Unit II- THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN LIVING

Lesson 9 & 10: Freedom of the Human Person

Objectives:
 Realize that all actions have consequences.
 Evaluate and exercising prudence in choices.
 Rationalize those choices has consequences and some things are given up while
others are obtained in making choices.
 Show situations that demonstrate freedom of choice and the consequences of
their choices.

ALL ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES

Everything we think and say and do has consequences for us and for others. Like
ripples on a pond our actions spread out and affect others because everything is
interconnected. And we need to remember that our actions are irreversible.

Consequences are where our thoughts and actions meet reality. We can’t always
foresee all the consequences of our actions and trying to be 100% sure we are doing
the right thing 100% of the time would lead to anxiety and indecisiveness. However, we
can resolve to try to choose those actions that lead to true happiness and not to
unhappiness – to avoid selfish actions and to choose actions that have beneficial
consequences for all – actions that promote connection and unity and harmony.

When we know and FEEL that we are all connected, then we don’t want to hurt anyone.
We know that would make us unhappy too. Feeling our interconnectedness makes us
sensitive to how our actions affect others.

Ultimately, LOVE is the purest motivation for our actions. Love wants others to be happy
too. It motivates goodwill, friendliness, kindness, compassion for those who are
suffering, and a desire to be of service to all.
Experience can be an excellent teacher, if we reflect on our actions and their
consequences. We then consider our actions more carefully and cease being merely
reactive to situations. Over time we become wiser and more skillful in our actions.
REFLECTING on our behavior is the key to changing.

We can also consider what the wise have said about actions. Wise people in all times
and places have suggested rules or guidelines that promote a way of living that is
harmonious with everyone and that contributes to a stable peace of mind and a life free
of fear and strife for the individual. Respect for others, and ourselves, is the underlying
basis for such principles. Ethical actions consider the long-term interests of all.

We can start with rules or guidelines but potentially we can go beyond following rules
and act from understanding; and even beyond that, we can act from a feeling of being
connected to all other beings and to the whole of nature.

The ethical principles suggested by Buddhists are a system of secular ethics which do
not depend on a belief system. Here they are stated both in their positive and their
negative aspects. The first three would be listed in any code of moral behavior.

 Respect and support life. Do not kill or injure other beings.

 Be helpful and not harmful wi th speech. Be honest and tell no lies. Be a
respectful listener.
 Respect property. Do not take what is not freely given.
 Respect the relationships and sexuality of others. Refrain from harming others
through sexual behaviors.
 Maintain mental clarity. Avoid taking intoxicants that may impair awareness and
judgment leading to unwise actions.

Mental “inputs” – from such sources as movies, TV programs, magazines, friends,

internet sources, social networks and computer games – may also negatively affect our
attitudes and behaviors.

Before any action we can ask ourselves some questions along these lines: –

 Have I considered the needs of others? Or, am I treating others as just a means to
an end for myself?
 Would I be okay about everyone else acting this way?
 Would I be able to justify my actions to others?
 Is this something a person of good character would do?
 Is this action contributing to a happy state of affairs for everyone?

Actions come from our state of mind. So, when our state of mind changes, then our
actions changes. If we make a conscious effort to develop our innate goodness, then
that becomes our usual state of mind.
By becoming a kinder person, we will be less likely to act in a negative way. We can
practice being generous when we realize we are being selfish, patience when angry,
and loving kindness to those we have difficulty with. We can focus on being thoughtful
before speaking or acting. Gradually more of our true nature shines through in our
everyday actions.

Living with a spirit of kindness and generosity takes our focus off ourselves which
expands our life and our true happiness. The giving/receiving score becomes
unimportant – we just seek to contribute whenever we can. We also experience that
acting kindly brings us pleasure.

We see we need to take full RESPONSIBILITY for ourselves and our actions. As we
grow we learn how to act in wise, practical and creative ways. Developing a gentle self-
discipline and thoughtfulness brings our actions into line with our understanding and our
higher intentions.

We may need to patiently train ourselves out of the habits of the way we have been
living. Self-control – over our thoughts, feelings and actions – is necessary for success
in life. Self-control often means overriding our habitual impulses. We can endeavor to
cease acting/reacting impulsively or recklessly.

