JAHTHECHALLENGEOFFORMINGCONSCIENCESFORFAITHFULCITIZENSHIP

The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship

1. "We pride ourselves on supporting human rights, but we fail even to protect the fundamental right to life, especially for unborn children." In my own words this is saying that as a country we sometimes disregard peoples' basic rights. It also is showing the Catholic church's stance as Pro-Life in this sentence, which I disagree with and I am for Pro-Choice.

2. "As people of both faith and reason, Catholics are called to bring truth to political life and to practice Christ's commandment to 'love one another.'" This sentence suggests that we should use our faith and our knowledge to help our country and the world. We should also love each other even when people have opposing views, for example politics.

3. "Even those who cannot vote should raise their voices on matters that affect their lives and the common good." Everyone, including teens our age, should share their opinion about politics and all other aspects of life that could help others around us.

4. "Disrespect for an human life diminishes respect for all human life." If you hurt one person, you're ultimately hurting many people and God. Though I agree with this statement completely, I do not agree with, "direct threats to the dignity of human life such as euthanasia, human cloning, and destructive research on human embryos are intrinsically evil and must be opposed," because a lot of the science behind these ideas helps save more innocent lives.

5. "While the common good embraces all, those who are in greatest need deserve preferential concern." The poor and those living in poverty should be a main concern of our country. Even though we have to look out for ourselves and our families, the poor, who are less fortunate, need more help then we do.