlessness on our country by legislation? Where do our present Federal Constitution and our State criminal codes come from? Will the Bible be banned for its utter condemnation of adultery and sodomy as sins? Will catechisms and other religious books be banned as “hate speech”? Will schools violate parental rights to bring up children in their own religion and morals? Will peaceful protests against the slaughter of the innocents by abortion be criminalized? Are the new laws making same-sex unions into “marriages” intended to exterminate matrimony?   THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Australian laws and Federal Constitution originate in the Bible's Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21, revealed by God to Moses, 13th century B.C.. God: pre-amble to Constitution and use of the Lord’s Prayer in Parliament. His Name not taken in vain: hence swearing into office and oaths in court in God’s Name. Keep holy the seventh day: workers’ rights to a weekly day-off for rest and worship. Honour father and mother: upholding of marriage and family life — until recently! Duty to defend human life from murder — now weakened by abortion and euthanasia. Duty to defend marriage from adultery — now abandoned. Duty to defend property from theft — more or less upheld. Prohibition on false witness — more or less upheld. Duty to avoid lustful thoughts — now little protection from pornography. Duty to avoid covetous thoughts — never could be law, but socially desirable. The Code of Hammurabi from Babylon, 18'h century B.C., has six of the Ten Commandments. It is a pagan testimony to natural morality (natural moral law), though in a motley mix with civil edicts and laced with penalties so draconian as to make Leviticus read like a toddler’s tale.   DECLARATION OF INTERESTS by politicians etc POLITICIANS and their committees must divulge their existing interests when legislating on matters in which they are financially involved or in matters in which they have already made judgements. Hence I state my own interests: my letterhead is a manifesto, as are my publications as listed. Thus the mindset factor of those assessing this will govern how they receive it. Some might routinely stereotype me from my ideas by a sort of knee-jerk reaction and DISCARD it into a mental pigeon hole; i.e. anything said by a Christian, let alone a Catholic, more so a Catholic priest. There is also a possible stimulus-response rejection of any use of religious concepts like “the Ten Commandments”. Father James Tierney Editorial explanation for this Handouts: My submission was on the letterhead of my retirement apostolate, Cardinal Newman Catechist Consultants, It says: + An apostolate, free service, not a business, no sales, no cheques + Specialists in Family Catecheties + Consultants on Catholic Homeschooling + Originally Cardinal Newman Catechist Centre, 1974-2000 + Patron — Blessed John Henry Newman, 1801-1890 + Cor ad cor loquitur — “Heart Speaks to Heart”, PUBLISHED WORKS Catholic Family Catechism Apostles’ Edition II (500 Q&As), also Disciples’ Edition II (only 50 Q&As); Confirmation Kit for Home Preparation; Heart Speaks to Heart prayer book; Apostles of Christ in High Schools duplicated Teacher’s Books; For other publications: Cardinal Newman Faith Resources Inc. 02 9673 2235 and see <www.cardinalnewman.com.au> for regular Handouts (single A4 sheets). Bush Boys and Cuthbert (2 in 1); Bush Boys and Bush Rangers; Bush Boys on the Move; New Boys in the Bush; Squiggles and Squinter; New Boys Go Bush Again   The above is part of the p. 1 covering letter of my submission to the Expert Panel on 6'h February, 2018; then it omits p. 2 Table of Contents and resumes in the first of four parts of pp, 3-10. The short lines in two columns make it more compact.   THOUGHTS ARISING HEREWITH are ideas for the ongoing conflict — for we are not yet at the height of the storm. There will be debates in Parliament, but the fiercest fights will be in the Law Courts and with the inquisition-like Anti-Discrimination Tribunals. We need to be fighting-fit in soul and body: • Sanctifying grace and fidelity to the Christian Covenant in sacramental worship and personal prayer. • Healthy food, exercise, sleep and peace at home. • Study the Catechism of the Catholic Church:- CCC 2108: The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error, but rather a natural right of the human person to civil liberty, i.e., immunity, within just limits, from external constraint in religious matters by political authorities. This natural right ought to be acknowledged in the juridical order of society in such a way that it constitutes a civil right. CCC n. 2109: The right to religious liberty can of itself be neither unlimited nor limited only by a “public order” conceived in a positivist or naturalist manner. The “due limits” which are inherent in it must be determined for each social situation by political prudence, according to the requirements of the common good, and ratified by the civil authority in accordance with “legal principles which are in conformity with the objective moral order”. See Social duly of religion and right to religious freedom CCC nn. 2104-2109   OUTDO and OUTBREED WE must outdo in simple goodness, in the human and Divine virtues our weaker brethren inside the Church and our fellow citizens outside the Church. And we must