"Why think, when we can play"

Ah, so many things to write about. My re-reading of the Iliad alongside Pat Barker's first novel about women in the Trojan War: The Silence of the Girls. Barker just published her second novel on the same subject: The Women of Troy. I am also still engaged with Gerhard Ebeling's lectures on Luther and the first volume of David Tracy's selected essays: Fragments: Our Existential Situation. Additionally, I am still making my through George Pattison's wonderful book A Short Course in Christian Doctrine.

Helen of Troy, by Evelyn De Morgan, 1898

Another thing on my mind today is a letter written this week by Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego to his priests. In his letter, Bishop McElroy asks his priests not to sign onto the Colorado statement. The Colorado statement is a document issued by the bishops of Colorado that many, including myself, find defective when it comes to conveying Church teaching in its totality. You can read more about the statement here. I think the fifth paragraph of Bishop McElroy's letter succinctly articulates addresses the relevant issues.

Like most things these days, this is a point of contention among bishops in the United States. It seems pretty clear to me that, while some Catholics may well determine they cannot receive the vaccine in good conscience, they cannot refuse to do so based on objective Church teaching on the matter. In other words, Catholics faced with a vaccine mandate, like many healthcare workers and others who intteract with the public and/or vulnerable people, they don't have the ground to seek a religious exemption.

Nonetheless, those who feel they cannot be vaccinated in good conscience still have a moral obligation to seek the common good and out of concern for others take appropriate measures to reduce transmission of the virus. What this means is that those living in areas of high SARs transmission who feel they cannot be vaccinated should either isolate and/or wear masks indoors in public places.

For example, most weekdays I spend in a federal government building. Because I am in an area with a high SARS transmission rate, I have to wear a mask in the building regardless of whether or not I am vaccinated. This is likely due to difficulties, both legal and practical, in verfying vaccination. When I am in my office with the door closed, I can dispense with my mask. Do I have to wear a mask? No. My refusal to do so, however, prevents me entering the building and the effects spial from there. Yes, choices have consequences.

Catholic social teaching is not libertarian in its fundamental orientation. Rather, it is oriented toward the common good. The common good prescinds from the fact that no person is an island unto him/herself. We live in society. Hence, Catholics should recognize the common good and seek it without having to be legally compelled to do so. At root, the Christian conception of freedom is freedom for not freedom from.

This is not to say the Church is or should be indifferent about legitmate matters of individual freedom. In this instance, Catholics are free to act in accord with the common good by either being vaccinated or wearing a mask indoors in public places. Protecting others is a moral obligation. This is fundamental to loving your neighbor as you love yourself, is it not?

That is my take on the matter. As always, take it for what it's worth. I would refer interested persons to my Integrity Notes for this blog.

Perhaps a bit incongruently, our traditio for this Nineteenth Friday in Ordinary Time is "Ballerina Out of Control" by The Ocean Blue.