Catholic Beliefs On Being Human
The Catholic church expresses unique beliefs and values concerning the idea of personal meaning and identity, such as the meaning of ‘being human’ and the belief of sexual identity. God created humans in his own image , this includes our ideas of being humans and our sexual identity. Consequently when we form relationships we confirm to the fruits of the Holy Spirit and rejoice in our relationship with God. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are, charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continence and chastity.
The Catholic belief of being human is the pure relationship between humans and God, known as human purity, and is expressed when each individual serves one another. The act of serving one another is defined in Galatians 5:13 as serving one another humbly in love. Jesus is an excellent example of human purity through his sacrifice that consequently restore our relationship with God. We are made in the image of God, therefore each individual is valued the same, no matter the race, class, age, weight, physical appearance or gender. “God created mankind in his own image, male and female he created them.” However society influences our ideas of individual value and sexual identity through manipulation of the perception of beauty. What is now accepted as beauty can be classified as unrealistic …show more content…
goals, impossible dreams and unsatisfied desires.
The Catholic church uses different values and ideas, such as chastity, to express the belief of sexual identity. The values of chastity originates from the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and contain the ideas of having a emotion relationship and marriage, before a physical relationship. Through this, a child will be brought into a loving family and seen as a blessing. Instead of a child born from lust, into a broken home and raised by a single parent.
Our society has become fixated upon the physical segment of the being human dimension wheel. Catholic beliefs and ideas could allow todays youth to take a ‘step back’ and see the big picture, instead of being focused upon social status, appearance and popularity. Dr Robert P. Schwartz, professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest School of Medicine, has submitted a report into the Journal of Adolescent Health establishing a link between body image and suicidal thoughts in young teens. There study found a 25% increase of suicidal thoughts in youth that perceived themselves as ‘overweight.’ “The study’s findings clearly indicate that overweight perception is an independent predictor for suicidal ideation, the same as depression” says Dr Schwartz. The Catholic view of made in the image of God, expresses the idea of equality, no matter race, age or weight. Therefore if young people lived by these beliefs, there personal values and ideas would take a healthy attitude and no longer be based upon the comparison of weight, race and gender.
The Catholic beliefs and values can contribute to a young person’s own sense of personal meaning and identity.
The identity of todays youth could be positively benefited by these beliefs and values. Instead of acceptance and the feeling of self worth coming from the physical aspects of the human dimension wheel, Catholic beliefs because these personal values to come more from the spiritual segment of the wheel. This means that your identity will be based on your values and beliefs, not your outwards appearance or how popular you are. The Catholic values include but not exclusively, commitment to the community , respect
for human life , continues faith and hope and a sense of sacrament. For example, Nancy Roberts committed suicide after 3 years of bullying from her half sister, Julia Roberts the famous actor, over her weight. Julia’s statement was that “she didn't want to have a fat and ugly sister, why couldn't Nancy be normal?” This is what drives people to suicide, as everyone around them focuses on how they look or how popular they are, meaning that they lack self worth and their identity is dictates by the bullying. If Nancey and Julia both believed in the Catholic values they would have not felt this pressure to look, act, and appear perfect. Meaning that Julia would not have felt the need to despise her sister due to her weight issues and Nancy would have been able to feel accepted her appearance and loved herself. An average of 2415 suicides are linked to bullying yearly, preventable deaths if everyone shared the Catholic views globally. If today's youth shared the belief of the Catholic views, their identity would be based on the whole spiritual wheel, instead of the physical segment. This means that there would be no comparison between different body types and weight, leading to a community where your feeling of self worth and identity are not dictated upon your weight, race or gender, such in Nancy’s story.
The Catholic belief of being human is the pure relationship between humans and God, known as human purity, and is expressed when each individual serves one another. The act of serving one another is defined in Galatians 5:13 as serving one another humbly in love. Jesus is an excellent example of human purity through his sacrifice that consequently restore our relationship with God. We are made in the image of God, therefore each individual is valued the same, no matter the race, class, age, weight, physical appearance or gender. “God created mankind in his own image, male and female he created them.” However society influences our ideas of individual value and sexual identity through manipulation of the perception of beauty. What is now accepted as beauty can be classified as unrealistic …show more content…
goals, impossible dreams and unsatisfied desires.
The Catholic church uses different values and ideas, such as chastity, to express the belief of sexual identity. The values of chastity originates from the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and contain the ideas of having a emotion relationship and marriage, before a physical relationship. Through this, a child will be brought into a loving family and seen as a blessing. Instead of a child born from lust, into a broken home and raised by a single parent.
Our society has become fixated upon the physical segment of the being human dimension wheel. Catholic beliefs and ideas could allow todays youth to take a ‘step back’ and see the big picture, instead of being focused upon social status, appearance and popularity. Dr Robert P. Schwartz, professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest School of Medicine, has submitted a report into the Journal of Adolescent Health establishing a link between body image and suicidal thoughts in young teens. There study found a 25% increase of suicidal thoughts in youth that perceived themselves as ‘overweight.’ “The study’s findings clearly indicate that overweight perception is an independent predictor for suicidal ideation, the same as depression” says Dr Schwartz. The Catholic view of made in the image of God, expresses the idea of equality, no matter race, age or weight. Therefore if young people lived by these beliefs, there personal values and ideas would take a healthy attitude and no longer be based upon the comparison of weight, race and gender.
The Catholic beliefs and values can contribute to a young person’s own sense of personal meaning and identity.
The identity of todays youth could be positively benefited by these beliefs and values. Instead of acceptance and the feeling of self worth coming from the physical aspects of the human dimension wheel, Catholic beliefs because these personal values to come more from the spiritual segment of the wheel. This means that your identity will be based on your values and beliefs, not your outwards appearance or how popular you are. The Catholic values include but not exclusively, commitment to the community , respect
for human life , continues faith and hope and a sense of sacrament. For example, Nancy Roberts committed suicide after 3 years of bullying from her half sister, Julia Roberts the famous actor, over her weight. Julia’s statement was that “she didn't want to have a fat and ugly sister, why couldn't Nancy be normal?” This is what drives people to suicide, as everyone around them focuses on how they look or how popular they are, meaning that they lack self worth and their identity is dictates by the bullying. If Nancey and Julia both believed in the Catholic values they would have not felt this pressure to look, act, and appear perfect. Meaning that Julia would not have felt the need to despise her sister due to her weight issues and Nancy would have been able to feel accepted her appearance and loved herself. An average of 2415 suicides are linked to bullying yearly, preventable deaths if everyone shared the Catholic views globally. If today's youth shared the belief of the Catholic views, their identity would be based on the whole spiritual wheel, instead of the physical segment. This means that there would be no comparison between different body types and weight, leading to a community where your feeling of self worth and identity are not dictated upon your weight, race or gender, such in Nancy’s story.