outbreed them. It means bigger families, if possible. We can do it. We can outbreed them in quantity and outdo them in quality! This is not for our own glory but that God may be glorified in us. We must prepare children to be counter-cultural in their life in society; for the lay apostolate in such a pagan society; and for persecution for Christ (cf. John 15:20); and thereby help got them to complete their testing time on earth to be saints in Heaven. OBSTACLES Human Respect: ‘Human respect’ here means moral cowardice. It is not that other sort of respect for human beings as fellow children of God in their creatureliness, for this is a virtue, a part of charity. Rather, the vice of human respect is a human weakness, a sin of respecting the errors and amorality and immorality of others. Mobile phones and Internet Beware of the internet and the mobile phone and its subsequent developments. Brilliant technology is being exploited by the Devil’s hatred of God and man. The Declaration of Interest After the 2014 enquiry by the Upper House of the NSW Parliament into Homeschooling, it occurred to me that some members of their Select Committee had missed out on a happy home upbringing by loving parents and the blessing of many siblings. They seemed to lack the background to grasp that homeschooling was a richer form of an upbringing. Likewise religious freedom is incomprehensible to men who don’t pray to God and whose consciences are unformed in moral principles, yet are in positions of power over us. For all such persons we must “be the salt of the earth and let our light shine before men,” (Matthew 5:13-14).   Essential Action and proposing an Ideal Family Catechetics counters confused doctrine & morals in pulpits, schools & seminaries, cause or occasion of the crisis in marriage, priesthood, Religious life, paucity of vocations. Home tutoring in Christian doctrine (with apologetics later) truly fosters faith and piety — alas! many Catholic schools fail to graduate practising Catholics even after 13 years schooling.   Father James Tierney © The Rev. B.J.H. Tierney. Handouts are free and may be copied for any non-profit teaching purpose. However, donations to defray costs are welcome and should be made to the publisher and distributor, the Cardinal Newman Faith Resources Inc. PO Box 359, St Marys NSW 1790; phone 02 9673 2235; fax 02 9623 3181 email <fr@eardinalnewman.com.au> Cardinal Newman Catechist Consultants — 25th March, 2018 — HANDOUTS n. 157 “Clear, brief and easily assimilated by all” Four Freedoms in Freedom of Religion for Prime Minister’s Expert Panel, second of 4 parts Download as a PDF Freedom of Thought, of which Freedom of Religion is part, is now under attack Freedom of Thought already seems restricted, at least implicitly, and less obviously, by laws and tribunals hampering Freedom of Speech. Thoughts and Words Thought is made up of ideas which are expressed in words. Words are learned from parents, relatives, friends, neighbours and institutions like schools. Controlling spoken words is a way of controlling thoughts using these words, especially to limit the range of thinking. Thus Mao Zedong: If you use our words you will think our thoughts. He or others developed this further: If you think our thoughts you will do our deeds. In Man's Search for Meaning, the Viennese psychiatrist Dr Victor Frankl said the ultimate freedom, the freedom that can never be removed by force, even in the most brutal concentration camp (where lie formulated his ideas) is the freedom to choose one's attitude to one's environment. Yet he could not pass these ideas on to others without speech or publication. To preserve Freedom of Thought, and for the common good, Freedom of Speech must be maximized. Freedom of Speech — in the name of Academic Freedom and J.J. Rousseau... “Academic Freedom” was once a slogan which let university professors and even students utter harebrained or obscene proposals under cover (or excuse) of protecting the development of new ideas. That’s now outdated. University students now need “trigger warnings” lest they get offended, or upset at anything against the prevailing “political correctness”. Protests of former days against government censorship of immoral books has gone into reverse, by banning any opposition to silence it. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) used to be quoted for his strident defence of Freedom of Speech: “1 disagree with you completely, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Nowadays, the enthusiastic heirs of his atheism simply hide this embarrassing assertion. Yet Rousseau would have defended the right to Freedom of Speech of those who “think outside the box” with ideas lacking Political Correctness such as these, now totally unacceptable:- Governments should treat schooling as “free trade” and let the market decide, let it find its own level.. They should give up control of schooling and sell-off State Schools to parental groups. Abolish compulsory schooling. Let “evolution” eliminate the unfit! Uphold the noble status of fatherhood and motherhood founded in nature itself. Hold parents primarily responsible for children’s upbringing in the civic virtues, on biological, psychological and societal grounds. Save money in the Welfare Budget by upholding tire noble status of the natural family of a man and woman and their children, and their