PELOSI AND FREE WILL

"Pelosi goes on to criticize the Church for its position on abortion and gay marriage while still claiming to be a "practicing" Catholic

I think you have had some brushes with [church] hierarchy.

I have some concerns about the church's position respecting a woman's right to choose. I have some concerns about the church's position on gay rights. I am a practicing Catholic, although they're probably not too happy about that. But it is my faith. I practically mourn this difference of opinion because I feel what I was raised to believe is consistent with what I profess, and that is that we are all endowed with a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And that women should have that opportunity to exercise their free will."

Creative Minority Report

So, Mrs. Pelosi believes that she has free will. Fine. What is her definition of free will? Apparently it is the right to do whatever she damned well pleases. This is the same definition that most people would adhere to.  Yet she claims to be a Catholic, and this is not the definition of the Church. Of course, since she has "free will" she really doesn't have to concern herself with what the Church teaches, does she?


So, what does the Church that Mrs. Pelosi claims to be a member of teach regarding free will?


From The Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1731 Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.
1732 As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach.
1733 The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin."²⁸
1734 Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary. Progress in virtue, knowledge of the good, and ascesis enhance the mastery of the will over its acts.


The question that I have for Mrs. Pelosi is this: as a Catholic do you believe that exercising your free will in the service of evil is truly an exercise of free will? 1733 from the Catechism calls this an abuse of freedom. Abuse is defined in Webster's dictionary as "to put to a wrong or improper use". Are we free to misuse our freedoms and rights? I know we can, but are we free to?


If we were to accept Mrs. Pelosi's definition of freedom how could we ever justify laws proscribing any activity? If we have the "right" to exercise our freedom in any way we please what would give someone else the "right" to stop us from doing it? Using her definition would the government have the right to force me to buy health insurance if I have the freedom to choose not to? How could my state require any sort of license for any sort of activity? Shouldn't I have the free will right to choose to drive or practice medicine without government interference?


The answer, of course, is that Mrs. Pelosi is wrong on her assertions about free will. We cannot choose to do as we please because our actions affect others. I cannot murder because it is a violation of the rights of another. I cannot steal because it is a violation of the rights of another. Most sensible people realize that while we have free will it is not an absolute right to do as we please. We are only free to involve ourselves in actions that are ordered towards the good.


Mrs. Pelosi, like most modern Catholics, picks and chooses Church doctrine to suit her own beliefs. Of course, if she could find it possible to be honest with herself, this makes her a Protestant, not a Roman Catholic. She refuses to accept the teachings of the Church that she claims to belong to. Yet, she expects her constituency and, by virtue of her office, the American people to trust her and accept her as an honest broker in the health care debate. This heretic cannot be trusted with anything! She will bend and twist the truth to her purpose whenever she feels it necessary to do so. She can't even be honest with herself about her own beliefs. If she could she would abandon the Catholic faith for one that agrees with her.


Because, after all, who is God to be telling her what to do?