#equal dignity

[oupacademic]

The Black Lives Matter Movement

During Black History Month, we remember those who have fought for the rights of African Americans throughout history. While Black Lives Matter is a rather new movement, the sentiment behind it is not. It is an international activist movement campaigning against racism, mostly in America. The members of this movement work towards a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted; they affirm their humanity and contributions to society. During the month of February, we look back on the struggles and hardships of the African American community and look forward to a brighter, more equal, future.

Read more about the #BlackLivesMatter movement through the book: The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea

Image provided by Unsplash

[appliedmariology]

While it must be recognized that women have the same right as men to perform various public functions, society must be structured in such a way that wives and mothers are not in practice compelled to work outside the home, and that their families can live and prosper in a dignified way even when they themselves devote their full time to their own family. Furthermore, the mentality which honors women more for their work outside the home than for their work within the family must be overcome. This requires that men should truly esteem and love women with total respect for their personal dignity, and that society should create and develop conditions favoring work in the home. [...] But clearly all of this does not mean for women a renunciation of their femininity or an imitation of the male role, but the fullness of true feminine humanity which should be expressed intheir activity, whether in the family or outside of it, without disregarding the differences of customs and cultures in this sphere.

Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio [The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World], no. 23. (Pauline Books and Media, 1981).

[appliedmariology]

There is no doubt that the equal dignity and responsibility of men and women fully justifies women's access to public functions. On the other hand the true advancement of women requires that clear recognition be given to the value of their maternal and family role, by comparison with all other public roles and all other professions. Furthermore, these roles and professions should be harmoniously combined, if we wish the evolution of society and culture to be truly and fully human. This will come about more easily if, in accordance with the wishes expressed by the synod, a renewed "theology of work" can shed light upon and study in depth the meaning of work in the Christian life and determine the fundamental bond between work and the family, and therefore the original and irreplaceable meaning of work in the home and in rearing children. Therefore the Church can and should help modern society by tirelessly insisting that the work of women in the home be recognized and respected in its irreplaceable value. This is of particular importance in education: for possible discrimination between the different types of work and professions is eliminated at its very root once it is clear that all peoples, in every area, are working with equal rights and equal responsibilities. The image of God in man and in woman will thus be seen with added luster.

Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio [The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World], no. 23. (Pauline Books and Media, 1981).

[appliedmariology]

The sensitive respect of Jesus towards the women that He called to His following and His friendship, His appearing on Easter morning to a woman before the other disciples, the mission entrusted to women to carry the good news of the Resurrection to the apostles - these are all signs that confirm the special esteem of the Lord Jesus for women.

Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio [The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World], no. 22. (Pauline Books and Media, 1981).

[appliedmariology]

In creating the human race "male and female," God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity, endowing them with the inalienable rights and responsibilities proper to the human person. God then manifests the dignity of women in the highest form possible, by assuming human flesh from the Virgin Mary, whom the Church honors as the Mother of God, calling her the new Eve and presenting her as the model of the redeemed woman.

Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio [The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World], no. 22. (Pauline Books and Media, 1981).

[appliedmariology]

Above all it is important to underline the equal dignity and responsibility of women with men. This equality is realized in a unique manner in that reciprocal self-giving by each one to the other and by both to the children which is proper to marriage and the family. What human reason intuitively perceives and acknowledges is fully revealed by the word of God: the history of salvation, in fact, is a continuous and luminous testimony of the dignity of women.

Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio [The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World], no. 22. (Pauline Books and Media, 1981).

[liberalsarecool]

Eyes on Kennedy, Women Tell Supreme Court Why Abortion Was Right for Them

"... more than 100 ... women have filed several supporting briefs in a major Supreme Court abortion case to be argued on Wednesday. The briefs tell the stories of women who say their abortions allowed them to control their bodies, plan for the future and welcome children into their lives when their careers were established and their personal lives were on solid ground. The briefs are aimed largely at Justice Kennedy, who holds the crucial vote in abortion cases. They use language and concepts from his four major gay rights decisions, notably his invocation of “equal dignity” in June’s ruling establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.... The briefs also seek to counteract what many women saw as a streak of uninformed paternalism in a 2007 majority opinion in which Justice Kennedy said many women regretted their decisions to have abortions and suffered from depression and plunging self-esteem as a consequence." - Adam Liptak of the New York Times

Equal dignity, as in, not having a man, nor the State, define your privacy.

[jillyoe]

Universal Human Rights

At a meeting at the United Nations on March 27, 1953 Eleanor Roosevelt asked, “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, closest to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discriminations.”