The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1953-11-27

serve, IT is not wisdom for man to
accept as his master the lion who
seeks to devour him.
The Catholic Church, however,
hes never failed 10 accord the
human body an immense mea-
sure Of honor. She affirms that
II was originally created by God;
in one instance actually assumed
by Him; in every instance
meant TO be on earth His spe-
eiaI temple, and destined even
fvsIIy TO reioin the soul in His
beafifie Presence. Whatever is
uneompromising in her teaching
about fhe body stems from her
realism or two points: the body,
though good, is not the highest
good; and the undisciplined
body is noforioUsIY bad.
Other sacrileges against person
ality flow from errors less crude
perhaps, but hardly less injurious.
Such are some prevailing miscon-
ceptions about society, liberty, eco
nomics, labor and education.
Mans Dignity and Society
The practical social theory of
the last century enthroned the in
dividuaI but not the person. An in.
dividual can be a thing: as for in
stance an individual tree; but in
virtue of his rational soul, a person
is more than thing. Yet the de.
personalized view of man gained
ascendancy, and generated a soci-
ETY. which was criss-cross of in
dividual egotismS, and in which
each man sought his own.
Against this error our century
has seen a reaction which has
sought to overcome the isolation
Of man from man by imposing up
on rebellious individuals a pattern
of compulsory and alI-embracing
state organization, with unlimited
power in the hands Of the Civil
Government. Hence socialism in its
various guiseS has appeared as fore
ible organization imposed upon the
confusion which resulted from
false concepts of human freedom.
The Christian concept of man,
however, is that he is both person
al and social. AS a person he has
rights independent of the state; as
a member of society he has social
obligations. Parents and society
contribute to the making of man,
hence man is indebted to the social
order. At the same time, since his
soul comes not from society but
from God, a man has rights which
no society may violate. The state
is a creature of man, but man is a
creature of God; hence the state
exists for man, not man for the
state.
Mans Dignity and Liberty
The Christian view, then, avoids
the opposing extremes of individu-
alism and collectivism, both of
which are grounded on false con
cepts of iiberty-either the unfet-
tered liberty of individualism,
which gives the individual" the
right to ignore society; or the un-
fettered liberty of dictatorship
which gives the government the
right to ignore the person by alb
sorbing him into a race or class,
thus destroying his freedom OF
choice. The false liberty of Indi-
vidualism wrecks society by defin-
ing freedom as individual license;
the false liberty of dictatorship
wrecks humanity by defining free
dom as the right of the dictator to
nullify the person. right which
he claims to derive from social ne
cesSity.
Concerning the results of such
false notions of liberty Leo XIII
issued these warnings: "The true
liberty of human society does not
consist in every man doing what
he pleases, for this would simply
end in turmoil and confusion, and
bring on the overthrow of the
state likewise, liberty does
not consist in the power of those
in authority to lay unreasonable
and capricious demands upon their
subjects, course which would be
equally criminal, and would lead
to the ruin of the commonwealth. "
Liberty in political life may be
described as the condition in which
the individual finds himself un-
hampered in the discharge of his
duties and in the exercise of his
rights. Liberty, however, is some
thing more than a political phe.
nomenon as tyrannical dictatorship
contends; it is more than an eco
nomic phenomenon as some disci
plies of free enterprise maintain. II
is something more mature than
that dream of rights without re
sponsibilities which historic liber.
alism envisioned; it is certainly
different from that terrorism oi
responsibilities without rights
which Communism imposes. 1t il
something wiser than free thought
For freedom has its roots in man:
spiritual nature. IL does not arise