THE HUMAN NEEDS OF SPIRITUALITY-
Lino Bertuzzi - Roma - Dec. 2013
For anyone who is not a brute, is inevitable to ask basic questions about the beginning and the end of human existence, to investigate intellectually on them, and also give rational answers.
A fool once said that religion is 'superstructure', useless if not even harmful to human progress. This would imply that the same thought, that is, the human intellect that has intrinsic kind and inherent to his being, should be also a superstructure. Would not that statement sound absurd?
In the practical, the exercise of religion fights and wins the psichic frigidity that depends on ignorance, overestimation of oneself, contempt and intolerance towards others, as well as on real pathological situations. Good and true religious practice generates virtuous tendencies, drives to work well and honestly, to consider their own job well done, whatever it may be, and when done with a clear conscience, as the collaboration to get COMMON GOOD.
More, the true religion pushes to consider our neighbour not as an enemy but as a contributor to the improvement of the Created Universe.
As demonstrated by St. Thomas Aquinas, the causation and effect lead unequivocally to affirm the existence of the first universal motor by itself exists, that is, of a supreme God. If, however, ironically, while someone with great cultural preparation should be pushed to deny the actual reality of the holy and supernatural, he should lie not recognizing that the religious practice and its correct and guided reflection enhance the ability of introspection, even creating it in subjects poorly prepared and weaker from a cultural perspective.
The existence of religion does not imply only spiritual aspects, does not want the waiver to material progress or forbids to defend ourselves from evil, indeed. The virtuous man who knows that the good he can produce is greater the better is the position he occupies in society, with regard to reason and merit . Every man, virtuous or not, but that first of all know himself at least a little, knows that the 'noble savage' Rousseau is pure utopia: the virtue must exercised, and above all it's the conscience that must be educated.
Finally the right man looks with right perspective to daily events. In addition to generating consequences that logically follow from the sum of the acts of the individual components of the human species, the proper use of the faculty of settling the absolute and the relative, and the religion helps to choose between what is good and what which is bad.
ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE REFERENCES
It would be too long treating here the problem of evil, which is an argument itself standing. Enough to say that in addition to the passive evil, that is the suffered one, there is active evil, that's done intentionally: it's practitioner knows that it's wrong, and that what he's doing harms both the neighbor and himself, generating passive evil as a result of current or old evil intentionally done, to meet all kinds of transgressions, excesses, defects or immoderate appetites.
So it is the lack of human virtues (Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, Prudence) that powers the evil itself and generates negative consequences. The need for references to help distinguish right and wrong and to avoid superstition and bad actions, which triggers negative and harmful to all human society, an human being must have a religious view of life.
It is indisputable that in any human society, legislation is still addressed not only by material needs but also by ethical concepts that derive by the religions, though not always what violates the law also violates religious ethics and vice versa.
However, without a religious view of life, that is, without absolute references that can address the reason, without the FAITH in the supernatural, relativism predominates: that is, every idea and behavior have equal validity and dignity. In other words, without a religious view of life the being doesn't have absolute references to help him distinguish right and wrong. Every human law can in fact be circumvented and variously interpreted.
In the absence of absolute rules, a man feels justified, even free to commit any wickedness and abomination. In fact the man without absolute references can use any means to reach a goal wrongly or rightly considered advantageous.
But an absolute reference exists and is the natural law in the wake of which human civilizations must move increasingly, that do not want to shrivel up and disappear from the face of the planet.
