125. Why you must go beyond legal goodness to be good
125. WHY YOU MUST GO BEYOND LEGAL GOODNESS TO BE GOOD
What is the relation between moral law and human law? How much of morality does the law cover?
. . . [T]he same thing is not possible to one who does not have a virtuous habit as is possible to one who has it, as the same thing is not possible to a child as to a full-grown man. For this reason the law for children is not the same as for adults, since many things are permitted to children which in an adult are punished by law or at any rate are open to blame. In like manner many things are permissible to men not perfect in virtue which would be intolerable in a virtuous man.
Now human law is framed for a number of human beings, the majority of whom are not perfect in virtue. Wherefore human laws do not forbid all vices, from which the virtuous abstain, but only the more grievous vices, from which it is possible for the majority to abstain, and chiefly those that are to the hurt of others, without the prohibition of which human society could not be maintained; thus human law prohibits murder, theft and suchlike. . . .
The purpose of human law is to lead men to virtue not suddenly but gradually. Wherefore it does not lay upon the multitude of imperfect men the burdens of those who are already virtuous, viz. that they should abstain from all evil. Otherwise these imperfect ones, being unable to bear such precepts, would break out into yet greater evils. (I-II,96,2) . . . [H]uman law does not prescribe concerning all the acts of every virtue, but only in regard to those that are ordainable (able to be ordained (ordered)) to the common good (I-II,96,3).
Habits are crucial to morality because persons are more important than deeds. A good deed is important not only because it helps someone else but also because it manifests a good person, a good character, a good habit, and also because good deeds gradually form good habits, good character, good persons. Good deeds are both the effects and the causes of goodness in the doer.
The main purpose of human laws is to induce us to do good deeds and deter us from bad ones, thus making us into good persons, with good habits. A secondary purpose is to protect good people from being harmed by bad people.
If we were already morally perfect, we would need no laws. So laws are only for morally imperfect persons. And therefore laws are only an aid, a help, a second-best thing, a minimum, not a maximum. Laws can’t do everything, so they shouldn’t try. That’s why what’s forbidden legally is much less than what’s forbidden morally. Human law can’t stop pride, selfishness, arrogance, lust, envy, or any of the most serious sins that harm the soul. It can only stop murder, theft, and the like. Human law is like moral kindergarten, not graduate school.
That’s why, for instance, there should be laws against pornography but not against masturbation; against abortion but not against sodomy. All four are evil, but only two are preventable by human law. Law should try to do only what law can do.
That principle of minimalism applies to both of the two purposes of law: making people good and protecting them from harm. Human laws can only begin both of those things, not perfect them. It can forbid only the worst public vices and protect us from only the most obvious harms. We need much more than law. We need love, we need forgiveness, we need grace, we need God.
The practical conclusion is twofold: first, since human law is minimal, it should be easy to obey all human laws. “Don’t be a criminal” is like “Don’t flunk kindergarten.” Second, aim much higher than that. Set your sights on being not just a good citizen but a saint.