The most fundamental of our rights is the right to life. It is the one upon
which all others rest. If we degrade life at its very beginning, how can we
expect to value it at its other stages? Our Church is founded in God’s love
“poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom., 5:5). That same Holy
Spirit brings to our world the gifts of charity, joy, peace, wisdom, and
courage. In the present social climate of our country, we must remember that
prejudice, unfair and inaccurate criticism, emotional overstatements, and even
heavy-handed exercises of authority are not among the gifts of the Spirit.
Belief in God and His sovereignty over humanity is essential before we address
the problems of our society. The destruction and abuse of human life is
appalling and degrading. We must rediscover God if the ills of our society are
to be cured and healing take place.
There are times, however, when people forget God and the praise and obedience
that are due Him. Because of our gift of free will, we are able to turn from
Him, to sin against Him and each other with terrible consequences. We do not
have to look far back into history to see crimes against God and humankind which
were caused by the rejection of God’s commandments in favor of greed, power, or
self-seeking pleasures. We cannot ignore our own responsibilities, both as
individuals and as a society, toward those who need us most.
We must return to the basic principles of our Judaic-Christian heritage - namely
the Ten Commandments given to us in the Hebrew scriptures and the proclamation
of the Kingdom of God given to us by Jesus in the New Testament. These give us
the framework for human behavior. They come from God and we neglect them at our
own peril.
We live in a world of technology, a “know-how” rather than a “know-why” society,
one n which material and scientific values frequently dominate thought and
action, often at the expense of spiritual and moral values. The undermining of
God’s place in human affairs has been hastened by denial and neglect of the
primacy of the spiritual, a consequent debasement of the human person and of
human society as well. Where there is this denial of God’s place in human
affairs, we must proclaim it!
Among religious people and even among Christians, differences of belief exist
and should be respected. But this does not mean that we should suppress the
single standard of justice and equality. In spite of our differences, there is
much that we share in common as we work and pray together as people of
conscience who look to the final Judge of our lives and actions. Only in this
way can we improve the moral tone of our country, especially in matters
affecting respect for all human life.