Friday, December 19, 2008
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue, by Walter A. McDougall
Mr. McDougall reviews Andrew Bacevich's The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. I was surprised to see that there were a lot of copies in circulation through the Santa Clara County Library System. Over at Cupertino there was a copy of Bill Kauffman's Ain't My America and The Founder's Second Amendment by Stephen Halbrook. Some sign of diversity, but I wouldn't expect money to be spent on orthodox Catholic books.
I saw a copy of Encountering the Mystery by Patriarch Bartholomew (GB). I have to say that while it did present an Orthodox view of Christianity, I did not find it to be that rigorous theologically. Maybe I'm too much of a Latin. (Or maybe there is something to be said for the art of logic being a prerequisite for theology.)
Mr. McDougall reviews Andrew Bacevich's The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. I was surprised to see that there were a lot of copies in circulation through the Santa Clara County Library System. Over at Cupertino there was a copy of Bill Kauffman's Ain't My America and The Founder's Second Amendment by Stephen Halbrook. Some sign of diversity, but I wouldn't expect money to be spent on orthodox Catholic books.
I saw a copy of Encountering the Mystery by Patriarch Bartholomew (GB). I have to say that while it did present an Orthodox view of Christianity, I did not find it to be that rigorous theologically. Maybe I'm too much of a Latin. (Or maybe there is something to be said for the art of logic being a prerequisite for theology.)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Just read the wiki synopsis for the novel Revolutionary Road. Sounds like more whining about suburban conformity and boredom. What do the characters aspire to? Bourgeois fantasies of fleeing to a better life in Old Europe. (Not, for example, an embrace of an agrarian lifestyle, much less a religious conversion. Does the author show an awareness why Europe is attractive? Tradition, culture?) The novel apparently received, and continues to receive, a lot of praise and acclaim -- because of a shallow endorsement of its rejection of '50s suburban life and homogeneity?
Why would I want to waste time on the movie?
AICN: Keanu Reeves Talks Cowboy Bebop
Related links:
wiki
Adult Swim
Cowboy Bebop (website for the animated movie)
Bebop World
EX.org
Blue Rose (fan site)
Cowboy Bebop: Somewhere Down the Crazy River
Hulu: Speed and Angels
A documentary about aspiring Tomcat drivers--it might appeal to those of us in the Top Gun generation (or who grew up with Robotech/Macross and its VF1). What boy didn't want to become a Navy fighter pilot after watching that movie? I dreamt about it for a while. But as I've grown out of the 2GW mindset I've been favoring light infantry more and more.
As women have been allowed to become naval aviators for quite some time, at least one is featured in the documentary. Aside from the problems that any branch of the armed forces faces when women are thrown together with men, one wonders what their effectiveness in dogfighting (or attacking) would be. Bombing targets that can't shoot back or lack adequate air defense does not really give sufficient proof of capability. It's been a long time since Russian female pilots engaged in aerial combat (or flew attack missions) during World War II.
wiki: United States Navy Fighter Weapons School
MMM page on the VF1A
CFPA Chick Fighter Pilot Association
Politico: Conservative icon Paul Weyrich dies
Links:
TakiMag: Sad News—Paul Weyrich has died
wiki
Free Congress Foundation
The Next Conservatism, by Paul Weyrich and William Lind (to be published as a book) (FCF has entries #24 to #50 -- I'm looking for #1 to #23. I previously blogged about the series of articles here.)
Links:
TakiMag: Sad News—Paul Weyrich has died
wiki
Free Congress Foundation
The Next Conservatism, by Paul Weyrich and William Lind (to be published as a book) (FCF has entries #24 to #50 -- I'm looking for #1 to #23. I previously blogged about the series of articles here.)
Dr. Fleming on slavery
From the comments to Dr. Wilson's post on Nathaniel Macon:
The Romans of the late Republic and hte Empire were, at least by courtesy, regarded as civilized and not barbaros by their Greek subjects. So engrained was this notion that Medieval Italians took to describing the Germans and French as barbari–hence the frequently heard phrase, “Barbarians Out!”. All authentic human communities display inequalities of wealth, status, and power, but the higher one goes up the ladder, the more these inequalities turn into something like master and slave. Belloc (whom I greatly admire) argued, in the Servile State that while Christianity did not condemn slavery per se, the Church’s moral teachings so discouraged it that slavery was transformed into the more benign serfdom. Part of this is true, but tenant farmers and serfs were found, in the late empire, to be a more profitable form of labor exploitation. Besides, the history of any area or city in Europe will reveal the existence of household slaves often bought from the Muslims. On the other hand, the Venetian were well known slave dealers, selling Christian captives to Muslims!