extended family, to help solve societies’ problems of the care of the aged, nervous breakdowns, neglected and abused children, delinquent youth and suicide prevention. These seven non-P.C. utterances might soon attract a prison sentence when one refuses to pay the fines imposed by courts or tribunals — unless genuine Freedom is available for Religion. Of course, some restrictions on Freedom of Speech may be necessary but should be minimal, e.g. the 8th commandment against slander in its various aspects. Some complaints to Anti-Discrimination Tribunals seem contrived to persecute or harass Christians on the grounds of “hate speech” and being “offensive”. Other religions are not so targeted. Christians did not lodge complaints for hate speech and offensive words, let alone the violence, used against them in the recent campaign over the proposed postal plebiscite – which was cut down to a straw vote. Opportunities for malice and revenge abound in dictatorial atheistic regimes In Stalin’s Russia, according to Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, a mere accusation without proof against a neighbour was evidence enough for a ten year imprisonment. Similarly, according to William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, in Hitler’s Germany there was no Freedom of Speech – except for Dr JP Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister. The sinister secret police produced a reign of terror. Therefore Freedom of Religion is closely linked with Freedom of Speech. If Christians were banned by law from speaking of particular doctrines like the necessity of Repentance and rejection of popular P.C. sins, in order to avoid Hell, then it will be a negation of their Freedom of Religion. Freedom to Publish one’s thoughts The printer engaged for Dr David van Gend’s Stealing from a Child, the Injustice of ‘Marriage Equality' (2016), just one day before its scheduled launch, refused to print it. Was there intimidation? Further, Dr van Gend, a general practitioner has already been persecuted over kindred issues. Will his important book now be banned — or will Freedom of Speech in print be allowed? The Global Sexual Revolution, The Destruction of Freedom in the Name of Freedom by Gabriele Ruby (German 2012, English 2015) exposes the carefully planned promotion of same-sex ideology and the details of its funding by UN, EU, UK and various US financial giants. Will Australian bookshops selling it be found guilty of promoting hate-speech? Dr Paul Kengor’s Takedown, from. Communists to Progressives, How the Left has sabotaged Family and Marriage (2015) treats the history and promotion by modern Freudian-Marxism of same-sex unions. Long ago, in 1934, anthropologist Dr J.D. Unwin, a non-Christian with no religion, published Sex and Culture. He researched the development of sexual behaviour in the history of many major and minor civilizations. Once they ceased to sublimate any of their sexual drives into other creative activities, they doomed themselves to rapid extinction. [This is Thesis 2] Further back in the 20th century, Australian author and sculptor Norman Lindsay enjoyed fame (or infamy) for having more books banned by government censorship that any other Australian author. Might we now expect such books to be set as school texts? Will the Bible be banned for non-P.C. teaching against fornication, adultery and sodomy? Will my publications be banned? Freedom to Act on one’s beliefs Freedom to Act is not merely about autonomous acts, but to act as one ought, on the will of God. It involves Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Publish. Christianity is a missionary religion. To be missionary is part of its ‘package deal’. It is of the essence of Christianity to proclaim to all the Good News of Jesus Christ:- Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Matthew 28:19-20 Christianity respects the freedom of others to choose or reject it. It invites conversion by extolling personal prayer. It persuades by reason and convinces by patience and kindness as example of goodwill. It never coerces And the history of Christianity is a history of martyrs for Faith, Hope and Charity. In the early Christian Church, St Peter and other apostles of Christ were put on trial by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court. These latter authorities were alarmed at the apostles’ claim that the Man they had crucified had risen from the dead, and that His message was spreading like wildfire. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 The Sanhedrin had the prisoners taken out while they deliberated, then recalled them and said: So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. When charged for a repeated offence, the apostles were reminded: “We forbade you to teach in that name yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us”. Acts 5:28 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29 Some modern anti-discrimination activities appear to be a rerun of historic harassment and persecution. Can judges who do evil be your [God’s] friends? They do injustice under cover of law; they attack the life of the just and condemn innocent blood. Psalm 94 [93] :2021 (Grail Translation) Here ends this second quarter of the Submission to the Expert Panel on the Freedom of Religion. REFLECTIONS ON THE POSTAL STRAW VOTE miscalled a plebiscite because voting was not