UNDERSTANDING THE TRUE VALUE OF LAW
Opening
Law is at the heart of our becoming more fully human. Young men and women who dream of excelling in
something – arts, business, sports, or academics – know the value of learning and respecting the laws or standards that
govern their particular interest.
For instance, a young boy who dreams of someday becoming a piano virtuoso needs to realize that he cannot
achieve this goal by simply doing as he pleases. He needs to learn the rudiments of playing the instrument: how to
read a musical score, how to position his fingers over the piano key and how to translate the notes of the piano piece
into beautiful music. He has to train not just his fingers and eyes but also his ears as he discovers by careful listening
how good piano playing sounds. When unsure about his performance, he needs to refer to these norms to correct his
weaknesses and further develop his strengths. Lastly, he finds himself drawn to the performance of great pianists as
ideals that challenge and summon him to excellence.
This analogy helps us appreciate how laws or objective moral norms are truly essential to our moral living.
These foundational moral norms-love your family, do not kill, do not steal, be honest-have remained fundamentally
consistent despite the ever-changing historical conditions of people everywhere. These moral laws have been held
throughout the centuries by different peoples regardless of race, religious belief, or culture.
Why follow the law?
As maturing young men and women, we are growing increasingly aware for freedom. While many of us
realize the need for laws to protect the freedom of our family, friends, and immediate community, we also
sometimes automatically perceive any kind of law as a threat to our personal freedom. We express this notion
when we raise these questions: Why can't I spend all my time on the Internet on weeknights? Why can't I copy
my classmate's homework? Why do I have to go to mass on Sundays?
At the root of these questions, however, is a double standard: we want the "freedom" of adults without the
corresponding adult responsibility! St. John XXIII presented the intrinsic relationship between freedom and
moral obligations when he said: "Those who claim their rights, yet altogether forget or neglect to carry out
their respective duties are people who build with one hand and destroy with the other" (Pacem in Terris 30).
Law and Personal Freedom
By asking ourselves the same questions, we can begin to understand our parents when they, for instance, ask
us not to spend too much time on the computer or not to go out with our friends during weeknights. We begin to
realize that our parents tell us this not because they want to be party poppers but because they have our good in mind;
without such limitations, we may skimp on our studies and consequently do poorly in school. We also begin to see
the deeper meaning or purpose of this simple rule: we need to set our priorities straight and realize that there is an
appointed time for everything. Lastly, we appreciate how external laws uphold practical values grounded on the truth
that we are all relational beings. We begin to recognize that this law protects several basic values, like self-discipline,
education, and even family relationships, all of which are practical dimensions of the process of maturing. Sometimes
we need clear limitations imposed on us by others so that we can come to recognize and accept the natural limitations
of human freedom as members of a community.
Just as we need to write letters to concerned public officials regarding important issues, so do we also need to
communicate with our parents effectively whenever we feel that certain family rules need to be adjusted because of
our growing capacity to make wise and responsible choices. Instead of resorting to rash and rebellious actions which
tend to backfire when our parents lose their trust in us—we need to show our growing capacity to take on more and
greater responsibilities not only through resolutions and promises but, more importantly, through clearly responsible
actions.
Law and Our Nation’s Freedom
We Filipinos have experienced being victims of the abuse of freedom by certain individuals, like some
government leaders and law enforcers. At the expense of the common good, they have disregarded the laws of the
land to satisfy their own selfish needs and interests. As a consequence, some of our countrymen have lost their trust
in the integrity of our public officials and institutions. Disillusioned and others take the law into their own hands,
thereby perpetuating the cycle of disregard for laws and rightful authority.
It is not surprising; therefore, that many are confused. At this stage in our lives, when we are seeking to claim for
ourselves certain values that we try to understand deeply and critically, it is painfully clear that lawmakers are
sometimes the very first to break the law. As result, we are tempted to take pleas for order, justice, rules, and
instructions in a negative light or to reduce laws, including those that are truly for the common good, to mere