The reason we do not see vast numbers of Americans as slaves is twofold: The first and less important reason is that a large number of our slaves do no work: They are welfare slaves, servants of the government, street thugs who justify a police state, a parasitic drain on people who work. The second and more important reason is that we have lost our understanding of freedom, which is not simply the absence of physical coercion or a deed of sale, but an economic, moral, and spiritual condition. The man who fears to lose his job, watches TV in the evenings, and goes to Disneyworld on vacation is not a free man, by any understanding that obtained in other historical periods. The economic exploitation of man by man, the degradation people are willing to suffer so long as they have security–these are not pleasant realities to dwell upon, but if we fail to understand them, we shall fall into the suicidal cant of the abolitionists. One does not have to like or defend slavery to be disgusted by the dishonest propaganda that passes for history in these United States. As an emigre friend told me on the telephone yesterday, what a corrupt and cowardly people our (the baby boomers) generation is. Yes, but successive generations are even more pathetic and degraded. Our trouble is that while we have slavery–and plenty of it–we do not have civilization. That was destroyed before I was born. Read this little piece (”A Libido for the Ugly”) written by Mencken in 1927. http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/hlmlibidougly_2.htm
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Vids of the Monastery of San Benedetto
I first learned of the video through Stephen Hand.
Vocation
Monastery of San Benedetto,Norcia
The monastery's website.
From ISI--Press Conference: Our Fading Heritage: Americans Fail a Basic Test on Their History and Institutions
T. Kenneth Cribb, President, Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Josiah Bunting, Former Superintendent of Virginia Military Institute and author
Eugene W. Hickok, Under Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education
The National Press Club, Washington, D.C. (December 20, 2008)
mp3
(A video in flash format is also available. You can access it by doing a search for this lecture.)
T. Kenneth Cribb, President, Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Josiah Bunting, Former Superintendent of Virginia Military Institute and author
Eugene W. Hickok, Under Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education
The National Press Club, Washington, D.C. (December 20, 2008)
mp3
(A video in flash format is also available. You can access it by doing a search for this lecture.)
NLM: The O Antiphons. Sandro Magister: Advent in Music. Seven Antiphons, All Worth Discovering Again.
On the Meaning and Value of Our Lives
Christ "Appeals … to Our Free Decision to Accept His Love"
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 17, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered during today's general audience in Paul VI Hall.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters:
Precisely today, we begin the days of Advent that immediately prepare us for the nativity of the Lord: We are in the Christmas novena, which in many Christian communities is celebrated with liturgies rich in biblical texts, all oriented toward nourishing hope for the birth of the Savior. The entire Church, in effect, turns its gaze of faith toward this approaching feast, readying itself, like each year, to unite to the joyful song of the angels, who in the heart of the night will announce to the shepherds the extraordinary event of the birth of the Redeemer, inviting them to draw close to the cave of Bethlehem. There lies Emanuel, the Creator made creature, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a poor manger (cf. Luke 2:13-14).
Because of the environment that characterizes it, Christmas is a universal feast. Even those who do not profess to be believers, in fact, can perceive in this annual Christian celebration something extraordinary and transcendent, something intimate that speaks to the heart. It is the feast that sings of the gift of life. The birth of a child moves us and causes tenderness. Christmas is the encounter with a newborn who cries in a miserable cave. Contemplating him in the manger, how can we not think of so many children who even today see the light from within a great poverty in many regions of the world? How can we not think of the newborns who are not welcomed and are rejected, of those who do not survive because of a lack of care and attention? How can we not think, too, of the families who desire the joy of a child and do not see this hope fulfilled?
Under the influence of a hedonistic consumerism, unfortunately, Christmas runs the risk of losing its spiritual significance to be reduced to a mere commercial occasion to buy and exchange gifts. In truth, nevertheless, the difficulties and the uncertainties and the very economic crisis that in these months so many families are living, and which affects all of humanity, can be a stimulus to discover the warmth of simplicity, friendship and solidarity -- characteristic values of Christmas. Stripped of consumerist and materialist incrustations, Christmas can thus become an occasion to welcome, as a personal gift, the message of hope that emanates from the mystery of the birth of Christ.
All of this, nevertheless, is not enough to assimilate fully the value of the feast for which we are preparing. We know that it celebrates the central event of history: the incarnation of the divine Word for the redemption of humanity. St. Leo the Great, in one of his numerous Christmas homilies, thus exclaimed: "Let us exult in the Lord, my dear ones, and open our hearts to the most pure joy. Because the day has dawned that for us means the new redemption, the ancient preparation, eternal bliss. Thus in the yearly cycle, the elevated mystery of our salvation is renewed for us, which, promised at the beginning and fulfilled at the end of times, is destined to endure without end (Homily XXII).
St. Paul returns to this fundamental truth many times in his letters. To the Galatians, for example, he writes: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law … so that we might receive adoption" (4:4). In the Letter to the Romans he sets forth the logic and consequent demands of this saving event: "And if [we are] children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him" (8:17).
But it is above all St. John, in the prologue to the fourth Gospel, who meditates profoundly on the mystery of the Incarnation. And it is because of this that the prologue has been part of the Christmas liturgy since ancient times: There is found, in fact, the most authentic expression and the deepest synthesis of this feast, and of the base of his joy. St. John writes: "Et Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis" -- And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).
At Christmas, then, we are not limited to commemorating the birth of a great personality; we do not celebrate simply and in the abstract the mystery of the birth of man or in general, the birth of life; neither do we celebrate only the beginning of a great season. At Christmas, we remember something very concrete and important for man, something essential for Christian faith, a truth that St. John summarized in these few words: "The Word was made flesh."
It is a historical event that the Evangelist Luke concerns himself with situating in a very determined context: in the days in which the decree of the first census of Caesar Augustus was issued, when Quirinius was already governor of Syria (cf. Luke 2:1-7). It is therefore a night dated historically, in which was verified the salvation event that Israel had been awaiting for centuries. In the darkness of the night of Bethlehem, a great light was truly lit: The Creator of the universe incarnated himself, uniting himself indissolubly with human nature, to the point of really being "God from God, light from light" and at the same time, man, true man.
That which John calls in Greek "ho logos," translated in Latin "Verbum" and in Italian, "il Verbo" (the Word), also means "the Meaning." Therefore, we can understand John's expression in this way: the "eternal Meaning" of the world has made himself tangible to our senses and our intelligence. Now we can touch him and contemplate him (cf. 1 John 1:1). The "Meaning" that has become flesh is not simply a general idea inscribed in the world; it is a "word" directed to us. The Logos knows us, calls us, guides us. It is not a universal law, in which we fulfill some role, but rather it is a Person who is interested in each individual person: It is the living Son of God, who has become man in Bethlehem.
To many people, and in some way to all of us, this seems too beautiful to be true. In effect, here it is reaffirmed for us: Yes, there is meaning, and this meaning is not an impotent protest against the absurd. The Meaning is powerful: It is God. A good God, who is not to be confused with some lofty and distant power, to which it is impossible to ever arrive, but rather a God who has made himself close to us and to our neighbor, who has time for each one of us and who has come to stay with us.
Thus the question spontaneously arises: How is such a thing possible? Is it worthy of God to become a child? To try to open one's heart to this truth that enlightens all of human existence, it is necessary to yield the mind and recognize the limits of our intelligence. In the cave at Bethlehem, God shows himself to us as a humble "infant" to overcome our pride. Perhaps we would have submitted more easily before power, before pride; but he does not want our submission. He appeals, rather, to our heart and to our free decision to accept his love. He has made himself little to free us from this human pretension of greatness that arises from pride; he has incarnated himself freely to make us truly free, free to love him.
Dear brothers and sisters, Christmas is a privileged opportunity to meditate on the meaning and value of our existence. Approaching this solemnity helps us to reflect, on one hand, about the drama of history in which men, wounded by sin, are permanently seeking happiness and a satisfactory meaning to life and death; on the other hand, it exhorts us to meditate on the merciful goodness of God, who has gone out to meet man to communicate to him directly the Truth that saves, and make him participate in his friendship and his life.
