REMEDY FOR A THROWAWAY CULTURE

 

REMEDY FOR A THROWAWAY CULTURE

            The country was shocked recently when news media presented a video of a security camera of a teenage New Mexico woman stopping her car next to a dumpster, getting out, and throwing a garbage bag into the dumpster and driving away.  Six hours later the baby inside of the garbage bag was heard crying and was pulled out of the garbage bin by three good Samaritans.  The umbilical cord was still attached to him.  The child is now recovering in a hospital and people have been donating items to the state’s Children, Youth and Family Department for the boy.  The mother has been charged with attempted murder and child abuse.  The tragic incident depicted on the video is a vivid image of what Pope Francis has lamented since the beginning of his pontificate of a “throwaway culture.”

            In his inaugural homily the Holy Father called Catholics and all the world to be protectors of creation, explaining what he means: “It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about…It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect and goodness. In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts!” 

The pope’s thoughts reflect the teachings of the last two popes who called humanity to live in solidarity with each other.  They promoted the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, which taught that “Man should regard the external things that he legitimately possesses not only as his own but also as common in the sense that they should be able to benefit not only him but also others” (Gaudium et spes 69).  The right to own private property is a social doctrine of the Church, but it is considered in the context of a universal destination of goods.  We cannot do whatever we want with whatever we have, in disregard to the needs and rights of our neighbors.  An easy way to understand this is to think of water rights.  A farmer who uses water from a stream that runs through his property is morally, and often legally, obliged to consider how his use of it affects other farmers downstream.    

            The principal of protecting the environment, according to the magisterium of the Church, must be extended to all of humanity.  Humanity is the crown of creation, and it has a responsibility to protect creation, which includes, first and foremost, one’s fellow human beings.  While we need to carefully consider how we dispose of used and unwanted things, how much more is it important to consider carefully how we treat persons who might be considered obstacles to our personal or communal prosperity, who are no longer useful to us.  Pope Francis told the Spanish Bishops’ Conference: “Some parts of our human family, it appears, can be readily sacrificed for the sake of others considered worthy of a carefree existence.  Ultimately, persons are no longer seen as a paramount value to be cared for and respected, especially when they are poor and disabled, ‘not yet useful’ – like the unborn, or ‘no longer needed’ – like the elderly.  We have grown indifferent to all kinds of wastefulness, starting with the waste of food, which is deplorable in the extreme.”  A culture in which personal well-being is the highest goal diminishes the sense of responsibility for others.  People, including unborn babies, the persistently sick, the dying, and the severely disabled are dehumanized and become things to be thrown away.  They must be put out of sight so that they do not impede our pursuit of happiness.

            Pope Francis provides the advice we need to correct a throwaway attitude: “The culture of selfishness and individualism that often prevails in our society is not…what builds up and leads to a more habitable world: rather, it is the culture of solidarity that does so.  We must never allow the throwaway culture to enter our hearts, because we are brothers and sisters. No one is disposable! Let us always remember this: Only when we are able to share do we become truly rich; everything that is shared is multiplied!”  To the patron of our Holy Father, St. Francis of Assisi, we ask:  Pray for us, that we may show our love for God and for our neighbor by protecting the environment and treating every human being as a person of infinite worth, not to be thrown away, but to be loved and embraced.  Amen.