In modern society we have a strong sense of "rights." Sometimes this strong sense of "rights" is so perverted as to give way to a sort of entitlement mentality.I wrote a lengthy blog on the subject at my personal web journal last year. Here it is.
The more I think about it, the more I hesitate to speak of "rights." Not that people don't have them, of course. All people have rights. The right to life. The right to freedom. The right to truth, justice, etc. But I find that in an individualist context speaking of rights inevitably degenerates into that pithy pathetic thing called "my rights.""My rights" more or less sums up the doctrine of the entitlement mentality, with which I am growing by the day more and more disillusioned. I can scarcely think of two words containing in themselves such flippant irrelevant twaddle. For this "my rights" doctrine flies in the face of grace. It is the opposite of thanksgiving. It is being confronted with the sight of the morning sun or the smell of trees or the touch of cool rain and saying, not "Thank You," but, "I deserve." Like Tom Cruise in Rain Man.
In the end, that may in fact be the mantra of the populace of Hell. In demanding never to say "Thank You" but only to say "I Deserve," they will be granted to say "I Deserve" for all eternity, and given their eternal state, it will be true.
On the other hand, the populace of Heaven, recognizing that the only thing they deserve is an eternity alongside their thankless brethren, will be moved to utter worship and bottomless gratitude, the eternal "Thank You" of the Communion of Saints. It is the antithesis of "my rights" doctrine. It is entirely about "Your Grace." ("Your" meaning "God's.")
I deserve nothing. Nothing whatsoever in this world is owed to me. By anybody, much less God. My birthright is nil. Rather, I am the one who owes. This is not just a personal principle either. It is a universal doctrine. It is what John Paul II called "Responsibility."
It is widely believed that the entitlement mentality, the philosophy and rhetoric of "rights," is the basis of service. It is in fact the basis of sloth. If everyone thought in terms of "rights" and entitlement, we would stand and wait hands held out for our due. And if one day we should not receive it, what would we say? "I deserve." Not "please," not "shall I return your generosity?" "I deserve." There is a point at which entitlement destroys not only personal responsibility but good manners as well.
The readings today reminded me of all this, and of the simple truth that the Kingdom of God is not a right. Jesus makes this plain in the Gospel, when he says,
[T]he Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.
The Kingdom of God is not a right, but rather, a grace. The difference between a right and a grace is that rights can never be taken away. Even if they be violated, a person can never be reduced to a state of no longer having them. They are inalienable.
A grace on the other hand is by definition given unconditionally, and subsequently may be taken away by the one who gives it, unconditionally. And when it comes to things divine, everything is grace. Which means those graces which God gives, which man either does not use or uses badly may be taken away without a moment's notice, and given to one who produces fruits worthy of the gift. This must be our attitude as regards the Kingdom of God.
Leave a comment