Let us prepare for Christmas, therefore, with humility and simplicity, readying ourselves to receive the gift of light, joy and peace that irradiates from this mystery. Let us welcome the nativity of Christ as an event capable of today renewing our existence. May the encounter with the Child Jesus make us people who do not think only of ourselves, but rather open to the expectations and necessities of our brothers. In this way we too become testimonies of the light that Christmas radiates over the humanity of the third millennium. Let us ask most holy Mary, the tabernacle of the incarnate Word, and St. Joseph, silent witness of the events of salvation, to communicate to us the sentiments they had while they awaited the birth of Jesus, so that we can prepare ourselves to celebrate in a holy way the coming Christmas, in the joy of faith and enlivened by the determination of a sincere conversion.
Merry Christmas!
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Holy Father then greeted the people in several languages. In English, he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today we commence the Christmas Novena of Advent by contemplating the fulfilment of the ancient prophecies in the coming of the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary in the stable of Bethlehem. Christmas speaks to everyone; it celebrates the gift of life – often fragile or endangered – and the fulfilment of our deepest hopes for a world renewed. The present economic crisis, causing so much suffering, can however help us to focus on the spiritual meaning of Christmas, and to welcome into our hearts the hope brought by God’s coming among us as man. The Word became flesh to offer humanity the salvation which can only be received as a gracious gift from God. The same Word by whom the universe was made, the Word which gives all creation its ultimate meaning, has come to dwell among us: he now speaks to us, he reveals the deepest meaning of our life on earth, and he guides us to the Love which is our fulfilment. In the Christ Child, God humbly knocks on the doors of our hearts and asks us freely to accept his love, his truth, his life. As Christmas approaches, let us rekindle our hope in God’s promises and, in humility and simplicity, welcome the light, joy and peace which the Saviour brings to us and to our world.
I am pleased to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Audience, including the various student groups and those coming from Ireland and the United States of America. To you and your families, especially those who may be in difficulty or suffering, I extend my best wishes for a happy and blessed Christmas!
© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Dr. Wilson on Nathaniel Macon.
It is a fact that many of the American founding fathers owned slaves. Should they nonetheless be shown some respect (even gratitude) because of their contributions to the federation of states? While respect and gratitude are matters of justice, I must admit that I have difficulty elevating these men to the status of civic heroes or role models. How can it be otherwise, since I received my early formation in modern American public schools?
Are there any Catholic saints who owned slaves (and didn't free them eventually)?
There is also the question of which American founding fathers were liberals, and to what degree. It should be argued that liberalism is not the same as the classical republican tradition of Rome, much less the Greek political tradition. (Some still identify the two.)
Links:
Nathaniel Macon
wiki
Google Books: The Life of Nathaniel Macon
AN: Bao Tong: Beijing should explain how Charter '08 violates the law
Bao Tong: Beijing should explain how Charter '08 violates the law
"1. I call on the Chinese government to to answer me this: "Where is the crime in Charter 08?" The basic concepts of the Charter are freedom, human rights, equality, republicanism, democracy, and constitutional rule. So would the powers-that-be please tell 1.3 billion people why freedom is a crime, why human rights, why equality, or republicanism, and what is criminal about democracy and the rule of law under the Constitution? "Charter 08" puts forward 19 propositions. Not one of them is the invention of the people who signed it. They have all already been implemented in modern, civilized countries, and they have shown themselves to be part of a worthwhile system with beneficial effects. If the authorities care to examine each of the propositions closely, under a magnifying glass, under a microscope, in the hall of mirrors, they could perhaps tell us which crimes are being committed by each article? The aim of the Charter is to call on any Chinese people who still have a sense of purpose, whether in the corridors of power or in remote parts of the country, regardless of personal status, to take part in a movement of citizens, to help realize a dream that has gripped the people of this country for more than 100 years. How is that a crime?The China Beat: Charter 08: Five Links
Zenit: Conclusions of Catholic-Orthodox Family Forum
Conclusions of Catholic-Orthodox Family Forum
"Without the Mutual Love of the Family Our Society Dies"
TRENT, Italy, DEC. 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the final statement of the 1st European Catholic-Orthodox Forum on the theme: "The Family: A Good for Humanity," held Dec. 10-14 in Trent.
