Secular and Catholic Beliefs on Suffering (Ref.18)

Secular and Catholic Beliefs on Suffering (Reference # 18)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
“Secularism, concerned with life in this world only, and rejecting the idea of a future life that might compensate for the sufferings of this life, sees suffering as useless, pointless, indeed the greatest possible evil.

“Catholics believe that the suffering and death of Jesus was the most useful thing that ever happened in the history of the world, since it healed the breach between man and God that had opened with the fall of Adam and Eve. The crucifix, that instrument of ancient Roman cruelty, is the most common of all Catholic symbols; and the principal form of Catholic worship, the Mass, re-enacts the Passion (suffering) and death of Jesus.

“From this it follows that if Catholics are to live in imitation of Christ, they’re called on to suffer, and to suffer greatly – or at least to be ready and willing to suffer greatly when and if the need arises. The Catholic Church teaches that the connection between our suffering and Christ’s goes beyond mere imitation: it has a mystical quality…

“This isn’t to say that Catholicism teaches that we must be indifferent to suffering, especially the suffering of others. Far from it. The Gospels are full of stories about Jesus feeding the hungry, curing the sick, giving sight to the blind, serving the poor, casting our demons, even raising the dead. The history of Christianity abounds with corporal works of mercy. What other group has done as much to feed, clothe, shelter ,educate, and comfort other human beings as have Christian believers of the last two millennia? …

“Catholicism is a religion of Christ; hence, it’s a religion of the Cross. For this reason Catholics, in fact, not only strive to bear suffering, but also may deliberately seek it out. In the season of Lent, for example, the Catholic is supposed to embrace a certain degree of self-denial, through fasting, abstinence, and selfless labors….

“The secularist view of suffering couldn’t be more different. If, in the secularist approach to life, there’s a certain amount of ‘active hedonism’ (the pursuit of pleasure), there’s an even larger amount of what may be called ‘passive hedonism’ (the avoidance of pain). The prohibition of moral liberalism – namely, ‘Do not harm non-consenting others’ – illustrates this attitude of passive hedonism. If I must not inflict pain on others, why should I allow myself to suffer avoidable pain?
Secularists will grant that suffering is often unavoidable, but they’ll never grant that it can be a positive good. The less pain and suffering in the world, the better – period. …

“The Catholic observes a strict prohibition against suicide and euthanasia, regardless of the suffering he or others might be enduring. But from the secularist point of view, it makes little or no sense for the terminally ill person to bear his suffering until the bitter end. If such a person wished to be euthanized, this would be a perfectly rational, even a praiseworthy choice – a triumph of human freedom”
Report 18 on David Carlin’s Book, Can a Catholic be a Democrat? p. 98-100

George H. Kubeck, Duplicate and or translate into Spanish and Vietnamese.