compulsory the straw vote for same sex unions will further negate rights and freedoms. The thought-police and the star chambers will see to that. Any new law will simply be a further demotion of real marriage, reducing it to mere ephemeral emotional bonds. That’s not marriage. It’s Nineteen Eighty Four lies purporting to be truth, in implement Freudian-Marxism. The history of philosophy is littered with lunacies from men entrapped in their own half-truths. These lead to a reverse error with the reaction from homespun folk who say, “Philosophy’s all bunk.” In the same way, it is a half-truth to say one is not going to force others to accept one’s morality. To claim this as a moral high ground is a fallacy, just as much as to say philosophy is bunk or that morality a purely personal matter. It ignores the obvious: lawmakers, judges in law courts and police arc all forcing their own moral judgements on others. The old scholastic adage, “Whatever is received is received according to the mode or mindset of the recipient” can be mirrored, “Whatever is uttered is uttered according to the mode or mindset of the utterer.” (See Handouts n. 156) So academe, politicians, public servants, police, courts, media who lack sympathy, whether wittingly or unwittingly, for morality or for religion, will impose their own lack of morality or even force an amorality on others, and so prove less capable of giving fair treatment to parents, schools and employees. It’s happening already! The Enemy is at the Gate. We are called to arms — with the weaponry of God, which is the Good News of the Cross: repent, believe, practise Faith, Hope and Charity.   Father James Tierney © The Rev. B.J.H. Tierney. Handouts are free and may be copied for any non-profit teaching purpose. However, donations to defray costs are welcome and should be made to the publisher and distributor, the Cardinal Newman Faith Resources Inc. PO Box 359, St Marys NSW 1790; phone 02 9673 2235; fax 02 9623 3181 email <fr@eardinalnewman.com.au> Cardinal Newman Catechist Consultants — 1st April, 2018 — HANDOUTS n. 158 “Clear, brief and easily assimilated by all” Governments and Compatibility with Religions for Prime Minister’s Expert Panel, third of 4 parts Download as a PDF SEPARATION of Church and State is Christian teaching from Jesus Christ: Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.  Matthew 22:21 Moreover, Governments rightly require religion to uphold natural morality, i.e. the natural moral law, “natural law”. Yet there are countries where one religion refuses to live peaceably with any other, and countries where atheism is enforced by totalitarian regimes. There is no Freedom of Religion. Natural morality can function aside from religion, though religions are usually its mainstay. All religions must uphold it, for it is “the bottom line”, nor can governments function without it. Gross public offences against natural law morality, e.g. pederasty, impose a grave obligation on a religion to correct its offender and a government its citizens. Cicero speaks on natural law Cicero was not a Christian but a pagan Roman lawyer, 106-43 B.C. However, he claimed that no one can reverse the morals built-in to human nature:- THERE IS in fact a true law, namely right reason, which is in accordance with nature, applies to all men, and is unchangeable and eternal. By its commands this law summons men to the performance of their duties; by its prohibitions it restrains them from doing wrong. Its commands and prohibitions always influence good men, but are without effect upon the bad. To invalidate this law by human legislation is never morally right, nor is it permissible ever to restrict its operation and to annul it wholly is impossible. Neither the Senate [of ancient republican Rome] nor the people can absolve us from our obligation to obey this law, and it requires no Sextus Aelius [a famous politician] to expound and interpret it. It will not lay down one rule at Rome and another at Athens, nor will it be one rule today and another tomorrow. But there will be one law, eternal and unchangeable, binding at all times and upon all peoples; and there will be, as it were, one common master and ruler of men, namely God, who is the author of this law, its interpreter and its sponsor. Cicero, Republic III, 22 (transl. by Brother Christian Moe FSC) He speaks of natural law again in another passage IF IT WERE NOT grounded in nature there would be no justice, and all virtues would cease to exist. How otherwise can magnanimity, love of one’s country, [Roman] pietas, meriting the good opinion of others and honouring obligations, exist? For these arise from the fact that we are by nature inclined to love our fellow men. This is the foundation of justice. Were this not so, then respect for our fellow men, and for the ceremonies and religions of the gods would cease — things that must be preserved, not out of fear but because of the link that exists between man and god [in coniunctione quae est homini cum deo]. If what is just is decided by the will of the people, or by decrees of princes or sentences of judges, then thievery could be lawful, as could adultery and perjury — if such were determined by the votes or opinions of the mob. Were such power to arise from the opinions and commands of unwise people, then by their will the very nature of things would be turned on its