chapter 7: the fifth commandment our moral life in christ

Chapter 7: The Fifth CommandmentOUR MORAL LIFE IN CHRIST

ANTICIPATORY SET Discuss the story of Cain and Abel:

❏ One of the effects of sin is alienation, making one a stranger to God, neighbor, oneself, and even the natural world.

How is the idea of alienation present in the story of Cain and Abel?

1. The Sacredness of Human Life (pp. 180–183)

BASIC QUESTIONS ❏ What makes human life sacred? ❏ What is the main thrust of the Fifth

Commandment? ❏ What is scandal?

KEY IDEAS

❏ Every person has been created in the image and likeness of God. Every human life is sacred and must be protected and nurtured.

❏ We have the absolute duty to respect, defend, and protect human life.

❏ Scandal is an attitude or behavior that leads another to do evil. It is a grave sin when it leads others to mortal sin by deed or omission.


FOCUS QUESTIONS

❏ What is the main thrust of the Fifth Commandment? It is the absolute duty to respect, defend, and protect human life.

❏ What does “You shall not kill” essentially mean? It means that killing an innocent person is a flagrant violation of natural law and, therefore, a most grievous sin.

❏ What is the positive side of the command not to kill? It affirms the dignity of the human person.


FOCUS QUESTIONS

❏ What is scandal? When does it become grave? It is an attitude or behavior that leads another to do evil. It becomes grave when it leads others to mortal sin.

❏ Why do those in authority have a special obligation to avoid scandal? Those who by nature or office are obliged to teach, educate, lead, or govern others have a greater influence on people than others do.

❏ What are some ways teenagers cause scandal to others? Any bad behavior provides a bad example that others may imitate. More specifically, recommending music or videos with immoral content can scandalize others. Immodest fashions can lead others into impurity.


GUIDED EXERCISE Free write for five minutes (1) on some event in which you were injured or experienced the hatred of another person and (2) on whether you could forgive that offense against their dignity. GUIDED EXERCISE Conduct a think / pair / share on the following question:

❏ What is the distinction between stewardship and dominion when it comes to human life? GUIDED EXERCISE Think / pair / share:

❏ What are examples of authorities who give scandal?


CLOSURE

Write a paragraph which accounts for the following ideas within the Fifth Commandment:

❏ Killing an innocent person is a grievous sin. ❏ We must respect, defend, and protect human

life. ❏ The human person has an inalienable dignity. ❏ We are to show mercy and not have anger in our

hearts.


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

❏ Study Questions 1–8 (p. 200) ❏ Workbook Questions 1–5 ❏ Read “Respect for Our Own Lives” through

“Respect for the Lives of Others” (pp. 183–186)


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Free write for five minutes on why it is morally acceptable to hunt animals but not human beings.


ANTICIPATORY SET: A mini‑lecture on Epicureanism, puritanism, and Catholic realism.

❏ Epicureanism is an ancient but ever‑recurring philosophy that holds that pleasure is the highest and perhaps only good. To a large extent, our culture today is heavily Epicurean.

❏ Puritanism is just as ancient and enduring, but it is not very evident in our culture today. It is the view that pleasure, especially bodily pleasures like eating, drinking, dancing, sports, and sex, is morally suspect, if not outright sinful in itself.

❏ The Catholic realistic position affirms that pleasure is a good and necessary thing, created by God. God is happy when people enjoy good things. However, given the reality of Original Sin, we have the tendency to either make pleasure our god, becoming obsessed with it (like the Epicurean), or to see the trouble that comes from pleasure and reject it as evil (like the Puritan).

2. Respect for Our Own and Others’ Lives (pp. 183–186)

BASIC QUESTIONS ❏ What are sins against one’s physical self? ❏ What are the sins against respect for the lives of others? ❏ How should we treat our enemies?

KEY IDEAS

❏ These include those that disrespect the human body, including suicide, cult of the body, gluttony, and substance abuse.

❏ Sins against the Fifth Commandment injunction to respect the physical well‑being of others include murder, violence, anger, hatred, abusive language, resentment, omissions of service, racism, failures to treat an enemy or oppressor with love, and revenge.

❏ Turning the other cheek does not mean pacifism or victimhood but rather grounding our response to evil in love.


FOCUS QUESTIONS

❏ What does the natural law demand from us in regard to our own physical lives? We are to cultivate good health, avoid physical injury, and protect our own dignity.

❏ What are the sins that disrespect one’s own life? Some of the sins that show a lack of respect for one’s own life include suicide, cult of the body, gluttony, and substance abuse.

❏ How does the commandment of love enrich the Fifth Commandment? The Fifth Commandment orders us not to harm others. The commandment of love directs us to benefit others to the highest degree possible.

❏ What is the period of time that encompasses a natural human life? Human life on earth begins at conception and ends with death.


