The Issue of Mortal Sin and Fundamental Option: COMMENT ON NUMBER 70 OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR

 

The heated debate and seemingly apparent dichotomy between human freedom which plays itself out in some erroneous conceptions of the autonomy of reason in our world today, and the demands of the moral law which is an expression of divine wisdom, formed the basis for the encyclical of the holy father. He would state quite clearly that the autonomy of human reason by which man expresses his freedom of choice in no way suggests that man is the creator of moral norms. Rather, it suggests that man has been endowed with the rational and practical capacities to do the good and avoid evil. Bestowed thus with these capacities, man expresses his fundamental freedom- something which is more foundational, deeper and divergent from the freedom of choice in particular-singular acts, in what is aptly called a fundamental option.

THREE REASONS WHY HUMAN RIGHTS ARE IMPORTANT IN THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH.

 

INTRODUCTION

In the briefing paper which was the result of a research carried out by the Center for Reproductive Rights in October 2011, while trying to defend the position that women have a right to decide what happens to their body as regards abortion, stated that “International law guarantees women the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.[1]” While we seek to present some of the very many reasons why human rights are so vital in the church’s teachings, it is also important we understand that not only the church, but also the secular society, upholds the right of every human person. Although, this latter sometimes tends towards a dangerous humanism, the point remains that every human possesses an indispensable and fundamental right to life, association, religion, expression and so on.