Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching

1. The Principle of Human Dignity

This building block is at the center of Catholic social teaching. It says tha every person is made in God's image and is redeeemed by Christ, therefore they are worthy of respect. People do not have to earn our respect by their actions, but they get our respect automatically by being human. This human dignity also allows a person to have a place in a family or belong to something.

I agree with this principle, because I think that all people deserve respect no matter who they are and discrimination against someone because they are a certain race, or ethnicity is wrong and prejudice. No one person is better than the other, so everyone deserves the same amount of respect.

2. The Principle of Respect for Human Life

This states that all human beings have a right to life and it is a sin to directly attack innocent life or try to bring a decline to it.

I agree with this principle, because every human being has a right to life. It is wrong to take human life, because I believe that the right to life is very sacred and is very punishable if it is violated. Even in the case of abortion, I believe that it is terrible to take away the life of a baby because the parents messed up. The right to life is even defined in the U.S Consitution. I think, however, that in situations where a persons life is being threatened by someone else and they need to use self defense to save themselves then the person in danger may have to take away the others life.

3. The Principle of Association

This states that at the center of society is family, and because of this family stability should always be protected. Through our involvement with others socially and through family, we achieve our fulfillment

I think that this is very true, because the family unit is very important in the Catholic Church, because it affects so much how we will turn out. A close family that is spiritual and values family morals will produce children who go into life with these morals and they are strengthened when they put these morals to the test. Family has everything to do with this. Breaking apart of a family can lead to a completely different set of morals no supported by the Catholic Church.

4. The Principle of Participation

This states that all people have the right and the obligation to participate in society. An individual has the right to not be shut out from social situtations. Throughout this socialization we have more benefits available. This also applies to working a job, because working a job is more than just making a living, because it is a form of living out and participating in God's creation. The rights of a worker should be respected.

I agree with this principle, because a healthy social life can keep a person in touch with the world and will lead to happiness. Being shut off from society can lead to little knowledge of the outside world and lead us down a different path of morals. I agree with the work statement, because laborers are just living out their God given right to plug into society and develop socially, so the working conditions should be fair so the laborers will keep coming back.

5. The Principal for Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable

This states that we are called to put the needs of the poor before out own, because the common good of society requires it in order to prevail and work more towards a better society.

Putting the needs of the poor in front of our own needs is very important. Because in our society, we are very far from perfect and there are many homeless and poor on the street with so much less than what we have. To achieve a better society we must give up a little bit of what we have to the poor and bring about a more balanced society. A better balanced out society is all apart of the common good.

6. The Principle of Solidarity

This states that we are all one human family as brothers and sisters, so we must love our neighbor as ourselves and create more of a family bond with one another

Unity is very important for human beings, because essentially in God's eyes we are all equal and in one family. Unity between different groups of people creates more of a sense of family and we are brought closer to God through this. This is not an easy task, however, because trying to become closer and unifying with all people is not that easy especially when we have our own prejudices and biases. The best that we can do to accomplish this solidarity is try and create unity wherever it is possible for us to do so.

7. The Principle of Stewardship

This calls us to take care of the physical enviroment which is God's creation and assume moral responsibility for the protection of the enviroment. This also calls us to utilize our gifts and pay attention to our own personal health.

I believe that we have an obligation to take care of nature and God's beautiful creation just as much as we do to take care of our ownselves. Through our own choices to create a better physical enviroment we are working cloer and closer to the common good. This is also a good moral choice just because we are allowing all people to benefit from it and we are also allowing ourselves to benefit from our actions.

8. The Principle of Subsidarity

This sets a limit on the power of a big government and says that a smaller government should deal with its local problems, because they are closer to the conlfict. This is meant to put a stop to such oppressive governtment

I am not really sure where I stand on this principle, because I think that a large government is necesarry to have to make some decisions. I think that one large government leads to a sense of unity and participating and being apart of something big. Because the United States shares a similar leader, we are like a family in a way because we all obey the same laws. However, there are some decisions and issues that can be dealt with by utilizing a smaller state government, which is a lot like the Hurricane Katrina situation.

9. The Principle of Human Equality

Everyone's equality comes from their dignity and their special talents are all apart of God's plan. Treating others with equality is the just thing to do and it is the fair thing also.

This princinple if very important, because it outlines the Golden Rule. You want to treat others with equality, because you also wanted to be treated with equality. Every person is created by God and out on this earth as equals, so one person deserves the same amount of respect and fairness just as much as every other person

10. The Principle of Common Good

This gives the definition of Common Good as being the best social ocnditions for all people

The goal for the Common Good is a goal that we should all be striving for. The Common Good is something that all people in a society can agree with and get along with. Common Good can only lead to a sense of family and sense of unity and participation with God. We are reaching a more balanced and fair society when we strive for the Common Good. I agree with this and believe that we should all strive for the same Common Good.