head. What is to stop such people declaring evil and pernicious things to be good and sound? If such Law [based on opinion] can make unjust things just, what’s to stop it making evil things, good? Nature is the norm that enables us to distinguish a good law from a bad one. And it’s not only justice and injustice that are judged by their nature, but also, of course, what is honourable and what is dishonourable. For, as common sense makes clear to us, and instills in our minds from our very beginnings, honour is derived from virtue, and dishonour from vice. It would be madness to think that their reality is determined by people’s opinion rather than by their very essence. Cicero, De Legibus. Liber Primus §§ 43-45 transl. by Father Paul Stenhouse MSC, Annals Australasia 2/2017 For Christians, St Paul proclaimed natural morality as the law “written in our hearts” Romans 2:15 INTERSECTION of the FREEDOM OF RELIGION and OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS A government, with its public service, is at the top of a pyramid of human beings. The ultimate source of government is family structure. Family life is the base of a pyramid. A husband and wife procreate and educate children. Over time, an extended family develops, hence a tribe, a clan, a people, a race, a country. Harmonious relationships between all these separate persons require some sort of control external to them. This provided by a government, usually working through a public service. Neither the people nor their parliaments can change morality. Rather, parliaments are there to implement, support and often enforce vital aspects of morality: e.g. do no murder. The alternative is to declare there is no morality. No civilization has ever survived that. [This is Thesis 2 again] By its origins, a government exists for the sake of those governed. Those governed do not exist for the sake of a government. Sound social thinking is called a social philosophy. Its key ideas are subsidiarity, solidarity and the common good. SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY The following Q&As are adapted from the Catholic Family Catechism Apostles’ Edition nn. 464-469. 1.      How is social philosophy based on natural morality ? 2.      Social philosophy is based on natural morality: 3.      Man is created by God, in His image; 4.      with the dignity of being a person; 5.      that is, with an intellect and freedom; 6.      called to an eternal destiny with God; 7.      with God-given rights and duties; 8.      blessed by God to live in society; 9.      which has authority to uphold rights. 2. Why is social philosophy complicated? Social philosophy is complicated because the exercise of personal rights may have to be limited by society to ensure the rights of others, in that the purpose of society is to uphold the common good. The Common Good 3. What is the common good? The common good is the social benefit in which every person shares and which society has a duty to uphold to ensure the natural human rights of everyone. It is not the greatest good of the greatest number, nor is it decided by majority vote. The common good* is not the same as the public good; the public good is the means by which the political society supports the common good. A “good” means a perfection or purpose, e.g. “After struggling for years, he made good.” Subsidiarity — a social Right — all for one" 4. What is the principle of subsidiarity? The principle of subsidiarity* is that society exists for the sake of persons and not persons for the sake of society, so society must help persons and smaller societies to function, and not usurp them, so that they enjoy freedom and rights and share in the common good. Subsidiarity means being supportive; it is not the same as subsidiary which means subordinate. Solidarity — a social Duty - “One for all” 5. What is the principle of solidarity? The principle of solidarity* is that every person and smaller society has a duty to make society workable by accepting its authority and so to contribute to the common good. Solidarity implies that some subordination is necessary. “All for one, One for all”* 6. What ensures both personal freedom and social order within society? Personal freedom and social order are ensured by a proper balance between subsidiarity and solidarity so that the common good is upheld. The common good is supportive of the person and the person is subordinate to the common good. More or less, “all for one” is subsidiarity, and “one for all” is solidarity. Social Evils 7. What happens if subsidiarity or solidarity is ignored? If subsidiarity is ignored, an excessive emphasis on solidarity* leads to socialism and totalitarianism, whether fascism or communism; if solidarity is ignored, an excessive emphasis on subsidiarity leads to capitalism and individualism. “To disregard these dangers is to rush headlong into the quicksands of Modernism in the moral, juridical and social order,” said Pope Pius XI, 1931, in Quadragesimo Anno §46. Society, Family and Person 8. When is socialization justifiable? Socialization is justifiable only as a last resort. “The function of the State’s authority is twofold: to protect and foster families and individuals, but neither to absorb them nor substitute itself for them.”* Divini illius magistri §19 Here ends the third part of the Submission to the Expert Panel into the Freedom of Religion.   