Summa Theologica

"For I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue come money and every other good of man, public as well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine which corrupts the youth, my infulence is ruinous indeed. But if any one says that this is not my teaching, he is speaking an untruth. Wherefore, O men of Athens, I say to you, do as Anytus bids or not as Anytus bids, and either acquit me or not; but whatever you do, know that I shall never alter my ways, not even if I have to die many times." - The Trial and Death of Socrates

I was recently implored to read Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas as it is a tremendous influence in the very laws that orchestrate the world we live in - across racial, religious, judicious and classist divides. Apparently it is a work of great labor and eloquent theory based on the fundamental truth of God. I've gathered notes thus far and have decided that it is a bit Utopian. Thomas Moore is among my favorite philosophers with his paradoxical social constructs and implicit observation that humans are a maelstrom of contradictions and imperfections. Perhaps Summa Theologica is merely a supplement to the Bible? It's concepts of natural law and just war contain idealistic functionalities to play out divinity. Justice always requires a right or wrong, opposition or attraction and whatever contrariant that neutralizes. The Bible offers proverbial, metaphorical and literal guidelines in which to maneuver our lives. We are met with the obstacle of choice and the philosophy of right or wrong. Morality becomes an issue of the soul which is in direct consultation with God and hence we are simply the vessels of pre-ordination and, most of the time, fear. Summa Theologica is a hyperactive form of The Bible where in most cases than not it is used against the very ideals it dictates.
Perhaps I'm pessimistic..ok, even a little cynical but the ultimate truth is that we know nothing of God's plan. Some look to allegory, others to history and I myself look at everyone for meaning. I see dismal interpretations of humanity as much as I see transparent souls of good will. Summa Theologica seems to me as a commentary on what the world could be if humans were logical thinkers. Most of the time humans are in moral transit. Do we not know the right until after we've done the wrong?
Socrates was punished to death for his "conversions" of the young in Athens. By conversion, the Republic meant perversion as his teachings corrupted the minds of the youth by allowing them to think outside the supposed ancestral Gods. Despite his chances to escape and the pleas of his students, he stayed in jail awaiting his trial, "we ought not to retaliate or render evil to anyone, whatever evil we may have suffered from him". Socrates was a martyr for his intellectual beliefs and cast from Athenian minds as a traitor. Later those same men who ostracized him were sentenced to death. Was the afterthought justice or was justice served all along as the many outnumber the one? Is a just war just until it is proven unjust much as someone is innocent until proven guilty but reversed? Really, there is no such thing as a just war. Wars always claim to be in the name of God - from Palestine & Israel, Nazi Germany & Judaism, China & Tibet etc. But as time progresses and the wool is lifted, we see a menagerie of localized interest outside of religious overtones. We don't live in a comic book, there is no all-encompassing evil super villain trying to destroy our peaceful civilization. To have the religious grounds to start a war is dangerous. When there is a war, homes become the battlefield , children become soldiers and power struggles crush the struggle for peace. So, whose God is ultimate? Whose God is righteous? Do you know? As we occupy Iraq with the support of Christian leaders who say it is just, what do you as a product of our time, a distant relative to an Iraqi believe? The hundreds of thousands of human beings dead. Hussein dead. Americans dead. Kurds dead. Everyone all meeting the very tragic end to which justice acts to hinder. Who are we but the pawns of a false truth?



To Be Continued...