MUST READ!!! Another Great Speech From Archbishop Chaput: 'Being Human In An Age Of Unbelief'

These days I seem to only find the time to blog when I am extremely inspired by something... like a news occurrence, a new movie coming out, a great speech, or an enlightening homily.  The most recent speech given by Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput (SHAP-yu) at the University of Pennsylvania is one such example.  It has a copyright at the Witherspoon Institute, which explains why the length of it on this post has been reduced to a few paragraphs, rather than the whole speech.  Ryan Anderson contacted me today  (11-14-11) and very politely requested I limit my usage to excerpts rather than the entire item.  Seems they want readers to click on the link and come see the rest of it at Witherspoon.  Fair enough.  I have linked to them for almost two years now because they publish such great material.  Please visit them online and donate if you can.  They are a largely undiscovered treasure trove of great finds.

It's very hard to pick just a couple of paragraphs, as the Archbishop was making FOUR important points in defense of human dignity.  But here are a few paragraphs to whet your curiosity:

America could afford to be secular in the best sense, precisely because its people were so religious. The Founders saw religious faith as something separate from government but vital to the nation’s survival. In his Farewell Address, Washington famously stressed that “religion and morality are indispensable supports” for political prosperity. He added that “reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” For John Adams, John Jay, James Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Carroll, George Washington, and most of the other Founders—including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin—religion created virtuous citizens. And only virtuous citizens could sustain a country as delicately balanced in its institutions, moral instincts, and laws as the United States.

Here’s my purpose in mentioning this. The American Founders presumed the existence of natural law and natural rights. These rights are inalienable and guaranteed by a Creator; by “nature’s God,” to use the words of the Declaration of Independence. Such ideas may be out of fashion in much of legal theory today. But these same ideas are very much alive in the way we actually reason and behave in our daily lives.

Most of us here tonight believe that we have basic rights that come with the special dignity of being human. These rights are inherent to human nature. They’re part of who we are. Nobody can take them away. But if there is no Creator, and nothing fundamental and unchangeable about human nature, and if “nature’s God” is kicked out of the conversation, then our rights become the product of social convention. And social conventions can change. So can the definition of who is and who isn’t “human.”

How's that for a tease?  There's a lot more to read by clicking on the links above or right HERE.  Okay, one more paragraph.  This one is really important:

It’s important for our own integrity and the integrity of our country to fight for our pro-life convictions in the public square. Anything less is a kind of cowardice. But it’s even more important to live what it means to be genuinely human and “pro-life” by our actions—fidelity to God; love for spouse and children; loyalty to friends; generosity to the poor; honesty and mercy in dealing with others; trust in the goodness of people; discipline and humility in demanding the most from ourselves.

There.  That should be enough to get you interested.