Moral Decision Making

                          Making Moral Decisions in Conflict Situations

In our world today we face many situations that are complex, uncertain and ambiguous.  What does it mean for us when we, as disciples of the Risen Christ, have to make moral decisions?

1)  The process of making moral decisions begins with an understanding of who we are.
We are one of God’s beloved daughters or sons.
We are disciples of the Risen Christ.

As such we have been commissioned to carry on the work of Christ today. While we may say it in different ways, our mission, our task, is to prepare for the coming of God’s Kingdom by proclaiming it in word and action. This is true in our own lives and in the lives of our neighbors. The key indicator that God’s Kingdom or Way of Life is becoming present is PEACE. Peace is not simply the absence of conflict but the development of right relationships marked by the experience of Goodness, Order and Life.

The promotion of Life is primary since without it nothing else would be possible. As Catholics we do not see physical life as the only issue, however, since ultimately we believe in eternal life and thus, when all reasonable means have been used, in letting natural death occur.

2)  Knowing who we are and that we are called to share in Christ’s own mission we can make decisions about how we should act. Our decisions and actions are either moral or immoral.

The word morality comes from the Latin word moralis meaning custom. Morality has to do then with the way one customarily acts.

When we ask the question, “How should a Christian act?” the answer is a Christian, one who follows Christ, should act as Christ acted. When we ask, ”How did Christ act?” the answer is Christ acts as God the Father acted: to bring about Goodness, Order and Life. Every sin in some way diminishes or destroys Goodness, Order and Life.

 (The word ethics also has its root in a word that means custom. We have come to use ethics to characterize the way a public person such as a doctor, lawyer or businessperson, etc. should customarily act.)

Jesus Christ has not left us orphans, but has given us His Spirit and the Christian Community (the Church) to guide us in our actions for we are not called to act alone but in union with Christ and our fellow disciples. Thus when we prepare to act we need to act with an “informed conscience”.

The word conscience is the ability to make a judgment that something “is or is not” in keeping with who we are and our mission as Christ’s disciple.

The word informed is a way of reminding ourselves that one is not acting simply on the basis of one’s own opinion. Rather each one acts in relationship to Christ and His disciples. Thus to act with an informed conscience is a shorthand way of saying:

We need to be in union with Christ through prayer and the presence of the Spirit.

• We need to be in union with the Church by knowing what and why the Church Community teaches certain values and principles. In the Catholic Church the Bishops in union with the Pope constitute the official teaching authority of the Church. This is called the Magisterium, meaning authoritative teaching.

• Know who you are and that you have a mission.
• Hold clearly in your mind and heart the ideal that Christ and the Church are calling us to.
• Know the principles and values applicable to the current situation. These come from the Bible and the experience of the Christian Community. In the early Church the Apostles officially articulated these. Today they are articulated by the successors to the Apostles, the Bishops.
• Consult with experts to clearly understand the situation and the probable consequences of a specific course of action.
• Pray for guidance from the Lord and the Spirit.
• Given all the circumstances, make the best decision possible so that as many values as possible might be achieved. As Christ Himself and the martyrs make clear sometimes this means one has to make great sacrifices.
• Act in the future in a way that enables one to move more fully toward the ideal.