Particularly we need to be careful when seeking pleasure or excitement. Being caught

up in pleasure or excitement we might not think properly about the consequences.
Some pleasures may bring pain and suffering in their wake.

Self-interest or selfishness, including the desire for pleasure, has such a strong
influence on our attitudes and behavior. If we can see that in the long term, bigger
picture the consequences are not good, then we see the need to resist impulses and to
act in line with our understanding.

Taking responsibility for our actions is EMPOWERING. We open up the opportunity and
the freedom to shape our own lives. We realize that we are the main agent in our own
life – we are not just at the mercy of other agents. We have the power to change
ourselves and so change our lives, and we understand that everything we do affects
how our life unfolds. We can be creative and find satisfaction in our achievements,
becoming more confident and effective. Acting responsibly, we earn the trust and
respect of others.

Changing our own attitudes and behavior is within our control and capacity. Changing
the attitudes and behavior of others is not – although we may be able to influence them
and indeed may have a responsibility to do so.

Although all our actions have consequences, we should not think that everything that
happens to us is caused by us. We may be a victim of events and circumstances
beyond our control such as natural disasters, major social upheavals or selfish or
reckless individuals.
Realizing the consequences of our actions will sometimes cause us to regret them and
resolve to avoid such actions in the future. We may need to be accepting and forgiving
of ourselves at the same time as we look for possible ways to make amends for any
harm done. We will sometimes need to forgive those whose actions have harmed
us. Being unforgiving or revengeful prolongs any suffering and often initiates a new
round of harmful actions. Acceptance and forgiveness allow us to move forward and not
fix on the past.

Exercise Prudence in Human Freedom:

Prudence is not a substitute for development ethics in its current form; it does not
replace the hard work of comparative theory, the compiling of case studies, and careful
ethical reflection. Nevertheless, the concept of prudence can provide a unifying set of 4
principles for a discipline whose laudable ambitions can make it seem bewilderingly
chaotic. Prudence reinforces some of the themes of development ethics, by
emphasizing the subordination of disciplinary expertise to ethics, by insisting that high
ideals be embodied in concrete circumstance, and by placing the acting person at the
center of development ethics. The Aristotelian tradition provides a unified account of
human action without sacrificing the mystery at the heart of any truly human act, or the
dignity of those who act.
Prudence is the art of taking moral principles and applying them to concrete situations.
Let's take some examples. We all know the maxim: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
This is a general moral principle. But even after we learn this principle, the question still
remains, "How do I love this neighbor, here and now?" We still have to take the general
moral principle and make it concrete in particular situations. To take a second case, the
Church teaches that drunkenness is a grave sin, which we should avoid. But how do I
avoid drunkenness, here and now? Prudence tells me when I should stop drinking; what
beer or glass of wine should be my last. Or what about the principle that sexual activity
must be reserved for marriage? Practically speaking, how do I protect my sexuality from
misuse? Well, prudence tells me that I probably shouldn't be alone with my girlfriend in
her bedroom, as it may lead to serious sin.

How Prudence in Human Freedom Works:

Prudence is the art of taking moral principles and applying them to concrete situations.
Let's take some examples. We all know the maxim: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
This is a general moral principle. But even after we learn this principle, the question still
remains, "How do I love this neighbor, here and now?" We still have to take the general
moral principle and make it concrete in particular situations. To take a second case, the
Church teaches that drunkenness is a grave sin, which we should avoid. But how do I
avoid drunkenness, here and now? Prudence tells me when I should stop drinking; what
beer or glass of wine should be my last; or what about the principle that sexual activity
must be reserved for marriage? Practically speaking, how do I protect my sexuality from
misuse? Well, prudence tells me that I probably shouldn't be alone with my girlfriend in
her bedroom, as it may lead to serious sin. Prudence therefore demands two aspects:
First, knowing the principles, that is, knowing what the goods of human nature are, and
that we must work towards them and never against them. Consequently, it is never
prudent, regardless of the situation, to act against the moral principles. There is no such
thing as a prudent abortion, because it always violates the good of innocent human life.
There is no such thing as prudent contraception, because it always goes against the
good of human life and against the good of the marital relationship. There is no such
thing as prudent pornography, because it goes against the good of human relationships.
Secondly, we must know how to apply the principles to the concrete situation. The first
part is knowing the goals; the second part is knowing how to choose the means for
obtaining the goal. In the words of St. Thomas Aquinas: "The prudent man considers
things afar off, insofar as they tend to be a help or a hindrance to that which has to be
done at the present time. Hence it is clear that those things which prudence considers
stand in relation to the end." With prudence, we look at every decision in light of the
ultimate goal, that is, goodness and happiness.
Three Parts of a Prudential Act Let's look at how to make a prudent decision. There
are several steps we must all take if we want to practice prudence in our choices.
Step one: Deliberation. This is the stage where we gather all the relevant information,
starting with a consideration of moral principles. This includes an awareness and
acceptance of the authoritative teaching of the Church's Magisterium; since the
Church's teaching gives us true principles, it's important to see if they teach anything
definitively about the issue at hand. For example, if the Church says that a certain act is
immoral, then you don't need to deliberate about that act anymore; you know not to do
it. While deliberating, we must also give a careful examination of the concrete situation,
to be sure that we have understood it as fully as possible. It is also sometimes advisable
to take counsel with those who are themselves experienced, prudent, and
knowledgeable about the matter at hand. With this step it is absolutely critical that we be
completely honest. Prudence is about truth, the truth of what is and what must be done.
It is the truth that sets us free; remember, we have to know what is true before we are
free to do what is good. So we can't let our own feelings or preferences get in the way of
a true understanding of the facts. Today, married couples, government officials, and
even moral theorists never seem to be able to agree about the right thing to do in any
situation. This is because they base their decisions on feelings and preferences, not on
truth. One of the major crises of the modern world is that we go on feelings instead of
truth. This is the error that we have to overcome in our own lives; we must base our
decisions on a careful and conscious examination of the truth. So often we don't
deliberate honestly, but rather focus on the aspects of the situation that we want to see.
Prudence demands openness to the whole truth of the situation. Failure to deliberate is
called rashness or thoughtlessness. This is when someone just rushes headlong into
everything, without ever taking a moment to think it over. It is very dangerous to "act
without thinking," to not consider carefully enough before action. It may work in a Star
Wars universe (don't think; just trust your feelings, Luke!), but in the real world it's
deadly. If you don't reflect on your decisions beforehand, you will make really stupid
decisions. Look at the options, seek advice, pray to God for His guidance, reflect, and
take a reasonable amount of time before you act.
Step two: Judgment. After deliberating, we must weigh all the evidence fairly, and then
figure out the best course of action. Judgment separates the relevant information from
the irrelevant information, and then applies it to the problem at hand. You can't just think
about something forever; you have to come to some sort of conclusion. Failure to make
a judgment is called indecision. Procrastination, beating about the bush, fiddling around,
all are ways of expressing this common vice. Thinking about some issue without
actually arriving at a practical result does no one any good.
Step three: Execution. Once we judge the right thing to do, we have got to act! If you
figure out the proper action, but then fail to perform it, what's the benefit? You do not
have the virtue of prudence until you actually do what you have judged to be right.
Failure to carry out what you believe to be the proper decision is called irresoluteness.
Plenty of people make hordes of decisions, and never manage to keep any of them.
They can't be faithful to a resolution. One day they've decided to do this major in
college, and then they change their minds and decide to do that major. The same
happens in the case of jobs, or vocations. Such people suffer from the vice of
inconstancy. A helpful exercise might be to analyze these three stages and see where it
is that you most often fail in your own life. Are you thoughtless? Indecisive? Inconstant
and undependable? Once you identify your weakness, you can make the conscious
decision to work on that area of prudence, and so hopefully improve in this fundamental
virtue.

