Let me finish this subject quickly and briefly, as I often have more of an interest in the details of a subject than many people do.
When Christians debate ethics, they do not often think about how they look upon God’s rules. In the United States, it is quite common among many to assume that everything that God says has to be equally enforced. That is, if two of God’s rules conflict, then the Christian must do his/her best to fully obey each of God’s commands.
But, among many Christians, particularly among Roman Catholic moralists, there is the belief that both Scripture and Tradition point us to a hierarchical view of ethics. That is, if two of God’s rules conflict, then the Christian needs to compare which of the two rules has a higher priority. That rule must be fully obeyed, while the second one is obeyed only as far as is practicable without violating the first rule. What does this mean?
Well, let’s return to yesterday’s example from World War II. What if you were hiding Jews from the authorities, but the authorities came to your house and asked you directly if you had Jews in your house? Well, among absolute ethics people, they would say that you must not lie. I can remember some in seminary arguing that you tell the truth and trust God with your death and with the death of the Jews in the house. Others said that you refuse to say anything and take the torture, giving the Jews a chance to escape. Others resorted to casuistry (a rather inappropriate use of ethics), and argued that you could use half-truths or misleading truths, provided you did not lie straight out.
But, in hierarchical ethics, the argument is simply that the saving of people from an unjust and genocidal death is a higher priority than telling the truth. Thus, you simply lie and there is no sin whatsoever in the lie you tell. But, is there any evidence for this viewpoint in the Scriptures? The answer is yes.
- Rahab the harlot in the Book of Joshua lied to save the Israeli spies. Not only is it never called a sin, she is even commended for the act, rewarded by Joshua, and is an ancestress of Christ.
- King David ate the show bread that was only for the priests. Not only is he never rebuked for this, though it is a strong sin, but this is even cited as an example by Our Lord Jesus Christ in order to confuse the arguments of the Pharisees.
- Despite the prohibition of working on the Sabbath, all Levites and priests worked on the Sabbath. We know that this is correct, because Our Lord Jesus Christ also cited the fact that the priests and Levites worked on the Sabbath in order to justify one of His Sabbath-healings.
I could give other examples, but you get the idea. Now, with this understanding, look again at the second point that the Catholic bishops made about vaccines made from fetal tissues. Normally abortion would take priority over many another subject, particularly in countries in which abortion is legal and there are a large number of abortions. But, look again at that second point. The argument is that the prospect of uncontrolled epidemics of serious diseases among the children and young adults (and maybe adults) of this country is such a clear evil that insisting on refusing those vaccines would in itself be participation on a massive evil. Notice that the bishops do not argue that one must have faith. Neither do they argue that God will protect. Rather, they argue that to take part in beginning another massive evil (epidemics, pestilence), is so sinful that it overcomes objections to those vaccines. In fact, in good hierarchical fashion the bishops make it clear that there is NO sin for those who are vaccinated, but hint that there would be great sin for those not vaccinated.
Remember also that the parent that decides to give a fetal-cell vaccine to their child is not directly and personally participating in abortion and bears NO personal sin, but rather is having to cope with the sin of OTHERS. But, the parent that refuses to give a fetal-cell vaccine to their child IS quite possibly directly and personally participating in the beginnings of a great epidemic.
Though this subject may have gone on too long, I hope that it helps you to think through some of your ethics.
[Note and small P.S.: For those of you science fiction geeks, the Three Laws of Robotics are an example of a hierarchical ethical system.]
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