Our Morality in New Containers

By James Edward Thrall

Many individuals complain about the morality of our youth. Our Morality in New Containers identifies a new morality, a Christian faith that is held within our youth, our new containers, and brings to our attention the principles on which this faith is based. Our Morality in New Containers promotes candid and honest discussion to help young and old alike strive for and solidify positive core values. This book shows that all is not lost, that the world isnt bad, and that there is a good and exciting emphasis and drive in todays morality and theology. This emphasis is based in love. Our Morality in New Containers acknowledges that a challenge has arisen that has awakened our youth and has made them think. This challenge has not made the life of Christians easier but requires a new deep personal relationship with our Maker. There is beauty, hope, and promise in this new morality. In truth, the ship is not sinking.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512751772

James Edward Thrall

James Thrall was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After Catholic Central High School, he attended Aquinas College in Grand Rapids and St. Jerome’s Seminary in Kitchner, Ontario. His advanced degrees are from Western Michigan University. James spent over forty years in the field of education, including twenty-seven years as a superintendent of schools. During his tenure as a superintendent, James held leadership positions in the Rotary International; community organizations, including Chamber of Commerce, Community Chest, Sister City Committee, and the Federal Job Core Program; youth mentoring programs; and various boards of directors. He presently serves as a lay minister for his parish in Grandville, Michigan, and has served on their leadership commission. James is married and has five children and eight grandchildren. His work with youth has convinced him that our faith and the church are in good hands and that should not fear the future of Christian morality.

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Copyright © 2016 James Edward Thrall.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-5178-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5179-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5177-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016912318

WestBow Press rev. date: 8/15/2016

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Morality And What’s Happening:

Is Morality Really An Individual Thing? Are Laws Obsolete?

Chapter 2 And I In Him

Chapter 3 Put On Christ

Chapter 4 Practical Discretion

Chapter 5 Legality And The Law

Chapter 6 The Emphasis Is On Love

Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

How often have we heard these phrases: The kids today have no values; Right and wrong have no meaning today; Family values have disappeared; Why don’t today’s kids care about what is right?

These sentiments, and all others like them, carry with them an inherently erroneous belief: that there are few values in existence today. Throughout this work, I will show that morality and values do exist today, and that they are even good and correct.

I was born into the Baltimore catechism, educated in a Dominican parochial elementary school, attended a Catholic high school, spent the first three years of my early twenties in a Catholic seminary (in the 1950s), and graduated from Aquinas College (a small Dominican college in the Midwest). Throughout my education, I learned that there were mortal sins and venial sins, rules for fasting, degrees of right and wrong, and no real question of what was correct. The last thirty-seven years of my life were spent in education. During that time I learned that there is a morality in existence today—one that is understood and practiced by our youth and, in fact, in total agreement with the scriptures.

Within this work, I will identify that new morality and bring to the surface the principles on which it is based. With this, it is my sincere hope to promote candid and honest discussion to help adults and children alike as we all strive to solidify our values.

We are products of our past. Therefore, scripture will be quoted. If you are uncomfortable with the Bible as a reference source, I suggest that you keep an open mind and continue to read to determine if the concepts and conclusions make sense for you. In this way, you might see, like I have, that life itself will elicit proof that this new morality is in place and that biblical values shine through.

Mark Twain is credited with the statement that Adam is the only person who could guarantee that his statements were original. To that end, the stimulus for the contents of this work belong to the following: Nicholas Lohkamp, OFM, STD, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Jerome’s College (Kitchener, Ontario), and Fr. Donald Macmillan (a man who helped me move from my concrete, black-and-white world to a world where the love of others became as important as what I thought the rules said).

Most responsible for this work, however, are my five children—they have had a profound effect on me and my conclusions. When I began teaching, I had five concrete theories on how to raise children. Now I have five children and no theories. If my children taught me anything, they taught me that love does make the world go around, and that if you base your answers and decisions on love, you won’t be far from the correct solution.

This work is an effort to show that all isn’t lost, that the world isn’t bad, and that there is a good and exciting emphasis in today’s morality and theology. I aim to show that a challenge has arisen that will awaken Christians and make them think. This challenge will not make the lives of Christian easier but will require a new, deep, personal relationship with their maker. There is beauty, hope, and promise in this new morality, and in truth, the ship is not sinking.

CHAPTER 1

Morality and What’s Happening: Is Morality Really an Individual Thing? Are Laws Obsolete?

A fair way to decide whether basic morality has declined is to examine its true state in the past, our thoughts and feelings about this past, the changes that have occurred over time (particularly in our view of God, humankind, and the world), and what we think the future state of morality should be.

Morality: What Does It Mean? How Is It Defined?

Obeying laws is morally good, but morality is much more than obeying laws. Morality is a quality that is present in every instance of a truly human act. This quality is one of goodness or badness. There is a difference between an act of a human and a human act. To walk upright is an act of a human, but to give thought or to