Choices Have Consequences:

“Men… have become free forever, knowing good from evil: to act for themselves. They
are free to choose liberty and eternal life. Through the great Mediator of all men, or too
choose

Often, it says that choices have consequences. The enormous question is, does this
assertion stand or hold any essential truth? Well, narrowly speaking, the
correspondence theory of truth is while you are free to make your own decision, but you
are not free to control the consequences of your actions.
Every human being is present with free will to make their own decisions. To do
something of your own free will, you do it by choice, but if you allow someone to
influence you, then your decision is not free.
While they establish that human beings can think and act freely as a reasonable and
moral living being, remember everything you do come back to you. And the
consequences, whether good or bad, will follow you forever, and it also affects everyone
in your path.
The choices you make can shape you to be unique and set a difference between
yourself and everyone else. However, the decisions you make have long-lasting
repercussions on your life.
Your life on a daily is a series of choices you’ve been making over a lifetime. You’ll live
with those choices for the rest of your life — and believe me, you are free to choose
your actions, but you are not free from the consequences of your actions.
And as humans, we have the discretion to choose the way we live our life. God created
man with a mind free to choose. He made him with the freedom to select and the actual
ability to determine how the daily choices shape his destiny. This reaffirms that we have
the freedom to choose our actions, but it does not free us from the consequences of our
decisions.
Although so often in life, people do not wish to take responsibility for the choices they
carry out, but on the contrary, we must remember, we have to create our reality.
If you do not want to admit that your decisions have real-life consequences; you will get
crushed by a giant mischievous called paying the price of looking to take on the liability.
One of my favorite quotes is “The price of greatness is responsibility” – Winston
Churchill. The transition from youth to an adult presented us responsible for the choices
we make in life.
Try to escape from making choices as you might; you cannot avoid the consequences
of your decisions; whether you care to admit it your choices have real-life outcomes.
It is upon you to distinguish how you flourish in life. This means it is critical to attracting
what you imagine, reflect what you desire, become what you respect, and mirror what
you admire.
God also gave man and woman the ability to think for himself or herself. This enables
you to separate between what is good and what is wrong. Therefore, you’ll make
choices that genuinely affect your destiny. Remember, you are free to choose your
actions, but you are not free from the consequences of your decisions.
You have the power to create and experience the quality of life you truly desire and
need. One of the most incredible gifts given to you by God is the right to choose.
Whether we know it, we all use this power that can be called a “surface-level form of
power.”
 With this capability, your choices are founded on many things such as what to do, what
to think, whom to marry, what time to go sleep, what television program to watch, where
to work, what to eat, whether you live in a home or an apartment, what model of car to
drive, what to wear and among others.
Now that you have the authority to choose, it is essential to remember choices have
consequences; you get to make your decisions, but you do not get to choose your
results.

Since Choices often result in eternally significant consequences, we must choose

in line with Gods or Allah’s principles:

1. Choices often result in eternally significant consequences.

Genesis 13 is the first mention of wealth in the Bible. Wealth can be a blessing, but we need to
recognize something that isn’t said very often in our prosperous culture: Wealth
is a dangerous blessing! Increased wealth always results in increased potential either for evil or
for good. To whom much is given, much shall be required (Luke 12:48). When your income
increases, so does your accountability to God.
We need to pay serious attention to the biblical warnings about wealth. As Jesus watched the
rich young ruler walk away, He observed, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the
kingdom of God!” (Luke 18:24). The apostle Paul said, “Those who want to get rich fall into
temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and
destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have
wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang” (1 Tim. 6:9-10).
Everyone is quick to point out, “It isn’t money, but the love of money that’s the problem!” (Whew!)
That’s true, but irrelevant. It’s like handing a five-year-old a loaded gun and saying, “Guns aren’t
dangerous, just the people who use them.” True, but irrelevant. The fact is, no five-year-old is
mature enough to handle a loaded gun. And no sinner is capable of properly handling money
unless he is constantly yielded to the Holy Spirit and is continually on guard against every form of
greed.

