The document contains a prayer asking God to teach the speaker's heart where and how to seek and find God, though God has made and remade the speaker and given all good things, the speaker still does not truly know God and has not fulfilled their purpose. The prayer asks God to teach the speaker to seek God, as the speaker cannot do so without God's teaching, and to find God through love once the speaker finds God.

1. Total Catechesis
Who gets to choose?
How can war be justified?

2. Let Us Pray

3. O my God, teach my heart where and how to seek You,
where and how to find You.
You are my God and You are my all
and I have never seen You.
You have made me and remade me,
You have bestowed on me all the good things I possess,
Still I do not know You.
I have not yet done that for which I was made.
Teach me to seek You.
I cannot seek You unless You teach me
or find You unless You show Yourself to me.
Let me seek You in my desire,
let me desire You in my seeking.
Let me find You by loving You,
let me love You when I find You.
Amen

4. Tonight you will...
examine your beliefs about the death penalty and the reasons why you
hold your beliefs
understand what the Catholic Church teaches about the death penalty
and other life issues under the consistent ethic of life.
reexamine your own belief about life issues in light of what the Church
teaches and will choose your own action to promote life.

5. DEATH PENALTY - YES OR NO
A cult leader sends his followers to the home of a woman who is eight
months pregnant. He has ordered the cult members to kill her and
everyone else in the home, which they do. He shows no remorse, but
he did not actually commit the murders himself.

6. DEATH PENALTY - YES OR NO
A man trains terrorists and sends them on suicide attacks that kill
thousands of innocent people in an “enemy” country.

7. DEATH PENALTY - YES OR NO
A thief is caught by police in the act of robbing a convenience store. The
thief grabs his gun and kills a female police officer, who is the mother of
two small children.

8. DEATH PENALTY - YES OR NO
A mentally challenged 18 year old kills a woman who caught him
robbing her home.

9. DEATH PENALTY - YES OR NO
A father kills a drug dealer who sold crack to his 13 year old son.

10. DEATH PENALTY - YES OR NO
A woman participates in a very vicious murder, committed with an ax,
but admits her crime and professes repentence, asking forgiveness of
God and the victim’s family.

11. DEATH PENALTY - YES OR NO
A pedofile kidnaps, rapes, and then murders a 10 year old girl.

12. DEATH PENALTY - YES OR NO
Two brothers, ages 12 and 14, beat their father to death with a baseball
bat. He had abused them physically and emotionally for many years.

13. Analyzing the “why”
THINK: Work independently on “Who Deserves the Death Penalty”
PAIR: Share the significant influences on your decisions
SHARE: Share some comments with the whole group

14. What do the man on death row and the newborn baby have in common?

15. What do an unborn baby and a terminally ill person have in common?

16. What do a person dying painfully and a Jew in Nazi Germany have in common?

17. What do a Jewish person in Nazi Germany and an innocent civilian who died from a bomb
dropped on her village have in common?

18. Write these down
The Church’s postion
Every human life is sacred because we are all created in the image and
likeness of God. Because we are made in God’s image, we all have a
dignity and a worth that can never be taken away.

19. The Church’s postion
We are responsible for protecting the dignity of all, even people who
have killed someone else.

20. The Church’s postion
Executing someone for a crime is an extremem measure that should
happen only when absolutely necessary. Given today’s prison system,
such a situation is rare, if not nonexistant.
John Paul II, The Gospel of Life

21. The Church’s postion
Being pro-life means defending the dignity of all human life from unborn
babies to people at the end of their life.
Dignity is not based on what we deserve or don’t deserve.
Based on one fact; all of us are created God’s image
This position is called a “consistent ethic of life”

22. http://youtu.be/qguWRoYozLI

23. Write 2 or 3 sentences that tell something new you are thinking about
after hearing about the Church’s position on life issue.
Which parts of the Church’s postion seem right to you?
Are there any ideas in the Church’s position that you feel at odds
with or don’t really understand?

24. Learning Objectives
Just War
You will come to appreciate God’s vision of peace and the very real
challenges involved in making that vision a reality in the world
You will be able to articulate the criteria used by the Church for judging
a war to be just
You will be equipped to apply the principles of a just war to current and
potential international conflict in the world.