❏ What is unique about man? Man is made in the image and likeness of God, made directly for God’s glory, and called to share in God’s everlasting life.

❏ What makes human life sacred? Man is sacred because he is made in the image of God and is willed for his own sake.

❏ What is the danger in seeing human life as possessing only a subjective value? The failure to recognize the human person as a son or daughter of God makes us extremely vulnerable to manipulation or actual destruction if the whims of society or convenience so dictate.

❏ How valuable is human life? The dignity of human life transcends the value of all material creation.


GUIDED EXERCISE Paragraph shrink on the paragraph beginning, “The sense of the text here...” (p. 186).


Guided Exercise Complete the following graphic to organize the material on sins against respect for self.


GRAPHIC ORGANIZER Complete the table on sins against respect of others.


GUIDED EXERCISE: Suicide

❏ Is the act of suicide a serious matter, capable of being a mortal sin?

❏ Did Judas go to Hell for his suicide?

❏ Do people in general commit a mortal sin in suicide?

❏ If a person does commit suicide freely and knowingly, what most likely is that sin?

❏ What about mentally ill persons who commit suicide?


CLOSURE Write a paragraph on the major sins against respect for others.


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

❏ Study Questions 9–13 (p. 200) ❏ Practical Exercises 2, 3, 5 (p. 201) ❏ Workbook Questions 6–11 ❏ Read “Abortion” through “Euthanasia and

Assisted Suicide” (pp. 186–191)


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Brainstorm positive ways teenagers can live the Fifth Commandment.


ANTICIPATORY SET Read and discuss Supplementary Reading 1, The Hippocratic Oath. This oath was written by Hippocrates, the Greek “father of medicine,” in the fourth century BC and is still pledged by doctors today. What was the doctor pledging to do and not to do?

3. The Beginning and End of Life (pp. 186–191)

BASIC QUESTIONS ❏ How consistent is the Church’s teaching on abortion? ❏ Why is in vitro fertilization a violation of the Fifth

Commandment? ❏ Why is embryonic stem‑cell research immoral? ❏ What are euthanasia and assisted suicide?

KEY IDEAS

❏ The Magisterium of the Church has consistently proclaimed the grievously sinful nature of abortion throughout her history.

❏ While in vitro fertilization is also opposed to the Sixth and Ninth Commandments for other reasons, it violates the Fifth Commandment because it requires the production and destruction of so‑called “spare” human embryos.

❏ Embryonic stem‑cell research is a violation of the Fifth Commandment because it requires the destruction of human embryos. Non‑embryonic stem‑cell research can be morally licit.

❏ Euthanasia is an action or an omission of an action that causes a person’s death in order to eliminate suffering. Assisted suicide is suicide with the aid of others. Both euthanasia and assisted suicide violate the Fifth Commandment.


❏ When does a new person begin to exist? He or she exists from the moment of conception.

❏ Who is the most innocent and defenseless of all human persons? The unborn child who is developing in his or her mother’s womb is most defenseless.

❏ What does Tradition teach about abortion? The Church has always condemned abortion. The earliest written record is in the Didache, written ca. AD 80.

❏ What are the three types of induced abortions? They are eugenic abortion (performed because of a malformation of the fetus), therapeutic abortion (performed because of a danger to maternal health), and psychological or psychosocial abortion (performed for psychological, economic, or social reasons).


❏ Is there any scientific basis for claiming the embryo or fetus is not a person? No. From the biological point of view, the fertilized egg in the womb is a completely new organism with its own, unique genetic code which, in time, will fully develop.

❏ What is the penalty for abortion according to Canon Law? It is automatic excommunication, the exclusion of the baptized person from the sacramental life of the Church. This applies to the person performing the abortion, the mother, and all who cooperate in the act.

❏ What is a common effect of abortion on the mother and others involved? They experience deep and long‑lasting emotional and psychological pain.


GUIDED EXERCISE Work with a partner to create a list of reasons women get abortions.

❏ Why do these reasons not justify an abortion? GUIDED EXERCISE Visit the following Web site to read testimonies on the effects of abortion on women who have had them: www.hopeafterabortion.com


http://www.hopeafterabortion.com/

GUIDED EXERCISE

Discussion:

Is it morally licit to commit a deliberate evil act so that a supposed good may come of it? For example, can the police use false evidence to convict a person they are certain has committed grave crimes but cannot prove his guilt otherwise? Can the military use torture to find out if a suspect is a terrorist?

This lesson examines a number of areas in which evil is done so that a supposed good may come of it.

GUIDED EXERCISE

Abortion supporters try to distract from the crime of abortion with euphemisms, such as “termination of pregnancy,” “family planning,” or “reproductive services.” To illustrate the illogical nature of these euphemisms, work with a partner, pick a few crimes, and invent euphemisms to make them sound more attractive.