2. We must choose in line with God’s principles.

It’s possible to gain the whole world and lose your soul. There is much more in life than
the outward and material. We must base our choices on God’s Word, not on the
assumptions of our culture. Those principles encompass the whole Bible and take a
lifetime to learn thoroughly. But there are four basic principles in our text that I want to
explore with you:

A. MAKE CHOICES WHICH VALUE RELATIONSHIPS OVER RIGHTS.

So much strife could be avoided in the family and in the church if we would put a
premium on our relationships, set aside our rights, and let the Lord take care of us. The
next time you are about to quarrel with someone (and quarrelling is a choice we make!),
stop and think about whether the quarrel is rooted in godly principle or in selfishness.
Sometimes we need to confront sin or take a stand for the truth, even though it causes
conflict. But be careful! It’s easy to justify selfishness by calling it righteous anger. The
general rule is, “Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of
one another” (Rom. 14:19).

B. MAKE CHOICES WHICH VALUE GODLINESS OVER GREED.

How can we know whether we are under the influence of greed? Charles Simeon, a
godly 19th century British pastor, offered three helpful criteria for evaluating ourselves
(Expository Outlines on the Whole Bible [Zondervan], XII:469-471). First, we may judge
ourselves by the manner in which we seek the things of this world. If we find ourselves
thinking more about the things of this world and how to get them than about God; or if
the thought of having them brings us more pleasure than our thoughts about God; or if
we are willing to violate our conscience or neglect spiritual duties to pursue those
things, then we are governed by greed.
Second, we may judge ourselves by the manner in which we enjoy the things of this
world. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the things God provides us. But, if we start
thinking, “If I just had such and such, I would be happy,” or if we think that by getting so
much in the bank, we will be secure from the trials of life, then we’ve shifted our trust
from God to material things, and we are governed by greed.
Third, we may judge ourselves by the manner in which we mourn the loss of the things
of this world. Christians are not to be devoid of feelings. But here Simeon is getting at
the principle which enabled Job, when he lost all his worldly possessions, to say, “The
Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” It enabled
Paul to be content with much or with little, because Christ was his sufficiency. If our joy
rides on our possessions or if we are filled with anxiety and grief if we lose them, then
we are more governed by greed than by God.

C. MAKE CHOICES WHICH VALUE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD OVER THE

APPROVAL OF THE WORLD.

As Christians, we always face a tension: If we pull out of the world too far, we lose our
witness because there is no contact. But if we blend in with the world, we lose both our
fellowship with God and our witness to the world. Jesus was the friend of sinners, but
He was never tainted by their sin because He put a premium on fellowship with the
Father and He never sought the approval of the world. He was in the world with a clear
sense of His mission, to glorify the Father and to seek and to save the lost. If we want to
line up with Abram rather than with Lot, we’ve got to be people of the tent and the altar,
pilgrims and worshipers, here to bear witness. We must put fellowship with God above
the approval of the world in all our decisions.

D. MAKE CHOICES WHICH VALUE GOD’S ETERNAL PROMISES OVER

IMMEDIATE PLEASURE.

The Lord Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all
these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, emphasis mine). Most of us want to seek
the other things first and add the kingdom of God later in our spare time. The next time
you face a decision that involves a major commitment of your time or a move to a
different locale; make the decision based on how it will affect your own and your family’s
commitment to the kingdom, not on financial factors alone. If the extra hours and the
move will bring you more money, you need to ask, “Why do we want more money? Is it
so we can give more to missions?” If the bottom line is that you want more money
because you want more things, then you’re not seeking first God’s kingdom.

The Existentialist view of Human Freedom:

Here is the summary of the Existentialist View of Human Freedom:
1. Man is free because God gives him that freedom-the freedom of choice.
2. Freedom is a gift what God endowed to men
3. Freedom as such is good, but sometimes it becomes bad
4. There is no absolute freedom since freedom is God’s gift to man in men’s
humanity.
5. Freedom should always be attuned to the nature of man because it is only in
being human where we can truly exercise our freedom.
6. Freedom that enables man to determine according to his owns choices are the
freedom that is proper to man.
7. Freedom should be personalized since it cannot be divorced from its impending
responsibilities.
8. There are three kinds of freedom: the freedom from physical constraints. This is
manifested by beast, infants, mentally retarded; freedom as one pleases
(exercised by ruffians, anarchist, and immature individuals) the authentic freedom
(an attunement with what is divinely required).
9. Man is free to do anything he wants to do, but he is not free from the
consequences of his actions.
10. There is no freedom apart from the law: for laws are meant to regulate man’s
exercise of freedom.