LIFE

a) Bioethics
b) Hate
c) Homicide
d) Abortion
e) Euthanasia
f) Drugs
g) War
___________________________

a) Bioethics

        This is the science which studies the ethical behavior in using life. It interjects moral principal to defend and improve life healthily:

-from birth, from the very second the embryo is conceived,
-growing up, in the moment of fertilization, from procreation, through all the steps of life, and the use of medicine for health,
-until the moment of death, end
ing life with dignity, being an example even in pain, and never dying like animals or for egotistical interests.

        Bioethics can never come before the science of life, and scientists can never perform experiments using people, babies, or embryos.

        Life was given for us to preserve and share to others. A situation where in we have to die for the good of others can even arise.

b) Hate

        This is to have bad wishes for another person. "You have all heard that you shall not kill. Well, I am telling you: anyone who gets angry at his brother will be guilty before the high court". Human life is sacred, in the image of God, and it was given to us to love.

        The sins of hate are:

-cursing: wishing someone dead;
-quarrel: starting arguments with someone;
-infanticide: abusing a child;
-fratricide: fighting with a sibling;
-parricide: mistreating a parent.

        Hate comes from within a person, from being mad, or from falls in love’s life. Hate makes a person evil, or makes him have a double personality.

c) Homicide

        This is a sin which is committed by the killer as well as those who cooperate with him/her or who agree with him/her. Homicide is taking someone’s life away through:

-murder: directly;
-complicity: not stopping someone’s death;
-suicide: even if it’s your own life;

        Or taking away someone’s life freely, such as

-wounding: mutilating or wounding someone;
-daring: fighting with one’s hands;
-kidnapping: locking a person in someplace;
-torture: tormenting and distressing someone;
-taking hostages: keeping someone against their will;
-
recklessness: endangering road, sea or air safety.

        A dubious case of homicide exists (today it is wrong, but maybe in other times or circumstances, it won’t be):

-the death penalty: today this is seen as taking revenge on a delinquent.

        And another case exists which is allowed (if all else fails):

-in legitimate defense: killing an attacker in self-defense.

d) Abortion

        This is to kill a baby inside the mother’s womb. There is absolutely no excuse for this, and the Church punishes this with excommunication (this can never be forgiven, neither in this life nor in the next).

        Abortion is a low and cowardly act and attacks against:

-eternal law, manipulating God’s plans,
-natural law, which requires us to take care of and not to kill innocent beings,
-human law, li
fe is a right which exceeds a personal whim.

e) Euthanasia

        This is killing a terminally ill patient through medical means. It is always, in every case, immoral. It can be:

-directly, injecting a sick person with some substance to kill them,
-indirectly, te
rminating medical help which keeps the sick person alive.

        Medicine only exists to heal, never to kill. Pain can be healed with tranquilizers, and if a person is suffering, this suffering can be healed, but a person must never be killed.

        Every person has the right to die with dignity, to follow life’s natural cycle, and to be an example for others to know how to face pain and death, without being fooled, and by receiving love and dedication.

f) Drugs

        Human life and life in general must be protected and cared for. Any abuse, whether it kills or not, attacks its dignity.

        Drugs are habit forming and deteriorate our health. They include:

-hard drugs: narcotics (always);
-synthetic drugs: chemical mixes or variations of the above (always);
-soft drugs: tobac
co, alcohol or medication (if it is abused or misused).

        Drugs:

-totally enslave freedom and will power;
-seriously deteriorate health and personality;
-never rea
ch or interpose in affection.

g) War

        This is fighting for political, racial, or regional ideas, without respecting the ideals of others and thus eliminating living together peacefully.

        A war can only be considered fair when it strictly fulfills the following:

1st the aggressor is unfair,
2nd everything else was tried first,
3rd a greater good is going to be achieved,
4th disproportional means aren’t used.

        War sins are:

-sedition: forming dangerous gangs;
-terrorism: instilling terror to reach goals;
-weapon trafficking: getting armed more than necessary;
-destruction: destroy someone else’s property;
-dismembering: dividing another country’s whole;
-subversion: disturbing harmony between people;
-conspiration: conspiring against someone else;
-rebellion: uprising against something;
-racism: hating and persecuting a certain race;
-nazism: believe that one race is the best;
-slavery: forcefully dominate another person.

 

Mercaba Eds 
Diocese of Cartagena-Murcia 
General Diagram of Mercaba's You
th Catechism