25. Is the use of force justified?
You are the democratically elected president of a small country in
the Middle East. Unlike many of its neighbors, your country has been
politically and economically stable for decades.Your economic
stability rests on tourism and rug weaving. Taken together, they
provide your people with a simple but adequate life. The quality of
your rugs is known and appreciated internationally. Now the country
immediately to the east is threatening your economic security. Its
weavers have copied your rug patterns and technology and are
turning out good-looking imitations at half the price.You know that
your political party will go under if the economy declines—and
everyone in the country will suffer. Moved by rug rage, you declare
war on your eastern enemy.

26. Is war justified?
The border situation between your country and a neighboring country to the north
is a powder keg waiting to explode.Your country is rich in natural resources and
controls the flow of water between the two nations. The drought of the past few
years has left people in need on both sides of the border, but with fewer resources,
your southern neighbor is clearly in more trouble than your country. Smugglers and
illegal immigrants are destroying the fences along the border, evading the patrols, and
making the surrounding area a scary place to live. In retaliation you have sent patrols
across the border, trying to stem the illegal flow of immigrants into your country.
There have been deaths and tragedies on both sides. Both countries are hurting, and
neither is a clear winner in this conflict.You believe that things will only get worse in
the future, so you declare war.

27. Is war justified
You are the leader of your country’s armed forces.Your latest elected
president is incapable of making decisions and is ignorant of the severe
problems your country faces.You (and most military professionals)
think action needs to be taken immediately to halt the flurry of
terrorist attacks in your land. Fearing for your country’s survival, you
mobilize your forces and declare war on the terrorists.You will worry
about the consequences after you have beaten your enemy and
declared victory.

28. Is war justified?
Two of your neighbors to the west are at war. So far, you have stayed
neutral, but you are thinking of joining forces with one to conquer the
other.Your country’s population is expanding rapidly and will run out of
living space soon. War will give you the opportunity to annex part of
the loser’s land, giving future generations a bit of breathing space.
Without major loss of life or resources, you could end up the big
winner in this war and help bring the conflict to a speedy close.

29. Is war justified?
The neighboring country to your north is large and has been preparing
for war for several years.Your army is outnumbered five to one, but
your people are courageous and proud. When the war starts—and it is
certain to come soon—you will encourage them to fight with all their
strength rather than surrender to the forces sent their way. Being
attacked is reason enough to fight to the death.

30. Is war justified?
Your country has a long history of hatred with a neighboring country.
Tension and intolerance increase every day. When war starts again, you
know it will escalate quickly.Your country’s shaky infrastructure
(transportation and communication systems, health care and
educational institutions) will be set back many years, and the
environmental damage could take generations to repair. Damage to the
enemy country, however, will be even worse. War is never pretty. People
will suffer, but with your enemy soundly beaten, the violence should end
for good.

31. Is war justified?
When the tensions first flared, it looked like your country and the
country with which you are in conflict could talk together and work
out the problems. But now you know you cannot trust a thing they say.
The other countries in your region have offered to intervene, but you
figure that would just give your enemy time to strengthen defenses.You
see little chance of resolving the conflict peacefully, so you decide, as
the nation’s leader, to initiate war while you still have a chance of getting
the upper hand.

32. Points on Church teaching about war
We believe in a God of peace who reconciled the world through His
son Jesus Christ
We are called to live in peace, to prepare the world for God’s reign of
justice, love and peace.
Working for peace means defending human rights and promoting good
for all
freeing people from poverty
looking on all people as the members of one family
working together to bring about justice and peace for all

33. Points on Church teaching about war
Conflict is inevitable in a sinful world. Church gives two ways to deal
with conflict
Non-violence: dialogue, negotiations, peaceful protest, stikes, civil
disobedience, civilian resistance
Just War: strongly inclined against the use of force, certain
conditions must be true

34. Just war
Just cause
Comparative Injustice
Legitimate Authority
Right Intention
Probablility of Success
Proportionality
Last Resort

35. Revisit scenarios

36. Regulating Force During Conflict
Noncombatant Immunity
Proportionality
Right Intention