What is it that makes one a great citizen, an ethical citizen?  An ethical citizen seeks to protect and preserve the good and seeks to overturn evil.

 A good and holy citizen must be familiar with the Church’s teachings, whether one is dealing with immigration, refugee assistance, international peace and justice, healthcare, workers’ rights, conscience protection, education, the environment, the nature of marriage, parental rights, stem cell research, euthanasia, the death penalty, abortion, etc.  A wonderful place to find answers to these pressing questions is in the Catechism of the Catholic Church—which is the summary of the Church’s consistent teachings on faith and morals as given to us by the successors of the apostles, the bishops, in union with the successor of Peter, the pope.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church embraces 2000 years of history.

 As we grow in humility through the sacrament of reconciliation and enter into a deep experience of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist—which awakens and empowers the other sacraments—we become more and more Christ-like. 

 Prayer and the sacraments help us to see our predominant negative inclinations, faults and blind spots.  Prayer, a grace-experience, helps to cure and elevate our wounded nature.  We become more aware of the moral law, the moral virtues, the hierarchy of values, the theological virtues, the evangelical counsels, the gifts of the Spirit and the life of the Beatitudes.  We become aware of the temptations towards rebellion and sin—which we call concupiscence.  We become aware of sin and vice, and the need for prayer—whether vocal, meditative or contemplative—and our need for Mary, the Mother of the Church, the Mother of Obedience and Perfection, the Icon of her Son.  To grow in holiness is to become people who live out the fullness of the Gospel as expressed and summarized in the Our Father and the Beatitudes. 

 Holiness, founded upon humility, the doorway to holiness, helps us recognize the competing spirits we face (the spirit of the world, the spirit of the flesh, the spirit of the devil, and the spirit of God).  The discernment of spirits helps us to clearly see the issues we face, and the worldview we have accepted.

 Holiness fosters an informed conscience.  An informed conscience entails self-examination, silent reflection and introspection.  It demands one’s absorption in the word of God and sacred tradition (the life of the Holy Spirit within the Church).  An informed conscience is marked by the following qualities:  A good end does not justify an evil means; Do unto others as you would like done unto you; “What you do the least of my brethren you do to me” (Mt. 25:40).

 Having said all this, some parishioners inevitably and understandably come and ask, “Who am I to vote for when so few candidates share all of the Catholic Church’s teachings?”  It is here that we seek to vote according to a hierarchy of values.  At the top of the list is the protection of the sanctity of human life and the human family.  All other rights flow from these rights.  For example, the right to “cheap or free healthcare” implies that there is someone alive to receive it!  Likewise, the common good of a society implies that marriage and the family function as a school of values and morals, a school of holy citizenship.  If the family implodes, so does society!

When in doubt, fear not!  Christ did not leave us as orphans.  He has blessed us with his life, his Church.  Let us pray, reflect, study and seek to be obedient to the successors of the apostles in union with the successor of Peter, the pope.  In doing so, we can be assured of our role in fulfilling the obligations of holy citizenship.

The foundation of this blog/journal is intended to expand public debate on the crucial issues facing our society and the public policies that hinder or advance the common good of our society and ultimately our world.

Too much of today’s politics and policies are being formulated on the basis of clichés, feelings or bias. We have grown sloppy in our thinking. It may in fact be said that we are loosing the precious gift of critical thinking in this most modern and advanced world. Quite an irony!

Without the ability to examine issues from a multitude of perspectives, public policies will inevitably continue to evolve into “cliché politics,” “feeling politics,” “politically correct” politics. This can only lead to relativism and ultimately to the jettisoning of truth–and where truth is lost, catastrophe is not far behind.

So here begins a new blog/journal in a small attempt to provide readers with as much food for thought, for critical thinking and evaluation. While not all readers will agree with the conclusions postulated in future articles–and some may even find the thoughts lacking proper articulation–the hope is that all readers will enter into the debate that makes one a good citizen of this country and the world.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.