Modern democracy says he is. In a sense it is true. Man is free thinking and responsible in essence. He is free because God gave him free-will. He is thinking because God gave him an intellect capable of dealing with abstract ideas contrary to animals which can think only about concrete realities. He is responsible as a consequence of his freedom and mental faculties. But these three qualities are only potentialities. In actual fact, the average man is anything but free, thinking and responsible. It is indispensable to differentiate between the Absolute (or Essential) and the Contingent (or Accidental). Failure to do so is at the root of many dangerous fallacies. A political system (contingent by necessity) cannot be built on the absolute premises of man's freedom, intelligence and responsibleness. Man is not wholly free because he is often a slave to his passions. Being the slave of his passions, he cannot be fully responsible. Being clouded by emotions, his judgment cannot be wholly reliable. A system which gives sovereignty to the least thinking and responsible members of the community is bound to be the least desirable. "... the feeble and grovelling wisdom of man ..." (Pius XII "Summi Pontificatus") "He who would have the star of peace to shine permanently over society, must ... set his face ... against their (the people's) excessive reliance upon instinct and emotion, and against their fickleness of mood." (Pius XII "1942 Christmas Message") "It would be vain to think that their (the enlightened men's) sage judgment ... will be generally accepted by public opinion, or even by the majority of men." (Pius XII "1944 Christmas Message") "Human reason is (not) the sole arbiter of truth and falsehood, and of good and evil." (Pius IX "Maxima Quidem") It follows that the people must be guided and not be the guide. "According to (the Sillon) Man will be a man worthy of the name only when he has acquired a strong, enlightened, and autonomous consciousness, able to do without a master, obeying only himself, and able to take on and bear without erring the most demanding responsibilities." (St. Pius X "Our Apostolic Mandate") Here is our "free, thinking and responsible man". And what did the Pope think of it? "Such are the big words with which human pride is being exalted, like a dream which carries man away, without light, without guidance, and without help, into the realm of illusion..." (St. Pius X "Our Apostolic Mandate")
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