Comments for Weakness That Makes Us Strong at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 8 out of 8 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Tue, 21 May 2013 22:19:22 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/weakness-that-makes-us-strong.html#comment-10470 Dawkins is certainly no philosopher but if one wants to know what do evolutionists mean by 'Selfishness' and 'altruism' then he is useful. My point was that we can not get care for 'weakest member of the group' from the altruism as understood by the biologists and the author's claim that ". What has made homo sapiens a dominant species, many biologists now think is precisely our ability to cooperate, to act altruistically, and to protect the weakest members of the tribe." is entirely untenable. The practice of eugenics is consistent with the evolutionists' view of human evolution. - Gian Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:59:44 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/weakness-that-makes-us-strong.html#comment-10469 Wonderful piece, however, as a mother to a child with Down Syndrome and a representative of the community, I would like to point out that the term retarded is offensive and should not be used. Also, we prefer our kids be labeled a person with Down Syndrome or Trisomy 21, not a Downs child -- the difference being the former describes a condition, and the latter conditions (or defines) the person. - Sarah John Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:10:06 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/weakness-that-makes-us-strong.html#comment-10466 Today at Mass a lady came and sat in the pew before me with her intellectually disabled son. The love between them was palpable; and the way they looked at each other, with deep and unfeigned love, reminded me once again of Dr. Smith's powerful piece. And it was then I recalled that as a little Protestant boy I asked a lady with a Down's syndrome daughter why she didn't send her up to the state hospital. "Because God gave her to me; we're Catholics and we don't send our children away." Those words doubtless played a role in my own conversion to the fullness of the Faith twenty two years ago, and some twenty-odd years after she spoke so kindly to a little boy who didn't know any better. - Dave Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:07:21 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/weakness-that-makes-us-strong.html#comment-10464 Dawkins is a very poor philosopher ... the very title of his work is an attempt to secure all the advantages of teleological thinking without acknowledging teleology. Anyway -- a healthy soul considers that the weak have a special moral claim upon us. But we fear the weak because they remind us too much of ourselves. All this reminds me of a statement by Von Balthasar: Outside of the ambit of Christianty, the child is always the first to be sacrificed. - Tony Esolen Wed, 21 Mar 2012 05:41:58 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/weakness-that-makes-us-strong.html#comment-10462 They want to destroy Down's Syndrome babies for several reasons, beginning with the cult of flawlessness. To this cult the Christian Faith responds that our perfection lies in our ability to receive and cooperate with divine grace, the impulses of divine love that created us in the first place. Eradicating these babies will not eradicate Down's, as Down's people do not generally have children and when they do, it is entirely possible - and it has happened -- that their children do not have the Syndrome. So the next reason is the cult of efficiency -- the drive to squeeze ever more work out of people until there is nothing left to squeeze out of them. And since there is little to squeeze out of Down's Syndrome people except their smiles, their unconditional love and their unfeigned joy (all that despite their syndrome), why, then, the "investment of capital -- financial and social" just isn't justified. But I'll cease rehearsing the arguments, because they are sickening. Bangwell Putt states the other side's case admirably well -- either it's mercy (but how would they know?) or it's psychologically unhealthy to care for the disabled (but how would they know?) At the heart lies the conviction that suffering is bad and nothing good can come from it. The Cross is God's decisive answer to that conviction, and his eternal and unwavering argument to lay it aside. Here's what I see as the underlying problem of the Left's entire paradigm: freedom means I should get what I want, and others should pay for it. I want contraception, you should pay for it. I want a life in which I can pursue pleasure as I define it, and others should pay for it, with their lives if I am strong enough to make that happen. If I can so arrange the laws as to make that possibility, good for me and too bad for you: it's your problem if you are weak. Selfishness parading about as altruism, wrapped in envy of those who live lives of deep joy and the peace that passes all understanding (for which most of us, even those who practice the Faith, let's be honest, still long). Dr. Smith, your article today is beautiful and I thank you for it. We need not only to pray for a culture that's humane enough to embrace the weak: we need to be that culture. Anciently our forebears in the Faith rescued children left to die of exposure. We are not so far off from those times. And Christ and His Church will prevail, because the gates of hell will not. But they'll sure try. - Dave Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:22:00 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/weakness-that-makes-us-strong.html#comment-10461 So, in another generation, the only Down's Syndrome citizens among us will be the children of God-fearing folk, which will be additional evidence to our beters that fearing God is a social defect. - Richard A Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:14:52 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/weakness-that-makes-us-strong.html#comment-10460 One on side of this argument are those who believe that every life is invaluable and beyond measure. On the other are those who hold that the markers of success are essential to a life "worth living". It seems apparent that, human weakness being what it is, many people have convinced themselves that depriving a handicapped person of his or her life can be classified as a mercy. Or, on the other hand, they have accepted the argument that sacrifice of time and treasure in caring for a disabled person is psychologically "unhealthy". To stand against any particular cultural ideal is, history teaches, a lonely stance, possible only through God's grace. The cost will be very high, requiring heroism from the young fathers and mothers who choose to pay it. - Bangwell Putt Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:29:53 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/weakness-that-makes-us-strong.html#comment-10459 Given their worldview, the disdain for Down's and others is perfectly comprehensible. Do you think pagans would have let defective baby survive? ", many biologists now think is precisely our ability to cooperate, to act altruistically, and to protect the weakest members of the tribe." Altruism in biological terms is technical usage and is mathematically defined in the context of ant societies. Apparent altruism on organism level is reduced to selfishness on gene level. It has nothing to do with "care or protection of the weakest member of group". One should read Dawkins' Selfish Gene to understand this point. However, the evidence would not support the evolutionists' claim to understand all animal behavior. Certainly any extrapolation to human behavior is entirely unjustified. - Gian Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:18:06 +0100