REASON and RELIGION Further persuasion comes from a common sense appreciation of the logical sequences in the Ten Commandments by understanding their logic. There are three for God, then seven for man. God must be honoured in thought, word and deed: so nn. 1, 2 and 3 are on God, His Name, His Day. N. 4: parents must be honoured next to God, for they teach us out duties to others in deeds, words & thoughts. Nn. 5, 6 and 7: duties in deeds to Life, Marriage & Property; n. 8 our duty in words that don’t kill the good name of another; nn. 9 & 10, our duty to honour Marriage and Property in thought. Father James Tierney © The Rev. B.J.H. Tierney. Handouts are free and may be copied for any non-profit teaching purpose. However, donations to defray costs are welcome and should be made to the publisher and distributor, the Cardinal Newman Faith Resources Inc. PO Box 359, St Marys NSW 1790; phone 02 9673 2235; fax 02 9623 3181 email <fr@eardinalnewman.com.au> Cardinal Newman Catechist Consultants — 8th April, 2018 — HANDOUTS n. 159 “Clear, brief and easily assimilated by all” Lessons from Recent Canadian Experiences for Prime Minister’s Expert Panel, last of 4 parts Download as a PDF THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE is spread over more than ten years and anticipates what we can expect from the legalizing of same-sex unions as marriages in Australia. 1.    1. Accusations of intolerance and hate-speech have erupted against those upholding biological marriage and Christian marriage. This must not happen here? In an increasingly totalitarian State the thought-police will effectively criminalize non-conforming priests and religious ministers. Any safeguards for the adequate protection of the human right to Freedom of Religion or conscientious objections are likely to be removed as hateful and ultimately declared illegal by courts and tribunals. 3.    3. Motivation of the work of teachers in schools and doctors and nurses in hospitals and aged care is liable to be constrained by the thought-police. Church-based institutions may be forced to close to save their honour. Anti-discrimination tribunals are notoriously intolerant of conscientious objectors who are fined and silenced. Is this democracy in action? Only 2% of the 2% who are homosexuals wanted their union to be called a marriage. To redefine marriage as previously in Federal Law is totally disproportionate and an appalling price to pay for destroying families. Should ideology be legitimized in the cause of intolerance and pseudo-rights claiming this for the common good? The Yogyakarta 29 Principles to implement a world-wide sexual revolution were set out in a 200 page handbook in 2007. This revolution is proceeding apace. In reality, our recent proposed plebiscite became a straw vote to recognize homosexual unions as marriage, to implement a complete agenda for gender mainstreaming and to abolish all sexual morality and restraint. In a traditional family, an absolutely singular relationship exists between husband and wife. This extends to absolutely singular relationships between father and mother and their children, and between those children themselves. This forms the very fabric of human society No one else in all the world is related to anyone else in these unique relationships. Why ape countries who have regressed? Learn from their mistakes. Show the world true progress by upholding the primacy of biological marriage and family. Redefinition of marriage deprives children of a male or a female biological parent, simply on adult whim, and without regard for the rights and needs of children, resulting in child unnecessary abuse. The timely warnings in Aldous Huxley’s 1934 Brave New World and George Orwell's 1948 Nineteen Eighty Four have been ignored. If prosecutable in Australia, with fines, imprisonment and even lynch law, giving audience to one’s thoughts using traditional words like fatherhood, motherhood, father, mother, Mum, Dad will be forbidden. The Expert Panel into Freedom of Religion must prevent this from happening. The “No” case in the recent so-called plebiscite was strangled by Goebbel-style big lies told repeatedly on tax-payer funded TV, and also by Gramsci’s long march of the Freudian-Marxists through academia, media, services and businesses. The violence, perpetrated exclusively by the “Yes” case, ranged from hate-speech to brutal physical assault in the style of Nazi thugs terrorizing German voters before their last pre-war “democratic” election six years before World War II, the election that swept Hitler into power from 1933-1945 — and shattered Europe and the world. Will the same treatment already dealt out to Christians, with worse to come, be their legacy? Will a failure to respect Freedom of Religion be dealt out to other religions? The Expert Panel has grave responsibility for the consequences of its recommendations. WITHOUT A Vision, the PEOPLE Perish I conclude with an overview of what religion in general and Christian Churches more particularly have to offer society at large. A World-view The world-view sought by physicists is called GUT, Grand United Theory, also known as a Theory of Everything. In physics it relates fundamental forces like gravity, electricity, magnetism and nuclear forces to each other. The Law of the Inverse Square suggests there are links between the first three. More