Here and There : Idealistic vs. realistic
Please read its a nice writing.
Here and There : Idealistic vs. realistic First
posted 03:51am (Mla time) Sept 24, 2005
By Fr. Roy Cimagala
INQ7.net
THIS is actually a piece on prudence, a virtue now howlingly relevant, especially with our continuing political mess.
Not only our political leaders ought to know and live it. Needless to say, it's an indispensable quality for every politician. But all of us need to live it, whether priests or laymen, professionals or farmers, young or old.
It's the virtue that guides us in our decisions and actions so these will fit our true, objective human dignity, and really serve the common good.
Given our human nature, our actions are not only personal but also have social effects. They are not completely temporal, but also have eternal effects.
We have to learn how to integrate these dimensions in our actions. It's not easy, of course, but we can always learn. And the present crisis can be a good source of lessons, validated by historical facts, personal experiences and doctrinal teachings of the Catholic Church, the expert in humanity.
As the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church says, prudence is "the virtue that makes it possible to discern the true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means for achieving it.
" (547)"Prudence makes it possible to make decisions that are consistent, and to make them with realism and a sense of responsibility for the consequences of one's action.
" (548)
It is a virtue that requires the mature exercise of thought and responsibility in an objective understanding of a specific situation and in making decisions according to a correct will.
The problem we seem to have now is that we have a lot of leaders, political and even ecclesiastical, who appear to get stuck with an idealistic mentality.
This means they get entangled with one aspect of an issue, pursuing perhaps a very noble goal and upholding a very lofty value, but ignoring other aspects that unavoidably figure, and even significantly so, in an issue.
That's when we say they have become one-sided or narrow-minded or rigid in their views. That's when we say they seem to be up in the clouds or confined in some ivory tower, detached from the concrete details of real life. They likely fail to read correctly the pulse of the times.
Idealistic persons often arrive at their conclusions or decisions without consulting others. They are prone to be guided only by their own personal, if not individualistic, criteria. They likely think what they have or know are enough to guide them. That's crazy, of course, especially in these complex times of ours.
For that reason, they often end up with simplistic ideas and rash judgments that may look brilliant in their minds. They fail to realize that these ideas often are tainted with bias and prejudice, and carry the clever wiles of human pride, arrogance and vanity, the usual spoilers.
Needless to say, their views seldom work. If they do, it's just for a while. Sooner or later, the infirmities and fallacies of their positions are exposed.
What is truly needed is the virtue of prudence. Basic as it is, we need to remind ourselves strongly that this virtue necessarily involves at least three steps: to clarify and evaluate situations, to inspire decisions, and to prompt action.
Many leaders take dangerous short cuts, driven by more by passion than by reason. They fail to do or they do inadequately the needed reflection and consultation in evaluating -- analyzing and judging -- situations in the light of the common good, if not of God's plans.
To be prudent, we need to learn how to identify steps that can be taken in concrete political situations to put into practice the principles and values proper to life in society. This calls for a method of discernment.
There has to be constant dialogue with all parties concerned, recourse to appropriate social sciences and other tools to evaluate situations as objectively as possible. Different choices should be identified and strategies made so as to resolve the problems as effectively as possible.
Prudence dictates that an absolute value must never be attributed to these choices because no problem can be solved once and for all. It's very important that we dominate our passions so as to allow right reason to reign.
* * *
Opinion-making
I’M, of course, happy and thankful for the recognition given me by the Cebu Archdiocesan Mass Media Awards (CAMMA). I never thought a hobby I started a few years ago would get me such award.
I have always found in writing something relaxing and fulfilling. It affords me a vehicle for escape and diversion, though I never allow it to detach me from reality.
It may bring me to a different world, a different time, with colorful characters and experiences, but I stop short of going literary all the way, putting me in some fantasyland.
Writing somehow gives me a sense of connection and transformation. It’s an organic extension of my prayers, a link to people, entering their hearts through a language that can only come from my heart also.
It necessarily entails reflecting what one is and what one wants or ought to be. Thus, it always has an effect on oneself, strengthening or weakening him as a person or as a child of God. It has great capacity to renew and transform a person.
It has never been just a tool, an inert instrument that I can use just in any way. It’s something very personal, very intimate. My whole self is involved there. It is the self who tries to establish and strengthen communion with others.
Thus, I am quite aware of the immensely delicate responsibility involved in writing. Especially in the area of opinion-making, where there’s a conscious effort to influence the minds and hearts of others.
I have always been aware that opinion-making is to be pursued always at the service of the common good. It’s never just a personal expression, much less an exercise in ego-tripping.
This much Catechism teaches us: “The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good.”
(2494) I think it’s a point to be well understood, especially today when we are torn with so many conflicts.
Common good, to my understanding, is never an abstract idea. It’s not just a sum-total of conditions that foster the proper development of a people, both as persons and as a society.
It’s much more than that. It is a living thing, quite dynamic, with something that is essential and therefore permanent, and also elements that change, that go with the ebb and flow of life.
For any opinion to truly serve the common good, it has to be firmly and clearly based on truth, on justice and fairness, on respect for the persons for their freedom and rights, on charity, mercy and compassion.
All these elements that go into the common good need to be distinguished and integrated in a vital way, knowing the priorities of values, etc. This is the most difficult part of opinion-making.
This sense of the common good is the one that determines the topics to be touched, the issues to be commented on, as well as the way or style in which these topics are discussed or argued.
The calibration of the forcefulness or softness in which a point is pursued is somehow determined by this sense of the common good. So is the decision on what to highlight, what to downplay, etc.
There is always a way of insisting upon a point that is also respectful of the different views of others. I hope that we can be familiar with this approach.
Sad to say, in many instances, views and opinions seem to be expressed without regard for charity and understanding the opposing positions. There is an absence of the needed weighing of conflicting values. This is the case of the idealistic persons.
In our current political crisis, I am dismayed to hear how some people can insist on a particular political option, without giving due attention to the opposite view.
When some say “we cannot move on because the truth about something -- the alleged election cheating -- is not fully known,” I think we are absolutizing the value of truth.
We are forgetting that even in the Gospel, Christ was not insistent in airing out the full revelation of offenses of sinners like the woman caught in adultery, the thief crucified with Christ, etc. He just forgave.
There is indeed a need for restitution and penalty, but let’s do this in a more charitable way, following precisely the example of Christ. Otherwise, we will just be harming ourselves more than offering a solution to our problems.
posted by pinoykid123 @ 6:36 AM
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