Why Freedom Matters

In terms of salvation, why would freedom matter? Why doesn't God just force us to be saved? Without  freedom, a bond with God doesn't matter. Our freedom not only helps us choose to sin, ti also helps us choose to be with God. Unlike other things in the world, humans can think and have a will and intellect. That means we can reason and have a choice. The reason we can be with God is because we can choose to. What makes us in the form of God, and cable to be one with god, is our freedom. Without our freedom, we just become machines like other animals and plants and such. This means we can't be with God because we don't have the autonomy condition. The autonomy condition means we can make free choices. Whereas other animals are created without a will, we are created with both an intellect and a will. God is pure intellect and will, meaning we are closer to God because of our intellect and our will. As such, without our freedom and autonomy we cannot be close enough to God to be one with him. As such, freedom, which makes it possible for us to turn away from God, is 100% necessary to be with God.

The second question asked is why God didn't just force everyone to be saved. Why were we created with sin? We weren't. That's the thing. Adam and Eve were sinless for God knows how long. Eventually though, they were tempted by Satan to eat of the fruit, and they turned against God. We weren't born with sin at the very beginning. Rather, it entered the world when temptation got the best of Adam and Eve. So let's discuss why God hasn't coerced everyone into becoming saved. If God forced us to be saved, he would also be taking away the same quality that makes it possible for us to be with God. If our autonomy doesn't exist, or is commonly trumped by God, then we lose the human condition that lets us be in the presence of God.  However, that begs the question of why God hasn't just redeemed everyone. To all of you bad Catholics and Christians who think that, remember that he did. He sent down Christ. Christ is there whether we want him to be or not. We can banish sin if we choose and be with God if we choose. But we have to make that choice. We can't expect God to coerce us into loving him. That's not loving God, that's just contradictory.

On Bumming

God's grace is universal. He treats us all with dignity. While some people are just too lazy to get off of their butts to get a job, there are many who simply cannot find a job. My personal opinion is that you ought to seize opportunities. You can't just bum on the street, collecting money from the government, and doing nothing to support yourself. On the other hand, it's not always so easy to get a job. Further, people who try to get jobs while homeless are many times not in respectable clothing, social standing, or what would be considered a good condition for a job. If you don't give someone a job, how can you expect them to get one? When people walk by and say "Get a job, bum" they aren't helping. Rather, they are only entrenching the poverty the person experiences, as they force them to feel demoralized as a human being. To say "Get a job, bum" when you wouldn't accept them into the job.

The second point about those who are homeless is that of helplessness. We can say you should get a job and stop "bumming" but that doesn't allow for us to see the humanity in others. What would you do in that situation? Everyone has had a situation where they were hopeless, helpless and just wanted some help. By forgoing this person's humility and calling them a "bum," we fail to recognize both their humanity and our own.  We turn off an empathetic part of our mind in order to feel a bigoted sense of superiority from being able to say someone else isn't as good as us. But what is that temptation? Concupiscence. This is how we relate degrading others to sin. Degrading others and not respecting their humanity generally stems from us choosing to not recognize our equality in the eyes of God. When we do so, we violate others in a sinful temptation that causes us to degrade ourselves. By not recognizing our own humanity in others, we fail to fulfill the human condition of empathy.

On Dolan's Sermon

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan

Archbishop Dolan's sermon has a lot of good metaphors. He does a good job of using examples to convey a point. His point is that the Church is universal. As has been said, the Church is not just for those who consider themselves holy. Rather, it is for the humble who choose to be redeemed. Just like Christ said, we are all sinners, and we cannot condemn others for it without addressing our own problems. So what does that make the Church? Rather than some kind of society where you are punished by earthly means for your sins, the Church is more like a hospital. The church has guidelines on what it takes to be fully cured, and not meeting those guidelines means you are still sick. That's how the Church is. If you're part of the Church and you still sin, you aren't breaking a rule. You're just sick, like every other human being on Earth. So what does that mean for those who have committed atrocities?

For those who have committed horrible deeds, the Church welcomes with open arms. The church has no elitist structure. Rather, it has the opposite. Being Pope or Cardinal means nothing in terms of authority. You just become more of a puppet of God. This also shows a key to sainthood. Saints did not free themselves totally of sin. Christ even condemned those who stated they were sin free, denouncing them as hypocrites and showing all people how they are not holy. Rather, saints, on the other hand, are those who accept their sinfulness. They say "Wow, I'm a pretty sinful guy. I'll change that." So those who become free of sin first must deny their holiness. If you have the idea that you're sin free, it means you aren't going to ever compensate for your sins. You'll go on thinking you're perfect. Rather, we are called to overcome our sin and become better people, closer to God, because of it.