It is very recent. The question we each have to ask is "how are we in relation to the standard of appropriate courage?" What good does this do for a person, what good does it do for society? What do they have to do in respect to courage? Lewis and Don Giovanni Calabria (the authors of the exchange of letters — though we have only C.S. Let me illustrate this with an example. Like supposed "American values" cited by President Clinton, the Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien uses the term "Canadian values" quite often when he wants to affirm something he thinks we all affirm. [7] Though the article did not satisfy me that "the language of values" has any place in a Church document, it did satisfy me that the Holy Father means to use the Polish and English equivalents of "values" and what we are dealing with is not a mere translation error: more's the pity. On the island I live on — "spirituality" includes everything from crystals through to all manner of syncretistic religious practices and this wide-eyed use of "consciousness" and "awareness." Well, because virtues fit within a multi-cultural framework. A term such as "Catholic values", to return to that phrase for a moment, makes no claim on culture whatsoever because people hearing that think that those principles or "values" are no more and no less than the "values" that are situated within Catholicism. Now on that level, I am not afraid of it at all, because I think that can be the beginning of a pursuit towards God. Christian values historically refers to the values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ and taught by Christians throughout the history of the religion. The dignity of every person, independent of ethnicity, creed, gender, sexuality, age or ability, is the foundation of CST. Many Christians would find this incomprehensible. © 1996-2019 Catholic Education Resource Center | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Sitemap, CERC is an entirely reader-supported web site and non-profit charity. Let me give you an example from the province in which we sit this evening, British Columbia. They knew that if you try, as our generations have increasingly tried, to place Christian moral principles upon the top of that kind of corroded or corrupted base, you will in fact corrode and corrupt Christianity itself. These [the Cardinal virtues] are also known as the 'natural' virtues (which are perceived by natural reason), and these [the Theological virtues] are called 'supernatural' (or "inspired" virtues given by revelation). Truth or "The Good" are realities that are ought there to be pursued, learned, taught and shared. They have lost their power, or they have been twisted, and in perhaps no area of language is this more important than with respect to morality, and with no term is it clearer than with the term values. You gave us a clear definition of values; can you give us a definition of virtues? But it will not work. What I want to do is explain why that is. [2]. The proper awareness of truth categories found outside the Gospel and that can be incorporated and enriched by it, was considered important by Lewis. Too much? I don't think so. How do you handle the Pope's dealing with the word 'values'? See: Joseph Pearce's, In a telephone conversation with the writer a year or so before his death (in 1988) George Grant commented on how many intelligent people just did not understand the "values" problem. However, if you take some of the sentences out of context, it looks like he is speaking, and I hate to say this but it is true, the mushy language of 'values'. It is not "imposing values" but "teaching in truth" for, after all, how we learn to love is in the context of the lives we choose so that loving will be highly personal as well as shared. Consider, for a moment, the outrage expressed at certain logging practices or when a politician fiddles the books. It is not convincing to deal with moral traditions this way. Prior to that, people didn't speak about values as moral language. A timid person must build up their courage by getting, in a sense, more of it. Because they think it is a work of the mind that will lead us into boasting, and there is a very strong risk within certain kinds of evangelicalism of rejection of anything on the natural order, and reason, if they perceive it to be natural reason, they see it as a diminution of God's sovereignty, power, and majesty, as well as a diminution of grace. That is what I mean by taking a little bit and plugging it in. That's nonsense but he could not bring himself to say that we get our grounding for respect of human beings from our historic commitment to a religion which sees each man, woman and child as a unique creation of a loving Creator. Those things are so much richer, so much more powerful, so much more helpful to culture in public education, so much better as starting guides for human life than what we currently offer — let's go back to the list — the "values" of "physical attractiveness" or "an adventuresome life". The really key distinction is, the key thing we want to point out to them is, everyone has faith. Be celibate; give everything you have to the poor; love everyone), but enforces them loosely. People are never trea… What are the "values of Canadians". Later in the 1950's for example in Allan Bloom's fine introduction to his translation of