Religious Education 104 – Morality

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community, before God in imitation of Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit.

2. The rightness and wrongness in doing things according to the norms (laws)

B. What is a norm?

1. It is an ordinance of reason promulgated by competent authority for the sake of the common good.

C. Elements of a norm

1. Law is reasonable decision, i.e. prudent and with purpose and not a capricious whim.

2. Promulgated

- communicated with sufficient notice to its subjects while respecting their right and dignity.

3. Competent authority – who have the legitimate power to do so.

4. for the common good – social betterment

D. Functions of Moral Law

1. They provide criteria for judging who we are and how we should act

2. Help our moral development especially in the formation of conscience

3. Provide stability and consistency in our lives.

E. Filipinos confuse Morality with legality

- If something is legal they think it is morally good.

F. Best example of moral norm is found in the Old Testament Law

1. The law flowed directly from the covenant relationship of Yahweh’s loving call creating His chosen

people.

2. The Law was God’s great gift – to bring joy to the people

3. This is best seen in the precepts of the 10 commandments= love for God and love for neighbor

G. New Testament

Jesus exemplified the Old Testaments’ to two great Commandments of Love:

1. love God with all your heart, with all your souls, and with all your mind

2. love neighbor as yourself.

IV. Morality of Human Acts

A. Elements of the Human Act (voluntary acts of man)

They are actions done knowingly, freely and intentionally.

= walking, reading, working, playing, shopping, joining a contest, or signing a Contract

1. An act is done knowingly when the doer is conscious and aware of the reason and the consequences of

his action.

= Every normal person of age is presumed to act knowingly.

= Children below the age of reason, the senile and the insane are considered incapable of moral judgment.

2. An act is done freely when the doer acts by his own initiative and choice without being forced to do

so by another person or situation.

= an action done under threat and against one’s freewill is not a voluntary action.

= a person is not acting freely when he gives his wallet to a robber who threatens him with a knife.

3. An act is done willfully when the doer consents to the act, accepting it as his own, and assumes

accountability for its consequences.

B. Acts of Man

1. They do not depend upon intellect and freewill

2. They are instinctive, such as the physiological and psychological movements

= breathing, feeling happy or falling in love.

C. Nature of Human Act

1. The act itself`/object of the choice

This refers to the completion of the act.

= the end of the act of eating is appeasing hunger, the end of medication is curing the illness.

a. Intrinsically good– any acts which is consistent with the natural tendencies of human nature

b. Intrinsically evil – acts contrary to reason and the natural law such as murder, abortion, kidnapping,

robbery and rape.

2. purpose/intention

“The end does not justify the means.”

a. an evil act which is done because of an evil motive is grievously wrong.

b. A good action done because of a evil becomes evil itself.

c. a good action done for a good purpose becomes and additional merit.

d. An indifferent act may either become good or bad depending on the motive.

(,”) You have to be careful with what you say or what you eat(“,)

3. Circumstances

= are the historical elements surrounding the commission of an act

= They are hinted by the interrogative pronouns –

Who – refers to the doer of the act or the recipient of the act. It has to do with age, status, relation,

schooling, and social standing

What – refers to the act itself, or to the quality and quantity of the results of such act.

When – refers to the time of the act

Where – refers to the place where the act is committed

With whom- refers to the companion or accomplice in an act.

Why – refers to the motive of the