A Word About the Term ‘Intrinsically Immoral’

Last updated on: October 18, 2017 at 7:57 am by Mark Shea

A Word About the Term ‘Intrinsically Immoral’ 2017-10-18T07:57:19-07:00 Mark Shea

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I mentioned the term “intrinsically immoral” in my discussions of the death penalty. Lots of people are confused about that term. Calling a sin “intrinsically immoral” does not make a sin extra super duper gravely evil.

Let’s back up. The Church distinguishes grave sins from less serious ones. Minor sins (or “venial” sins as they sometimes are called) are still sins and still hurt us. It was, never forget, a minor sin called “stealing an apple” that got the snowball rolling for the whole human race back in the Garden. By that trivial act, the human race signaled something catastrophic: the rejection of God himself. This is why, in a passage moderns find a bit kooky and obsessive, Augustine dwells at great length on a seemingly minor incident from his youth when he stole some pears. He’s on to something.

Some folks will give away their real attitude toward venial sin by replying “Well, that was different because Adam and Eve directly disobeyed God Almighty with that sin.”

Um, yes. Because that’s what every sin from stealing apples to killing Cain is. Once the fundamental rejection of the life of God has happened, all the rest of human history is doomed. That’s what Augustine sees and we do not.

When people say things like “little sins don’t matter”, they give away the fact that they don’t really believe venial sin is sin at all and that “real” sin is just the Big Stuff: murder, adultery, grand theft auto, war crimes, etc. In short, what they give away is their conviction that sin is a matter of keeping rules and observing legalities, not a matter of relationship with God. But in fact venial sin, embraced and nursed and made a habit of dullness to the voice of God can lead to graver sins just as a scratch, left unattended, can lead to an infection that kills. So we distinguish between venial and mortal sin because to not do so is crazy (we don’t jail people for twenty years for jaywalking) but we still recognize that venial sin is sin. When the seemingly trivial apple was plucked from the tree, in that very instant, God looked the human race in eye and saw that tragic, nearly imperceptible moment when we stopped having the child’s eyes of open, trusting love. Something glazed over in our gaze and returned to him only a looking cunning, deceit, distrust, alienation and remote distance. The act was small. But the change in us was as if galaxies stood between us and the Divine Love. And when our first parents lost that Life, they lost it for us all. We are all of us born withe a spiritual birth defect: a hole in our souls where the life of God should have been and is not. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Our brokenness is first expressed in our actions, and then our actions make us and those around us more broken still.

Now, into the mix of both mortal and venial sins, the Church also describes certain sins as “intrinsically immoral”. Many Catholics have taken that to mean “super duper extra immoral, the worst kind of sin there can be”. It does not mean that. A sin can be both intrinsically immoral and yet venial. So, as we saw several years ago in the Great Lying Debate, the Church teaches that lying–all lying from fibs down to covering up the Holocaust–is “by its very nature” to be condemned (CCC 2485). There is no such thing as a lie that is not a sin, according to the Church. But it does not follow that every lie is a grave sin and, in fact, most lies (“No, that dress does not make you look fat”) are venial sins.

Conversely, things that are not intrinsically immoral may nonetheless be grave. Case in point, the death penalty. Again and again, the champions of the death penalty insist that because the death penalty is not intrinsically immoral, it is perfectly fine to make war on the Magisterium’s teaching and call for the execution of prisoners–and this is done despite the fact that, statistically speaking, it means that DP advocates are willing to kill roughly 4 innocent people out of any given pool of 100 condemned prisoners.

Slice that however you like, but when the Church is saying “We don’t *need* to kill any of these people” and you are saying “I don’t care if we kill four innocent people, I just want these other 96 to die so much that I’m willing to commit four human sacrifices to my lust for blood!” I would not be altogether certain of my standing on the Day of Judgment. Especially when our Tradition extends back to the story of God telling Abraham that he would spare Sodom itself if there were just a handful of righteous men there.

The implication (for all non-lawyerly non-rigorists) is obvious: God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and wants mercy, not vengeance for us all. In short, stop asking “When do we *get* to kill?” and start asking, “How can we show mercy wherever possible?” That is, think with the mind of the Church–the mind of Christ–and seek life, mercy and relationship, not technical, legal loopholes to satisfy a desire for death. And do it even–and especially–for those who do not deserve it, since that is what Jesus has done for you, who are guilty of nailing him to the cross.

O my Jesus, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Uncategorized

Abolish the Death Penalty

Catechesis

Previous Post

October 18, 2017

Two Sonnets

Next Post

October 18, 2017 Hey Western Washington! Mark your Calendars!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 September 2006 June 2006 July 2005 April 2005 May 2002 April 2002 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz