We've never heard more about human dignity and had less of it. People have lost something vital. When shame went out the window, human dignity went with it.
Actually, this seems to be an obsession with the post Vatican II Church. I don't recall ever hearing about it before JPII.
But what the modern world means or comprehends by the word "dignity" and what we OUGHT to comprehend by it, are two different things.
"Dignity" to the modern world DOES mean the deification of man... that the one and only sin in the world is for a man to suffer anything, or be disrespected. (Unless perhaps the man is Catholic, in which case the modern world will say you can't do him enough wrong no matter what you do to him.)
But dignity as we ought to understand it, is more along the lines of what really is due, in the eyes of God, to every creature, and to Himself. The dignity of God, for instance, demands that we behave with reverence and respect in Church. The dignity of man demands that we must behave as though we really do believe we are beloved creatures of God, that our bodies are meant to be His tabernacles, and that God really has given commandments regarding these things. If we graffiti our bodies with tattoos... that is against human dignity. It is against the reality that we are creatures of God, not common billboards or lowly paper, to scribble on whatever we like. Hard work, on the other hand, or to discipline children, is NOT against human dignity. Those things are NOT against the realities of who and what we are.
The understanding we should have of dignity is simply what is right and fitting for us, given what we are, the love God bears us, and what God has commanded us to do. It is a matter of acknowledging realities, NOT a matter of vain pride, like what modern men commonly mean when they say "dignity".
Modern man means by "dignity", that all men deserve heaven on earth, and the respect of deities. A Catholic ought to mean by it, simply that they accept the reality of what human beings are, and that they acknowledge God's love toward them, and authority over them. Big difference. And we should never let ourselves be confused.
True humility is similar to this... It is NOT simply bashing yourself regardless of the truth or regardless of whether or not it's right to do so. Humility is not the evil the modern world paints it to be, where it's one and only meaning is synonymous with "unjust and cruel degradation." True humility, like true dignity, is only and simply a matter of knowing and accepting the truth, and acting accordingly. It consists of discovering our true standing (especially in the eyes of God), and accepting it, and acting accordingly. By it, we neither exaggerate the gifts we really do have (pride), nor do we deny them, as though God had not given them to us (injustice and ingratitude). Rather, we see ourselves as we really are... both in our faults and nothingness (especially compared to God), and in our talents and gifts and graces, which we acknowledge as being from God and NOT from ourselves... not acting as though our gifts say something good about us, when they are really all God's, and His glory alone. It's a matter of accepting reality, not of self-abuse or exaggerating falsely our own failings or flaws. To abuse ourselves that way is usually only to deny all the good that God has given us. It may be HIS good... but He HAS given it! And so we must not deny it, as though He hasn't. But true humility will keep us also from bragging about them, as though they came from us, or are our own doing.
Likewise, true dignity is simply understanding where we really stand in God's eyes, and what we must do regarding the way we treat ourselves and others because of it. Obviously, to idolize man or exaggerate his importance is to err. But the dignity of a creature, and what we must do because of that dignity, are simple realities, and ones that we must learn and respect for the love of God. Disrespecting men or ignoring the actual dignity of man is against God, just like idolizing man would be. Both are errors in our thinking and behavior. They're just errors on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Topic: The Dignity of Man (Read 4501 times)