Plato's Republic there is a growing awareness that "values" is bankrupt as a moral language. Matthew records Jesus’ primer on values in Matthew 6:1-34. Every single atom of creation is held in being, moment-by-moment, by God's grace. From the laity to the clergy, every member of the Catholic Church tries to follow a prescribed moral standard and seeks to avoid living a life of sin. Christianity can only be established on the firm base of truth and confidence in truth and the substance of objective virtues. Yet that is our current state in Western education — and, sadly, all too often religious education, even Catholic education, is implicated in this slide into "values relativism." No. Or when we speak about "family values", those other values relative to families, and if I don't like the person who is speaking, or the group they represent, it is only their personal views and their values simply "slide off" and have no grip between us to catch onto. Speaking as a former Protestant, it is because they do not see Grace as operative in creation — nothing on the natural order is anything we can boast about because every single atom of our being is a gift. The teacher is expressly told to not judge the children's selection of what they value most. I have done, in part thanks to Fr. The modern person often wants to say "oh, faith is for religious people. So now as we saw a glimpse of it from the Supreme Court of Canada in the Rodriguez case dealing with whether we should maintain the law against "euthanasia", the judges will grasp at some straw sticking out of the tradition. They are not values. I would like to say this though: This problem is so deep, right now, in all Western democracies, Canada and the United States amongst them, that when we have an issue like Euthanasia, and that issue goes through the courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada, how is it debated? And we know that with respect to aesthetic choices such as clothing, or sports, or whether I will be (like the people in the next building) at bingo tonight or listening to a talk on values, those are, in a sense, personal choices that can be related to aesthetics — to how things look. They would begin, in little things, say speaking up for someone who is unjustly criticized — that is an example of courage. ", There are, of course, many reasons, but if you talk to psychiatrists who work with this age group, they will tell you that one of the most profound reasons is that these children have no sense of purpose. I have set out for you some of the categories. In Rodriguez we saw that the bit the judges felt they needed was something called the intrinsic value of human life. Regional cultures may have different approaches to family, marriage and gender roles as well as death rituals. Though we may think these terms have some real identifiable meaning they do not. The modern view is, in essence, that "I don't conform myself to the truth, I make the truth by willing it." This is how "virtue" is similar and dissimilar to "values.". What is interesting is, these things are not simply, "you have yours, I have mine". Simply put, everyone is a believer. It was a paper on the Canadian philosopher George Grant, who passed away in 1988. What wisdom means is different, richer, fuller, than what is natural. And guess what? The secular around us, this whole secular society, has to be a realm of competing faith claims. They usually call them the “Catholic” approach and the “Protestant” approach, but the distinction has little to do with theology. So he has a whole bunch of stories on courage, and some of them may illustrate a lack of courage or so on, but it would have been helpful to have an introductory essay to set out the 'Golden Mean' — the point of balance or middle way between certain types of the virtues. Learn about the order and its history. (This is how she is quoted in a book written on her life. Pride was seen by St. Thomas as the greatest sin, and it is the basis of all sinfulness. How would this work with respect to an important virtue. In some places in the world, people practice Catholicism publicly, with religious displays in city squares, streets and even stores, while in other places, religious practice is considered private, and reserved for the home and sacred spaces. A Refutation of Moral Relativism Peter Kreeft presents not just a strong case against moral relativism, but a refutation of the philosophy that no society has ever survived. When you've got children killing themselves at an ever-increasing rate when they are young — our suicide rate in Canada, amongst 10-14 year-olds has gone up 1367% between 1955 and 1995 causes must be sought and attempts made at solutions. I spoke at a Catholic Educator's conference a few years ago and was shocked and disappointed how speaker after speaker spoke in the "language of values" without realizing that this language is the enemy of the very "truth" such speaker's believed themselves to be promoting. Catholic schools are an integral part of the Church and are Christ-centred communities based on gospel values. If there is time for questions, I'd be happy to entertain some. But why is that view wrong? What do we mean by them? This phrase used by religious people all the time, more by Protestants than Catholics, but used all the time, 'so-and —so is an unbeliever' 'so-and-so is a believer' is true if we are speaking very carefully about belief in Christ, or belief in Christianity. Grace, which is God’s intervention, bolsters a person’s soul, providing the necessary oomph to do the right thing.. So all of the virtues, in a sense, flow out of this deepening of our understanding and our practice of caritas. It certainly cannot be a realm without faith (see above) though religious believers often speak of it as if it is. Catholic definition is - of, relating to, or forming the church universal. Hamilton's provision of one of these encyclicals in the Latin version years ago, a comparison of the Latin and English texts. The form, the jelly mould that gives shape to all of those vices, is pride. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different schools of thought. Why is it that these suicides have increased so markedly amongst what my friend Dr. Peter Kyne calls "the canaries of a generation? Remember the three Theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity? Interestingly, when you look at the Church's settled document, that is, the Latin text, which all these go back into for history, in none of those is the term 'values' present. 'Metaphysics,' I suppose, could be misused or co-opted, like 'spirituality' could be, but by it I simply mean those aspects of existence which are not explicable, not verifiable empirically. Therefore there is nothing for us to boast about by exercising any of the natural categories. Slowly but surely, books are starting to be written about it which will make the point more and more obvious that this is not a language than can be used in the moral area. If the end is spoken about as living virtuously, where virtue is crowned by love and love is shown to us by particular acts and stories then we have something to teach and something to learn. May 30, 2000. Ethical behavior involves actions that are consistent with personal beliefs and values. But, here we note something interesting in terms of our discussion of "values" earlier. I don't know anything about Shirley Maclean's use of metaphysics, and I am surprised that she even uses the term, but terms like 'spirituality' or 'metaphysics', like an airy use of "consciousness" or "awareness" or "energy" might well be used in the contemporary age by people in a sort of disconnected way. Every tradition of culture (all cultures are formed by their religious conceptions) acknowledges the importance of developing the virtues and each tradition has its stories to illustrate the cardinal virtues. So all of these terms he acts that way, it is second nature to him. A lot of religious people play right into that. And does it explain sin, and evil, and self-sacrifice, human dignity, why we all have worth, and why we are all brothers and sisters, why love is greater than hate, fear worse than hope and meaning richer than nihilism? D. Deacon, Diaconate: A third degree of the hierarchy of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, after bishop and priest. Yet this language of values, where all morals, all the categories of morality (and I will get to those in a minute), all of what used to be called virtues, are treated as values, makes no distinction between justice and the colour of a T-shirt. The key thing is to develop good habits. I believe that a school should be a place where children are encouraged to practice and model the life of Jesus and continue God’s Reign through the values of equity, respect, tolerance and forgiveness. The virtuous person is the person who lives well. That is the sort of 'thesis' that I have tried to develop in this talk. Let's take a look at the virtue of "courage" for a moment. It includes the withdrawal of the mind from external and earthly affairs in order to attend to God and Divine things. All these cardinal virtues have been transformed, ultimately, by Christ; in the person of Christ. Through stories and narratives, like Aesop's Fables, Scriptural Stories or exposure to and discussion of such sources as William Bennett's Book of Virtues, alongside a framework of the virtues (content and structure of virtues, discussion of habit, the "golden mean" etc.). Benson, Iain T. "Values and Virtues: A Modern Day Confusion," Talk given in Powell River, B.C. For Catholics, this is not strange because they know all about the notion of interior life, the development of the interior life, the notion of the confessional leading to resolve to proceed in a particular direction. His book Ethics (1953) is pock-marked with a use of "values" language that is interesting because it is used in some sections of the book almost interchangeably with "moral virtues" as if the writer simply did not appreciate at all what was missing (and included) in "values" that was not included (and missing) in "virtues". We use those terms all the time. Instead: The “Catholic” approach has extremely high moral standards (e.g. When we speak about 'Catholic values', we are speaking not about the truth that the Catholic faith upholds, but to the world around us, we are speaking about the values that a Catholic has. Just quickly I will touch on a few of these other terms to show why it is crucial to re-think how these terms are used as well. It does not assist this important series of tasks to further a division which rules out faith claims of one sort (religious) but gives priviledged access to another (atheistic faith claims for example). They, like all the virtues, have a structure that can be taught and that makes sense. What it is called is 'values', and the whole section is called 'A framework for values', and the list of things it contains includes these sorts of things: "physical attractiveness", "an adventuresome life", "achieving something special", and so on. They are transcendent, so they would include, traditionally, things like beauty, truth, goodness, justice, love. We have a metaphysics, whether or not we know it. I think that what we will see is the Church gradually getting rid of the term 'values', wherever it appears. The world is not divided between those that have faith and those that don't however much contemporary anti-religion (or poor religious articulations) suggests this is how it works. Another interesting thing is that, within the Christian tradition, we say that Grace, the order of Grace, "perfects the order of nature", so that for Christians, what justice means is different, is richer than what natural reason can perceive. Presbyterian Minister Philip J. Lee has written a detailed and powerful account of the presence of and tendency towards Gnosticism in certain aspects of contemporary evangelicalism: see, A recent book containing an interesting list of religious and a few non-religious writers of the 20th Century, contains, in its subtitle, an example of this error. It is not simply or at all a question of "you have yours, I have mine"? What does he mean by that? Why? In addition to this, however, there is a serious prevalence of "values language" in the work of such otherwise excellent thinkers as Dietrich Von Hildebrand. They have to, in a sense, reduce it. If you learn to love well, you will learn to live well. This means that in the schools we can and must develop a rich tapestry of stories and examples of the cardinal virtues (and other natural virtues) including justice, wisdom, moderation, and courage. We welcome inquiries and feedback: 508-793-3869 • catholicsandcultures@holycross.edu, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (India), Obando: Feast of the Three Saints (Philippines), Peñafrancia & Divino Rostro (Philippines). She wants to have her values system recognized and supported by the courts. Well, their need is the opposite. So, we have got to get back to, and forward to, a richer language — for culture and for character. You are building on this perhaps erroneous primary nature that you had to learn to do the other things well. We believe we are created in God’s image and that we, and all creation, are basically good. The Catholic school is a faith school that expresses a set of core values that can be described as human, religious, Christian and Catholic. We can use it in schools. ture (klchr) n. – The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all … The real question is, what are people's faiths in? How would you distinguish your use of "Metaphysics" and Shirley Maclean's? We have had our moral language stripped from us in a serious way — it has been replaced by this 'weasel language' of values, and we all use it. The greatest of all the virtues "the form of the virtues" is charity (just as, the "form of all the vices" is pride). Let's recall for a moment what George Grant said about values language? When the Pope's "values" language uses are translated into Latin they go back into the term 'bonum' or one of its variants, all of which mean something like, 'the good'. I think that what Lewis means is that if you try and make people Christians, over top of this language of "values", or over top of what is known philosophically as 'subjectivism' (the idea that whatever is true is only because I choose it) you will corrupt Christian belief. The question isn't whether or not we have some kind of metaphysics. Catholics of different countries and regions of the world practice and celebrate the faith in diverse ways. Catholic Faith therefore gives hope to everyone including those who had committed grave wrong in the past. But prior to the late 1950's I am not aware of any sustained criticism of "values" language. It's interesting — William Bennett, who used to be the Secretary of Education of the United States, was told by the publishers that they wanted to call it the 'Book of Values,' and Bennett said "No, the Book of Values is the Sears catalogue." The education must build up a notion of moral citizenship. Such spiritual "tasters" are like thin and elegantly dressed ladies at a smorgasbord dipping an ever so gentle finger into this and that and tasting it. If I used it after five universities, you can bet everyone is using it. Too little? There is an urgent need to reclaim an understanding of "the secular" that allows it to be properly described and for faith claims (religious and non) to debate openly about their positions within it. Some people are very timid. How to use catholic in a sentence. Like many of the things that the center does, and many of the projects I'm involved with generally, it's a task really of clarifying language. 62 But please note, the natural virtues are much closer to the supernatural virtues than either are to any category of "values.". The Catholic Church, in her formal teaching (as opposed to the less finely-honed expressions of devotees) has ever made the distinction. 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