prosaically, a world-view is like the panoramic view from a hill top, to take in the whole picture in a sweeping glance, through 360°. The Christian World-view proclaims another sort of GUT, the Grand United Truth about mankind, about human dignity in its origin, human duty to imitate the goodness of God, and human destiny beyond bodily death to enjoy the happiness of God forever in Heaven, or to lose it forever in Hell. Take it or leave it, believe it or not, this world-view has transcendent grandeur. But is it true? Well, it’s an absolutely certain fact of history and of much present experience that it has done a lot of good. Sinners have repented and even become saints. The crippled, the sick, the depressed, the anguished, the addicted and the dying have been comforted to accept and adjust to their situation, and to achieve in spite of what they suffer. Schooling with a vision of upward and onward into Truth, Beauty, Goodness and God has improved the fate of many, especially the underprivileged. Hospitals, and particularly for maternity and for palliative care, have often outshone others whose ethos lacked the Christian world-view. It gives people something worthwhile to live for, to hope for, to strive for, to achieve and to inspire others to do likewise. Individual failures of Church members are a pathetic degradation into the same sordid sins of other human beings, especially when so much better was rightly expected of them, considering their privileged status. Prescinding for the moment from the harm they do to their victims, they are a testimony to the intensity of the struggle to be virtuous and the powerful hindrances along the way. The Christian world-view includes the Devil in rebellion against God and all goodness, out of envy and hate, and against all the goodness worked by God and the goodness He inspires in His creatures. The influence of the Devil is as empirically obvious as the effects of Original Sin. Incidentally, though popular opinion may have been swayed to the contrary by the pundits of the mass media and academe, the sordid behaviour of some churchmen is not unknown among politicians, policemen, publicans, pedagogues, even parents and the practitioners of medicine and the law. Such people never had, or have lost, the Word-view to lead them upward and onward; rather, they are reduced to living for nothing more than satisfying urges for pleasure, power and pelf. The Future of Democracy Prime Minister Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is a terrible form of government — but the problem remains that the alternatives are even worse." However, Solzhenitsyn said that democracy would not suit Russian tradition but a dictatorship would be tolerable if the dictator held himself responsible to God and to his conscience. The adherents of religions generally and Christianity in particular suffer from many obvious defects — but the alternative of no religion with a State-imposed anti-religious atheism have been proved far, far worse, as recently as in the last hundred years. The Expert Panel can let religions continue to prevent the breaking of the bruised reeds of humanity or its smouldering flax — a prophecy of the work of the Messiah in Isaiah 42:3 and its fulfilment in Christ, Matthew 12:20 — by really ensuring Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Thought, Freedom of Conscience, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Publish one's Thoughts, and Freedom of Action on one’s legitimate beliefs. Why enforce Nineteen Eighty Four and Brave New World — the road to misery? Why placate feelings offended at what they don’t like? Better to put up with such feelings, as Christians do, and not resorting to litigation and make the world worse. “Without a vision, the people perish” — based on Proverbs 29:18 in King James Version. Father James Tierney Here ends the last of four Handouts on the submission to the Expert Panel on Freedom of Religion.   Acceptance, Adjustment, Achievement living in this age of the Church and the world The Church of England has already been through similar situations in which are lessons for us now:- Hymn for the Church (Tune Aurelia “O Jesus Christ, remember”, metre 7676D) THE CHURCH’S ONE FOUNDATION, Is Jesus Christ her Lord; She is His new creation By water and the word: From Heav’n He came and sought her To be His holy Bride, With His own Blood He bought her, And for her life He died. 2. Elect from ev’ry nation, Yet one o'er all the earth, Her charter of salvation One Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses With ev'ry grace endued. 3. Though with a scornful wonder Men see her sore oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, And heresies distressed. Yet saints their watch are keeping, Their cry goes up, ‘How long?’ And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song. 4. Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation Of peace for evermore; Till with the vision glorious Her longing eyes are blest, And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest. 5. Yet she on earth hath union With God the Three-in-One, And mystic sweet communion With those whose rest is one, O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we Like them, the meek and lowly, On high may dwell with Thee. Father James Tierney © The Rev. B.J.H. Tierney. 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