Extra Blog Post: Catholic Social Teachings

Extra Blog Post: According to Catholic Social Teachings, why must people participate in societies?

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This is a separate reading handout, on the handout there are notes written down by myself and there are some notes that I took from the class on 1/29/2015.
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There are many reasons why people must participate in government, Catholics argue that humans are the children of God and we must stand for human life. Doesn't matter if a human is a criminal, all humans must make sure they respect others just as God respects them as his children. This reason alone can turn many people away from Catholic teaching, since not everyone has the same religious beliefs. However, there were a few points that stood out for me.

The first point is that a democracy contains rights and responsibilities for humans. In order to have a democratic government, humans have the responsibility to control their rights. This is very important because if humans can't vote on have a say about issues such as race then there will be oppression within the government.

The second point is that Catholic teachings require solidarity to make sure humans participate. The reading argues that people are interdependent on social life, humans need social interactions to make them better people and to fit into the larger society. I agree with this statement because life is a circle. From the day we are born, we are truly dependent on others to grow. As we middle age we become independent, but as an elder being we need to be dependent again. This concept is very important to understand because many people figure this out until its too late. For example, capitalist companies and their CEOs have only there best interest at charge, however the consumers are making their pocket grow. No one is ever in isolation. Society is very connected to our human nature dating back to history where people traveled in packs.

Participating in government today is a must because humans need to be selfless. We need to make a world with better human rights. Small governments must take place in order for more people to get involved without a huge central government to take over. A society is built on our social interactions, not our isolation.