Life Ethic the Consistent Ethic

Life Ethic

The Consistent Ethic of Life and U.S. politics

Catholic social teaching in the modern era outlines a "consistent ethic of life" that promotes and protects the rights to life and basic human dignity for all individuals. This ethic has been brought to bear on a wide variety of issues, from abortion to capital punishment to even more complex issues such as war, poverty, and racism (Consistent Life.org 2010). Violence in all its forms, and for practically any purpose, is denounced by this consistent life ethic, and especially when such violence is state-sanctioned or state-sponsored (Consistent Life.org 2010; Overberg 2010). This violence, according to a pastoral letter from the U.S. bishops in 1983, includes any deprivation of basic human rights, economic exploitation, sexual exploitation, neglect or abuse the elderly or of any helpless individuals, and many other more direct forms of what are traditionally thought of as violence (Overberg 2010). This consistent life ethic, as preached and practiced by many Catholics and Catholic organizations, has had an interesting relationship with both the "left" and "right" political views and platforms as they exist and have persisted for decades in the United States.

In many ways, the consistent life ethic is more in keeping with the left and more liberal viewpoints in United States politics than the right -- the issues of social justice and economic equality -- or at least a lack of the exploitation that the left sees as endemic to the free market -- find common ground in both the liberal and Catholic viewpoints. In addition, the views on war and capital punishment, both of which are overt acts of state-sponsored violence, are condemned by the consistent life ethic and m by many left-leaning politicians and social commentators.

At the same time, there are certain issues where the consistent life ethics finds definite and vociferous points of disagreement with left and liberal views, most especially when it comes to the issue of abortion. The "pro-choice" point-of-view, which dominates liberal politics and politicians in the United States, is seen as tantamount to an allowance of murder by the consistent life ethic, a view that is shared by many on the right or conservative side of politics in the United States. The consistent life ethic view of pornography and other issues of sexuality also find more agreement with the right than the left in the U.S. Conservative politicians and theorists tend to believe in a more limited government that does not have as much in the way of instigating and funding social programs or directly promoting economic equality, but has a somewhat stricter moral control on the populous; in the former element, it is at a disagreement with the consistent life ethic viewpoint, while in its latter qualities is more in keeping with this Catholic perspective.

Both the right and left side of politics find agreement and disagreement with the consistent life ethic and its specific and general teachings. Preserving the sanctity and dignity of human life in all manners is the central aim of this viewpoint, and it is also the central aim of the two major (and highly generalized) political viewpoints in the United States. These viewpoints differ somewhat in their definitions of dignity, and even more so in their determinations of what is state responsibility and what constitutes and over-abundance of state power. The consistent life ethic is a personal viewpoint, and thus avoids this issue.

Liberation Theology

Liberation theology, a movement within the social practices and doctrine of the Catholic Church that began in earnest in Latin America during the 1960s, is a method of interpreting Biblical exhortations and predictions in the modern world in a way that is directly and practically relevant in the day-to-day lives of people and societies throughout the world. The primary concepts of this brand of Catholic theology include viewing God as a liberator of humanity and the need for solidarity in sentiment and action with the poor and downtrodden of the world (Fahlbusch & Bromiley 1997, pp. 259). Simply put, liberation theology posits that God exists as a liberator for all of the people of the world, and that it is the job of the Church and its members to bring about this liberation of the world's population inasmuch as is possible through direct action assisting the poor and through larger social and governmental interventions (Fahlbusch & Bromiley 1997, pp. 258-64).

One of the central elements of liberation theology is to read the signs of the times in light of the gospels (Fahlbusch & Bromiley 1997, pp 259). This requires that real-world current events be analyzed according to the commandments and interpreted values of the scriptures, and that action be performed from this same perspective. Working proactively to change situations of injustice and oppression are necessitated by this "trading the signs" perspective.