* * *
Preamble
By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we, thirty representatives of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches in Europe, from countries stretching from the Urals to the Atlantic, have gathered together for the First European Catholic-Orthodox Forum. We express our gratitude to all who have worked for the success of this meeting, especially to the Archbishop of Trent who warmly received us and offered hospitality. The meeting has been organised by the Council of European Bishops Conferences (CCEE), in close collaboration with various Orthodox Churches and some of the dicasteries of the Holy See.
We have expressed our deep sorrow at the sudden death of His Holiness, Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia, who had warmly extended his blessing upon the project of this Forum.
What is the purpose of the Forum? It is not to discuss theological issues that are treated at other levels. Our task rather is to concentrate on anthropological issues of crucial importance for the present and future of humanity. The goal of the Forum is to help define common positions on social and moral questions. By engaging in this exchange, we help each other realize just how close our moral and social doctrines are. At the same time we make the world aware of our concerns.
We agreed to dedicate our first encounter to "The Family: A Good for Humanity". Countless numbers of families have contributed so much to European culture. We are grateful to them and in our prayer for families we remember specially those going through difficulties.
Over our four days together we have discussed topics relating to marriage and family, as well as various aspects of sexual ethics. It has been an opportunity for us to proclaim and live our faith, pray to the Lord for grace and reflect on how we might collaborate more. In particular, animated by the love of Christ for humanity, we have focused on the family, acknowledging all the efforts being done to promote family life on our continent, but also voicing our concern for the deteriorating condition of family life that is evident in many ambits of society.
Marriage and the family belong to the created order and are not a product of mere human decision. Written into the very nature of human being and revealed to us in the Bible, the family, founded on marriage, was established by God as a union between man and woman. The Bible presents us with a vision of the family as a unity of life-giving love, an indissoluble relationship, open to life.
I – Marriage and Family
Over the course of these days, we listened to some reports concerning the views of Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Europe. The following is a summary.
A. Orthodox Views on Marriage and the Family
In the Christian Orthodox tradition marriage is viewed as an eternal union of spouses, strengthened not only by physical, but also by spiritual intimacy. In spite of widespread belief to the contrary, the Orthodox Church "by no means calls on its members to shun the body or sexual intimacy as such, for physical relations between a man and a woman are blessed by God in marriage, where they become a source of the continuation of the human race and express chaste love, total community and the 'unity of souls and bodies' of the spouses." According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, "the transformation of these relations, which are pure and worthy according to God's plan, as well as of the body itself into an object of degrading exploitation and trade aimed at the receiving of egoistic and impersonal, loveless and distorted satisfaction, deserves condemnation." (The Bases of the Social Conception of the Russian Orthodox ChurchX, 6.)
According to the Orthodox understanding, an essential element of the marital union and the fruit of the love between man and wife are children, the birth and upbringing of which are one of the main goals of marriage (Ibid., X 3-4). In accordance with this view, the Orthodox Church considers the freely willed rejection of childbirth and the artificial termination of pregnancy inadmissible. As the equivalent of murder, abortion is unequivocally rejected by the Church, which insists on the personal responsibility of all who take part in this act: the woman, the man (in the case of his consent) and the doctor(Ibid., XII,2).
On the basis of Holy Scripture and Tradition the Orthodox Church denounces homosexual relations, seeing in them the distortion of man's divinely created nature (Ibid., XII, 9). It also rejects all forms of fornication, adultery and marital infidelity, as well as prostitution and promiscuity. At the same time, it recognizes the need to pastorally assist those people who have disordered inclinations and whose way of life does not correspond to the Gospel's moral teaching.
B. Catholic Positions on Marriage and the Family
According to Catholic teaching, as affirmed also by the Orthodox, Jesus Christ raised natural marriage to the dignity of a sacrament: "The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of their whole life and which of its own very nature is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children, has, between the baptized, been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament" (CIC can. 1055 - §1).
