Msgr. Charles Fink: What’s Wrong With the World?

St. Dominic is often quoted as having said, “A man who governs his passions is master of the world.  We must either rule them or be ruled by them.  It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.”

A corollary follows.  To the extent that we can’t control ourselves, it will be necessary that we be controlled by an outside force, police, for example, or some other government entity.  Either that or things become uncontrollable.

This isn’t an original thought, of course.  It’s why our Founding Fathers believed that our constitutional republic could only survive and thrive, as envisioned, if its people were moral and religious.  Religion, Christianity in particular, if taken seriously, engenders internal control, helps us to live in harmony with others, and limits the need for external constraints. …