{"id":30989,"date":"2024-04-25T18:26:38","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T18:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?p=30989"},"modified":"2024-04-25T19:06:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T19:06:37","slug":"meaning-and-implications-of-a-culture-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/meaning-and-implications-of-a-culture-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the “Culture of Life” and How Can We Live It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meaning and Implications of a Culture of Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Colleen Haupt and Marisa Cantu, originally published April 22, 2024, Human Life International<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever heard the phrase \u201cCulture of Life\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever wondered what it meant? What is its origin? What is its counterpart, the Culture of Death, and how does that play into our world today? How do we promote a Culture of Life? And how do we form (or reform) our own lives so that we can authentically live<\/em> it?<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pope St. John Paul II coined the phrase, \u201cCulture of Life.\u201d His first written reference to the term was in his 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus<\/em><\/a> [\u00b639]. He expanded greatly on this concept in Evangelium Vitae<\/em><\/a>, the 1995 encyclical often referred to as the \u201cCharter of the pro-life movement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, many Catholics (even those only tangentially aware of social trends) have heard the term \u201cCulture of Life.\u201d But most may not realize that it applies directly to them<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of this article is to clarify for each Catholic \u2500 and, indeed, for every human being \u2500 the necessity of supporting a Culture of Life with everything we do, everything we say, and everything we think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catholic Social Teaching Upholds the Dignity of Each Human Person<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To properly understand the term \u201cCulture of Life,\u201d we must first understand the natural dignity of the human person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes a human being \u201cspecial?\u201d Why should we regard a human person differently from any other of God\u2019s millions of different species of living creations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the time we were young, we instinctively knew the answer to this question: \u201cThe dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God; it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude\u201d [Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/a><\/em>, \u00b61700].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dignity is the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect. Human<\/em> dignity derives from the distinctive ability of the human species to reason<\/em>, to think, to contemplate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human persons have an inherent and immeasurable worth and dignity. Endowed with a spiritual and immortal soul, intelligence and free will, the human person is ordered to God and called in soul and in body to eternal beatitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other species possesses this distinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only the human soul is eternal. Only the human soul is sacred; \u201cYou are holy, for you are God\u2019s temple and God dwells in you\u201d [1 Corinthians 3:16].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a very real sense, God shared the core of His being \u2500 His divinity \u2500 with us. Gaudium et Spes<\/em><\/a> [\u00b622] explains that \u201cFor, by his Incarnation, He, the son of God, in a certain way united Himself with each man. He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart He loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, He has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin, He, the Redeemer of man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sin offends human dignity, but sin cannot cancel or reduce it. It may be difficult to accept, but even the career criminal who is a predator and murderer must be treated with respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the Culture of Life?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If we fully understand the nature of human dignity, it will inform our thinking about how people live between<\/em> the beginning and end of their lives as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what does this even mean? We can begin by answering this question: What kind of world do we want for ourselves and for our children?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We long for a world free from evil. There are three types of evil, which a Culture of Life opposes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n