This sacramental value requires fidelity unto death among the spouses in the indissolubility of the marriage bond. Marital love between the spouses is the basis of the family, the first personal communion into which a human being is born. It must be promoted by society as its fundamental cell. The Catholic Church recognises the inseparable link willed by God between the unitive and procreative meanings of married love. Exclusion of offspring is therefore contrary to the unity of marital love. Sexuality is recognized as a dimension of the image of God in human beings and so has a personal value. Men and women must learn in the language of the body their vocation to responsible love as a true gift of themselves. Other sexual expressions such as fornication, homosexual acts and sexual unions outside marriage are contrary to this vocation to love.
II. Mission of the Family
After outlining some elements of the teachings of our Churches, we also underlined how much we hold in common. And so we would like to underline the following issues that we together consider important for the well-being of society.
A. Key Common Points
God's commandment to the first human family remains relevant to all subsequent families: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen 1:28). Catholics and Orthodox agree that the family is the unique moral environment in which the gift of human life should be transmitted by the marital act.
The human being is the only one created in the image and likeness of God and this constitutes his particular dignity. We do not give life to ourselves, nor are parents the sole source of human life, since divine intervention is necessary. The sacredness of human life from conception to natural death should be fully respected.
We acknowledge the positive international documents that support the family. For instance, art. 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: "Man and woman of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family" and "the family is the natural and fundamental group of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State." In the past the family and childbirth were regarded as something sacred. In recent years, however, these notions are questioned. There is an attempt to change language and introduce ambiguity into international documents under the ideological introduction of the gender theory.
Today both men and women are equally busy with the realization of their professional potential, and both have to bear the burden of financial responsibility for the family. Under these circumstances the possibilities of bearing and rearing children are drastically reduced.
A particularly tragic phenomenon has emerged in twenty first century Europe. Due to wages that do not sustain families, hundred of thousands of mothers and fathers have had to leave their families to go to wealthier countries to provide for the basic needs of their families. This has resulted in increased numbers of divorces, and in great suffering to children, with many of them being deprived of the presence of their parents' love and care.
The secular vision prevailing in modern society often undermines the notion of motherhood as a personal vocation. It is sometimes devalued. We, Orthodox and Catholics together, insist on the sacredness of motherhood and on the need for society to respect it. Mothers who stay at home in order to raise and educate children should be afforded support both morally and financially. Their mission is in no way less important than that of other respected professions. Motherhood is a mission, and as such it deserves unconditional support and respect. The idea of fatherhood is also fundamental for society and it too needs to be rediscovered by contemporary society. It's impossible to speak of a fraternal society without fatherhood.
B. Family and Education
Having given the gift of life to their children, parents are their first educators. "The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; and it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others". ("Familiaris Consortium," 36). Integral education within the family is not limited simply to the development of a child's natural gifts and capacities, but refers also to spiritual values, in particular the handing on of faith. Parents are to be the first witnesses of the Gospel. In the family life we learn the meaning of faith as the true light that guides a person's life.
The most suitable environment for the harmonious development of the child is the family, composed of a father, mother and siblings. Other bodies that help the family in education of their children must act in collaboration with parents, passing on the principles and values which always remain the parents' primary responsibility to transmit. In the context of education one often hears about the rights of the child. This is good but such rights must always be considered within the environment of the family.
The issue of "sex education" merits particular attention. Here, too, parents are the first teachers. The principle aim of such teaching is directed towards forming young people in the meaning of married love: "Education in love as self-giving is also the indispensable premise for parents called to give their children a clear and delicate sex education" (Ibid., 37). In the family, where we have the first experience of personal communion, we are introduced into love in all its dimensions: the family is the first place of personal socialization. Furthermore, parents must provide information proportionate to each stage of the individual development of their children. Other bodies, such as the school, for example, constitute, in this sense, an aid for parents.
Particular influence is brought to bear on the education of children and young people by the mass media that strongly condition family relations. Young people imitate the examples communicated through the media. Alongside many positives aspects, however, the means of communication unfortunately and increasingly present pornographic material and an individualist, egoistic culture.
Families that teach their children well, attentive to establishing proper relationships between all family members, constitute a valuable human capital that has great importance for society in both its economic and spiritual well-being. Family life creates culture: man learns the essential language of life and all that helps him become fully human. All culture, in its beginnings and in its development is a family event.
