Secularism reduces all things to matter and removes God from the equation. When Satan tempts us and we give in we separate ourselves from God. There is a bit of the enduring influence of Satan in every person who follows in the example of The Original Sin, by their own will ascribing what they deem to be good and evil. Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent. They failed to follow God’s only command, to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Instead of trusting in God’s will Adam and Eve gave into temptation. When they disobeyed God’s will, bit into the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge they used their wills to decide what was right and wrong. Adam and Eve’s actions showed that they thought they knew better than God. People today who ignore God’s will and believe it is their prerogative to decide with their own will what is good and bad are following in the footsteps of Adam and Eve.
Father Barron directly quoted an infamous passage in the Supreme Court’s decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey – “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life…”, words specifically attributed to Justice Anthony Kennedy, citing it as a perfect example of persons trying to play God in determining what is ethical or unethical according to their own will. Does liberty give us the right to do wrongs? Evil? Participate in moral relativism? Going by the quote above it is reasonable to extrapolate that it is acceptable for each of us to try everything regardless of whether it is moral or immoral just so we are able to experience it, so we are able to feel it. According to Justice Kennedy his concept of liberty would give us the right to try theft, assault, or murder just to find out what it is like. Huh? Using our conscience we should be able to know that some things are obviously wrong so there would be no need to experience that which would harm our soul. It is unethical to harm others in the name of liberty.
After Adam and Eve sinned they felt shame. In addition to feeling shame it makes sense that they would also feel uncomfortable and exposed. When each of us sins we feel exposed and uncomfortable. That little voice inside each of us tells us that we did something wrong. The voice inside then tells us to correct the wrong. The voice also tells us to avoid committing the same sin in the future. When Adam and Eve felt uncomfortable and exposed this let them know that they had sinned. We experience the same thing.
Filed under: Catholic, Christian, Christianity, Conservatism, Constitution, Ethics, God, Morality, scripture, Theology Tagged: Adam, Conscience, ethical, Eve, Fr. Barron, Genesis, God's Will, Justice Kennedy, liberty, original sin, own will, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, right, soul, unethical, wrong
