THE world of public opinion is, of course, very dynamic,
since it is
like society’s living network that analyzes and discusses issues that
unavoidably flow in a living organism such as our human society.
Let’s remember that human society is not just a physical, inert
grouping of people. It is a living organism with its proper spirit and
ethos, expressed in its culture and arts. It therefore has to be taken
care of accordingly.
Public opinion is like a living organ, akin to a heart or kidney or
liver, endowed with a specific function meant to sustain the life and
development of persons, taken both individually and together as a
society.
Just as the heart purifies the blood and pumps it back to the body,
and as the kidney collects and processes the waste, and as the liver
produces enzymes needed for digestion, public opinion clarifies issues
and helps to build solidarity and cohesion in society. It that regard,
it’s a very important part of life.
We need to sharpen our awareness of our duty to keep it strong and
healthy, that is, that it’s working well. Working well means that
public opinion should serve the true and complete purpose of our life,
and not just working in any which way, or working only for some
limited purpose of life.
We have to be wary of our tendency to fall into doing things in any
which way, thinking that it is how a democracy works. For democracy to
work properly, it has to be infused with the proper spirit of freedom
that in the end is about pursuing the truth in charity. In short, it
has to be driven by the spirit of God.
Public opinion, therefore, has to be grounded on God. It should not
just be a free-for-all arena of opinion-making, inspired by just any
spirit. It should not simply remain on our various ideas of what is
fair, true and charitable. These values and criteria can only come
from God as their original source and ultimate end.
We need to make this basic clarification because many people now are
of the thinking that the ultimate norms and standards to be used in
our public opinion are just ourselves—our own ideas and consensus,
etc.—as if all these things just come from us, or that we are the
creators of these things.
We have to discard that mentality. It’s because of this attitude that
we often find ourselves in irreconcilable differences, leading to
conflict, violence and decadence. So, instead of building up our
society, we would tend to harm and destroy it.
Grounding our public opinion on God gives a proper framework to our
continuing social discourse. It’s a frame that does not straitjacket a
person or idea. It is inspired by love that expresses itself in
compassion, understanding, tolerance, magnanimity, mercy.
The absolute truths that such frame fosters do not erase the
relative. The precision it strives to achieve is not of the
mathematical, impersonal type. It is rather the precision of charity
that allows the full play of freedom, including its abuses, but still
holds on to the truth, no matter what it costs.
It is precisely because of this ideal God-based character of public
opinion that we have to be prepared to meet suffering, since in
pursuing truth and justice, we cannot help but meet differences,
misunderstanding and all forms of pain and suffering. In short, we
have to be ready to carry the cross in the world of public opinion.
Just the same, public opinion has such a positive and constructive
potential that everyone should try his best to participate in it. Of
primordial concern is to make our public opinion relate all our human
concerns, especially the big and crucial issues, to God.
We should not allow it to ramble and meander in the merely technical,
social, economic or political aspects of our life. While we have to
give these aspects their due attention, we should do all to be able to
relate them to God.
This is a tall order, and this is precisely why we should do all,
wasting no time and effort, to see how the issues relate to God. We
have to remember that the earthy and temporal matters come and go.
What remains in eternity is whether with these issues and concerns, we
end up with God.
That is to say, if we manage to live in truth, justice and charity.
In short, public opinion should reflect and reinforce the ultimate
spiritual, moral and supernatural dimensions of our life.
like society’s living network that analyzes and discusses issues that
unavoidably flow in a living organism such as our human society.
Let’s remember that human society is not just a physical, inert
grouping of people. It is a living organism with its proper spirit and
ethos, expressed in its culture and arts. It therefore has to be taken
care of accordingly.
Public opinion is like a living organ, akin to a heart or kidney or
liver, endowed with a specific function meant to sustain the life and
development of persons, taken both individually and together as a
society.
Just as the heart purifies the blood and pumps it back to the body,
and as the kidney collects and processes the waste, and as the liver
produces enzymes needed for digestion, public opinion clarifies issues
and helps to build solidarity and cohesion in society. It that regard,
it’s a very important part of life.
We need to sharpen our awareness of our duty to keep it strong and
healthy, that is, that it’s working well. Working well means that
public opinion should serve the true and complete purpose of our life,
and not just working in any which way, or working only for some
limited purpose of life.
We have to be wary of our tendency to fall into doing things in any
which way, thinking that it is how a democracy works. For democracy to
work properly, it has to be infused with the proper spirit of freedom
that in the end is about pursuing the truth in charity. In short, it
has to be driven by the spirit of God.
Public opinion, therefore, has to be grounded on God. It should not
just be a free-for-all arena of opinion-making, inspired by just any
spirit. It should not simply remain on our various ideas of what is
fair, true and charitable. These values and criteria can only come
from God as their original source and ultimate end.
We need to make this basic clarification because many people now are
of the thinking that the ultimate norms and standards to be used in
our public opinion are just ourselves—our own ideas and consensus,
etc.—as if all these things just come from us, or that we are the
creators of these things.
We have to discard that mentality. It’s because of this attitude that
we often find ourselves in irreconcilable differences, leading to
conflict, violence and decadence. So, instead of building up our
society, we would tend to harm and destroy it.
Grounding our public opinion on God gives a proper framework to our
continuing social discourse. It’s a frame that does not straitjacket a
person or idea. It is inspired by love that expresses itself in
compassion, understanding, tolerance, magnanimity, mercy.
The absolute truths that such frame fosters do not erase the
relative. The precision it strives to achieve is not of the
mathematical, impersonal type. It is rather the precision of charity
that allows the full play of freedom, including its abuses, but still
holds on to the truth, no matter what it costs.
It is precisely because of this ideal God-based character of public
opinion that we have to be prepared to meet suffering, since in
pursuing truth and justice, we cannot help but meet differences,
misunderstanding and all forms of pain and suffering. In short, we
have to be ready to carry the cross in the world of public opinion.
Just the same, public opinion has such a positive and constructive
potential that everyone should try his best to participate in it. Of
primordial concern is to make our public opinion relate all our human
concerns, especially the big and crucial issues, to God.
We should not allow it to ramble and meander in the merely technical,
social, economic or political aspects of our life. While we have to
give these aspects their due attention, we should do all to be able to
relate them to God.
This is a tall order, and this is precisely why we should do all,
wasting no time and effort, to see how the issues relate to God. We
have to remember that the earthy and temporal matters come and go.
What remains in eternity is whether with these issues and concerns, we
end up with God.
That is to say, if we manage to live in truth, justice and charity.
In short, public opinion should reflect and reinforce the ultimate
spiritual, moral and supernatural dimensions of our life.
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