Common Good

I was greatly disheartened to read in the Minneapolis Tribune of the death of a small puppy. It seems the puppy was beaten to death by two small children in a suburb of the Twin Cities. The two children, 6 years old and 8 years old, beat the pup with a club until dead. The owners have decided to put their house up for sale. They told reporters they could no longer live next to such people. Sadly, who would want to? This senseless violent incident by mere babes escapes explanation. As these youth mature, God help us consider the atrocities they are capable.

While I perplexed how small children could torture a tiny cute puppy, I learned of a teenage boy in Fergus Falls who allegedly murdered a toddler whom his family provided day care. I cry with anguished conviction, why, why, why?

In the aftermath of hurricane damage, New Orleans struggles to find the resources to meet the basic needs of people. Last month alone over 350 murders took place causing the government to again recall the National Guard.

Have the principles instilled in eons of past generations gravitated into the depths of despair?

Has the value of life itself found an abyss, or will there be further degradation?

Who and what is responsible for the frightening lack of respect for others and the strength of a “me first” attitude?

It is ironic that medical research struggles forward to fight disease and find cures to preserve life that is valued less and less.

Ask anyone and an answer will be formulated. There are too many answers and not enough questions. It is not video games, poor parenting or lack of it, government, immigration, religion, drugs, handguns, media, advertising, commercialism, or even politics. When all reasons to blame are stripped away and the real truth is exposed, treating others as we would treat ourselves has been set aside like some mumbled forgotten promise.

Two words that I have not heard on the lips of politicians in my life time are: common good. Maybe it is time discussions of this topic move to the forefront of politics. Earlier, a U.S. president said, “Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in bonds of fraternal feeling.” The President quoted was scoffed and criticized for those words as the country went busily about the business of killing each other on a large scale. (Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States 1861)

Where is the movement toward the common good for all people? It seems there are not enough people with the conviction to embody a force to offset self-interest? Is anyone willing to stand up for the common good of all people?

The common good is not a new idea. It has been around for thousands of years. It has been adopted, distorted, and discarded in many societies to some degree for centuries. John Rawls, the contemporary ethicist, defined the common good as "certain general conditions that are...equally to everyone's advantage".

Consider the individual freedoms we enjoy. They are unique in both number and depth. May we also reflect on the type of society we are. There must be a balance between individual freedoms and the common good of mankind.