For example: Pick‑pocketing: “urban treasure hunting”


FOCUS QUESTIONS

❏ What is in vitro fertilization? IVF is a medical technique that aims to allow women who cannot become pregnant through sexual intercourse to still have a baby. A woman is induced to produce a large number of ova that are then fertilized in a test tube or petri dish. One or more of the fertilized eggs is then inserted into the woman’s uterus.

❏ What happens to the unused, fertilized eggs? They are frozen for future IVF procedures, used for experimental purposes, or discarded.


❏ Why is the conception of human life in a laboratory setting a gravely sinful act? It violates the dignity of the conjugal union between husband and wife.

❏ How does IVF violate the Fifth Commandment? Human life begins at conception, so each of the fertilized eggs is a human person. More embryos than necessary are “created” for the procedure. Some are destroyed right away because they seem weaker or have defects. The rest are later destroyed or placed in a frozen state.


GUIDED EXERCISE Stem‑cell research is in its infancy.

Do an Internet search to get an update on progress in the use of non‑embryonic stem cells for research.


FOCUS QUESTIONS

❏ Does the Catholic Church oppose all forms of stem‑cell research? No. Only embryonic stem‑cell research is opposed because it kills an innocent person.

❏ Is embryonic stem‑cell research necessary? Current research shows that non‑embryonic stem‑cells are as effective as embryonic stem‑cells.

❏ What is the allure of stem‑cell research? Stem‑cells may someday provide a cure for presently incurable conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, juvenile diabetes, certain neuromuscular disorders, and spinal‑cord injuries.


❏ What is euthanasia? From the Greek meaning “good death,” euthanasia is an action or omission of an action that, by itself or by intention, causes a person’s death in order to eliminate suffering.

❏ What is the connection between euthanasia and Nazi Germany? From 1939 to 1941, the Nazi government euthanized 75,000–250,000 of its own citizens with mental and physical disabilities it deemed unfit for life.

❏ Where is euthanasia legal? Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland (if not performed by a doctor), and the United States (Oregon).


❏ What is assisted suicide? It is any action or omission of action that assists another person in causing his or her own death.

❏ Why is assisted suicide wrong? Suicide is morally wrong, and, thus, cooperation in suicide is also illicit.

❏ What help can the Cross give to people suffering from incapacitating and incurable illnesses? They can find consolation in uniting their sufferings with the suffering of Christ on the Cross.


GUIDED EXERCISE A think / pair / share on the following question:

❏ Why is euthanasia called “mercy killing,” and why is it ultimately not merciful? GUIDED EXERCISE

A class discussion on the principles behind the desire for euthanasia and assisted suicide. How does society avoid going from (1) allowing the killing of sick individuals to (2) killing anyone who has a poor quality of life or whose care will cost it large sums of money?


GUIDED EXERCISE

A think / pair / share:

❏ What is the difference between euthanasia and forgoing extraordinary or disproportionate means of prolonging life?


CLOSURE A paragraph explaining why abortion is a grave violation of the Fifth Commandment and why it should not be legal.


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

❏ Study Questions 14–24 (p. 200) ❏ Practical Exercise 1 (p. 201) ❏ Workbook Questions 12–19 ❏ Read “Just War” through “The Arms Race” (pp.

191–193)


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT A married couple, who really wants to have a baby, has not been able to conceive and is considering in vitro fertilization. What argument can you offer, based on the Fifth Commandment, for persuading them that this is not a good idea?


ANTICIPATORY SET Read the first two paragraphs under “Just War” beginning, “War is always...” and “War is an option...” and discuss whether there is ever such a thing as “good” war or if there are only just and unjust combatants.

4. Government Respect for Life (pp. 191–193)

BASIC QUESTIONS ❏ What are the conditions for a just war? ❏ What are the conditions for defending oneself and

others against unjust aggression? KEY IDEAS

❏ For a war to be morally just, it must fulfill the principles of self‑defense, last resort, probability of success, and proportionality. Also, the nation must never deliberately target non‑combatants.

❏ The act of self‑defense, even though it may involve harm and injury to the assailant, is compatible with the Fifth Commandment. However, extreme measures can only be taken as a last resort and when no other option is available.


FOCUS QUESTIONS

❏ Who is responsible for deciding if a country should go to war? The decision belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.

❏ What is the justification behind self‑defense? The Fifth Commandment is about respecting and protecting innocent life. A person has a right to defend himself or herself against an unjust aggressor, even if it means injuring the assailant.


❏ What is the limit to self‑defense? The defender may only use proportional means of force to defend himself or herself and others.

❏ How does the use of proportionate means to protect the common good apply to police and security agencies? They cannot use disproportionate means against a violator of the law.


GRAPHIC ORGANIZER Complete the following table on the principles of the just war doctrine.