C. The Crisis of our Society: Challenges and Opportunity
Today we are faced with a certain ideology of culture that emerged with the sexual revolution in the last century. This has brought about a deep crisis in the vision of what it is to be human and family life. It is a major challenge to the evangelization of the Christian Churches that are attentive to the needs of the heart of the human being and his or her calling to full life in Christ.
Among the profound changes of our society, a deep economic crisis has recently emerged. The banking, financial and economic crisis of today is one of the indicators of a major turning point in our global and European society. We are all rightly concerned. But another vital element of this turning point is the crisis in regard to family life. The demographic trends alone in Europe are clear signals of a crisis much greater than the financial one. The family, born of marriage between man and woman that gives rise to children and an extended network of relationships, needs to be rediscovered as valuable social capital. We appeal to political and social leaders to address this major social issue before it is too late. Without this attention, lack of financial funds will pale before the lack of social and human resources that the family brings.
On the other hand, we express gratitude for what has been done. Many positive developments have helped the family: recent social and economic recognition in some countries of the contribution of motherhood to society, financial and social assistance for the care of disabled and elderly, medical cover for those disadvantaged members of society.
III - Recommendations and Appeals
In recent years the Churches have become aware of the importance of supporting spiritual renewal and in particular accompanying young people as they journey towards becoming husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. While assisting all families pastorally, we recognize that special care needs to be given to newly established families. Marginalized families (and often migrant families are such) deserve attentive care. The Church's mission is to give hope to our society that today is faced with many challenges. We need to show signs of solidarity and through the media communicate our positive message regarding the family.
All of us together, Catholics and Orthodox, affirm the following recommendations and appeal to all people of good will in society to act together with us on them:
1. There is a most urgent need to rediscover the understanding of the family and marriage. We believe that one of the primary causes of the current demographic crisis and all related crises is the rejection of this understanding. Much effort needs to be invested in the promotion of family life. The family needs to be rediscovered for what it offers society. In the family, we have homes that are creative, dynamic and vital schools of socialization in many ways: educating family members to a discovery of the value of community and otherness, forming them in a culture of giving, encouraging openness to diversity in solidarity, facilitating mutuality in communication and providing a dynamic towards discovery and novelty, fruit of interpersonal endeavor.
2. We affirm that it is only in relationship to God that all human beings blossom in their full humanity. Accordingly, it is our belief that promoting family institution, based on the marriage of man and woman, Europe will be furthering this fundamental unit of society that carries out a vital liberating, fulfilling and enlightening role in society. To recognize this is the beginning of a renewal of our European culture that is seeking its way forward at this time of profound soul-searching. Our appeal to political and social leaders is the following: The family is not an outdated notion! Rightly rediscovered, it is the future. Without the mutual love of the family our society dies.
3. We affirm that, since they have conferred life on their children, parents have the original, primary and inalienable right to educate them. They must be acknowledged as the generally best suited and the first and foremost educators of their children. We call upon the political institutions to ensure the parents' right to educate their children in conformity with their moral and religious convictions, taking into account the cultural traditions of the family. This includes the right to freely choose schools or other means necessary to educate their children in keeping with their convictions. In particular, sex education is a basic right of the parents and must always be carried out according to their choice and under their close supervision.
4. We see a great danger in the apparent subordination of the needs of children and the well-being of the family to economic interests.
5. We call upon all public institutions to ensure that policies regarding remuneration for work are consistent with establishing and maintaining a family with dignity. This could be obtained by tax laws which recognize the indispensible contribution of the family to society. It should be such that both parents need not necessarily be obliged to work full time outside the home to the detriment of family life and especially to the detriment of the education of children. We call upon the public institutions to recognize and respect the work of the mother in the home because of its value for the family and for society. The issue of "child care" needs further consideration with the best interests of the child as the guiding principle.
6. Finally, we call to mind the moral choice on which the future of the whole of humanity depends. Its essence is expressed as a central point of the Covenant God made with the humankind which is fulfilled in Christ: 'See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day is to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments… that thou may live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee... I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live' (Deut. 30:15-19).
IV – Follow up
The experience of this Forum has been very positive in building up our fraternity and enabling us to share in our Christian concern for people. On the basis of this good experience, we intend to meet regularly to strengthen our mutual relations and address common challenges facing Europe.
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