Comments on: Read The Declaration on the Fourth http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/06/29/read-the-declaration-on-the-fourth/ Politics and Culture from a Catholic perspective. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:36:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: S.B. http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/06/29/read-the-declaration-on-the-fourth/#comment-3168 S.B. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:01:59 +0000 http://the-american-catholic.com/?p=10196#comment-3168 MM, I'm surprised that you haven't at least changed the graphic after the obvious has been pointed out . . . not that I expect you ever to correct an intellectual error, but you do occasionally try to keep up the pretense of being against abortion, a pretense that is utterly belied by ridiculing "red states" for having less abortion. MM, I’m surprised that you haven’t at least changed the graphic after the obvious has been pointed out . . . not that I expect you ever to correct an intellectual error, but you do occasionally try to keep up the pretense of being against abortion, a pretense that is utterly belied by ridiculing “red states” for having less abortion.

]]> By: First Thoughts — A First Things Blog http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/06/29/read-the-declaration-on-the-fourth/#comment-3167 First Thoughts — A First Things Blog Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:01:36 +0000 http://the-american-catholic.com/?p=10196#comment-3167 [...] are several interesting posts up at the blog The American Catholic on the Declaration of Indepenence and the American [...] [...] are several interesting posts up at the blog The American Catholic on the Declaration of Indepenence and the American [...]

]]> By: S.B. http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/06/29/read-the-declaration-on-the-fourth/#comment-3166 S.B. Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:54:48 +0000 http://the-american-catholic.com/?p=10196#comment-3166 By the way, MM, nice jaw-dropper over on Vox Nova. I mean, how did you not think of the fact that teenage birthrates are inversely related to abortion rates? That is, Obama-voting states have more abortion, which is why their teenage birthrates are lower. For evidence, see http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/pro-life-states-have-lower-abortion.html Congrats on that. By the way, MM, nice jaw-dropper over on Vox Nova. I mean, how did you not think of the fact that teenage birthrates are inversely related to abortion rates? That is, Obama-voting states have more abortion, which is why their teenage birthrates are lower. For evidence, see http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/pro-life-states-have-lower-abortion.html

Congrats on that.

]]> By: Phillip http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/06/29/read-the-declaration-on-the-fourth/#comment-3165 Phillip Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:51:38 +0000 http://the-american-catholic.com/?p=10196#comment-3165 Again from the Compendium. Note that the Church teaches that the person finds purpose at the individual and social level. Any philosophy that does not take this into account is flawed from a Catholic perspective. "384. The human person is the foundation and purpose of political life.[775] Endowed with a rational nature, the human person is responsible for his own choices and able to pursue projects that give meaning to life at the individual and social level. Being open both to the Transcendent and to others is his characteristic and distinguishing trait. Only in relation to the Transcendent and to others does the human person reach the total and complete fulfilment of himself. This means that for the human person, a naturally social and political being, “social life is not something added on” [776] but is part of an essential and indelible dimension." Again from the Compendium. Note that the Church teaches that the person finds purpose at the individual and social level. Any philosophy that does not take this into account is flawed from a Catholic perspective.

“384. The human person is the foundation and purpose of political life.[775] Endowed with a rational nature, the human person is responsible for his own choices and able to pursue projects that give meaning to life at the individual and social level. Being open both to the Transcendent and to others is his characteristic and distinguishing trait. Only in relation to the Transcendent and to others does the human person reach the total and complete fulfilment of himself. This means that for the human person, a naturally social and political being, “social life is not something added on” [776] but is part of an essential and indelible dimension.”

]]> By: Phillip http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/06/29/read-the-declaration-on-the-fourth/#comment-3164 Phillip Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:40:35 +0000 http://the-american-catholic.com/?p=10196#comment-3164 I would say he is a person if only in his relationship with God. Just as a hermit is. The point is that there are no real, solitary individuals. Such a concept only exists in philosophy. Rather everyone is a individual person that as called to relationship with others. Such Enlightenment philosophies that argued there are radical individuals may have had some impact on the Founding Fathers but the extent is still unclear and far from making definitive pronouncements about the impurity of the Declaration and other founding documents. Rather the Declaration and other such documents are in part idealistic and in part practical. The practical reality that all persons are individual persons is encompassed in the thought of the Declaration and is again consistent with Catholic thought. I would say he is a person if only in his relationship with God. Just as a hermit is. The point is that there are no real, solitary individuals. Such a concept only exists in philosophy. Rather everyone is a individual person that as called to relationship with others. Such Enlightenment philosophies that argued there are radical individuals may have had some impact on the Founding Fathers but the extent is still unclear and far from making definitive pronouncements about the impurity of the Declaration and other founding documents.

Rather the Declaration and other such documents are in part idealistic and in part practical. The practical reality that all persons are individual persons is encompassed in the thought of the Declaration and is again consistent with Catholic thought.

]]> By: S.B. http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/06/29/read-the-declaration-on-the-fourth/#comment-3163 S.B. Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:15:02 +0000 http://the-american-catholic.com/?p=10196#comment-3163 <i>The “individual” is sovereign — in other words, he has the right to do as he wishes as long as he does not trample on the toes of another. The “person” is only defined in the sense of a relationship to others — this is a Trinitarian anthropology.</i> So Robinson Crusoe isn't a "person"? Or what? It's still perfectly mysterious what political implications you think you can draw from this purported distinction, and why. The “individual” is sovereign — in other words, he has the right to do as he wishes as long as he does not trample on the toes of another. The “person” is only defined in the sense of a relationship to others — this is a Trinitarian anthropology.

So Robinson Crusoe isn’t a “person”? Or what?

It’s still perfectly mysterious what political implications you think you can draw from this purported distinction, and why.

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