GUIDED EXERCISE A think / pair / share: In the Book of Genesis, God said that if anyone harmed Cain, God would take a sevenfold vengeance. Cain’s descendant Lamech made the following boast: “I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy‑sevenfold.” (Gn 4:3–4)

❏ How did Lamech display an example of unacceptable self‑defense?


CLOSURE Write a well‑organized paragraph on the just war theory using the Graphic Organizer from this lesson.


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

❏ Study Questions 25–26 (p. 200) ❏ Practical Exercises 4, 6 (p. 201) ❏ Workbook Questions 20–25 ❏ Read “Capital Punishment” through “Conclusion”

(pp. 194–196)


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Work with a partner to discuss these scenarios:

❏ If an adult came at you with a large knife, you were convinced this person intended to use the knife to kill you, and you had a gun on your person, how would you be allowed to legitimately respond to the attack?

❏ Assume you are the same person with the same gun, only now the attacker is a six‑year‑old child who is angry at you and comes at you with a baseball bat. What force would you be allowed to use?


ANTICIPATORY SET

Opening prayer on Psalm 139:1–17. Discuss some of the verses on the dignity of the body as formed by God.

5. Capital Punishment, Transplants, and Cloning (pp. 194–196)

BASIC QUESTIONS ❏ What is the Church’s position on the death penalty? ❏ What are the conditions for moral organ transplantation? ❏ Is human cloning moral?

KEY IDEAS

❏ Although it is the right of the state to impose the death penalty, the Church opposes it in most cases as unnecessary and a devaluation of human life.

❏ Organ transplantation is permissible when the risks are proportional to the good to be achieved.

❏ Human cloning, both therapeutic and reproductive, is gravely sinful and contrary to the moral law. It opposes the dignity of the conjugal union between husband and wife and the nature of human procreation and treats the person as a commodity.


FOCUS QUESTIONS

❏ What is capital punishment? It is an act by the legitimate authority of a state or nation to put a criminal to death.

❏ Is the use of the death penalty inherently wrong? No. The state has the right to implement the death penalty when necessary for the protection of others in society.

❏ What are the Church’s reasons for limiting the death penalty? It often does not serve as a deterrent for others, and it may preclude the possibility of the conversion of the criminal. It may serve to perpetuate an impoverished view of the value of human life in society that leads to capital crimes.


GUIDED EXERCISE Discussion:

Pablo Escobar was a notorious drug king in Colombia who bribed or killed anyone who opposed him, including police, prosecutors, and judges. Escobar was eventually jailed, but, because of his power, he was permitted to build and control the jail that housed him. He continued to rule his criminal empire from jail.

❏ Is his a case that would justify capital punishment under the Church’s criteria?


GUIDED EXERCISE: A mini‑lecture on the difference between health and sickness and how we see procreation as a sickness to be cured.

❏ The purpose of medicine is to heal people who are ill or injured.

❏ We want medical care because it is bad to be ill or injured and good to be healthy and sound in body.

❏ Why is it good to remove a ruptured appendix and wrong to remove a healthy foot?

❏ Are functioning sex organs part of a sound, healthy body?

❏ What does sterilization do to sex organs? ❏ Why is sterilization unlike removing a ruptured

appendix and like removing a healthy foot?


FOCUS QUESTIONS

❏ Why must we give our human body respect? It is an essential part of the human person and an instrument of salvation, sanctification, and evangelization. God greatly honored the human body by the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

❏ How would cloning—and how do in vitro fertilization and embryonic stem‑cell research—offend the dignity of the person? These practices reduce human beings to objects that can be manufactured and manipulated rather than treating them as unique and irreplaceable creations of God.

❏ Why is direct sterilization wrong? It destroys a person’s procreative ability.


❏ What is indirect sterilization? It is a licit medical procedure in which the patient is sterilized as a secondary, unintended result of curing an illness or repairing an injury.

❏ Under what conditions is organ transplantation moral? It is moral when both the donor and the recipient give informed consent and the physical and psychological dangers and risks are proportionate to the good sought.

❏ What is not permitted in connection with organ donation? It is wrong to bring about the disabling mutilation or death of the donor to save the life of another.

❏ Is organ removal moral under certain circumstances? Surgery to remove an organ or limb to save the life of a seriously ill or injured person is morally licit.


Guided Exercise Complete the following graphic on the two types of cloning that could theoretically take place.


CLOSURE Write a paragraph about when one may and may not violate the physical integrity of the body.


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

❏ Study Questions 27– 32 (p. 200) ❏ Workbook Questions 26– 36


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Free write for five minutes on how, given examples like in vitro fertilization, sterilization, cloning, nuclear weapons, abortion procedures, and euthanasia, science cannot be its own moral guide.

Do we have the right to do something simply because science or technology gives us the ability to do it?


The End

chapter 7: the fifth commandment our moral life in christ

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