The Virtue of Temperance and Lawmaking
by
Christopher Dodson
Executive Director, North Dakota Catholic Conference
July/August 2009
The fourth cardinal virtue is temperance. Again, the
Catechism is instructive:
Temperance
is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of
pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods.
It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps
desires within the limits of what is honorable. The
temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward
what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: "Do not
follow your inclination and strength, walking according to
the desires of your heart." Temperance is often praised in
the Old Testament: "Do not follow your base desires, but
restrain your appetites." In the New Testament it is called
"moderation" or "sobriety." We ought "to live sober,
upright, and godly lives in this
world."
Most commentaries on temperance focus on distinctly
physical pleasures such as food, sex, and luxuries.
However, as the Catechism notes, temperance extends to
moderating other pleasures as well.
From ancient kings to today’s lawmakers, the
attraction of physical pleasures has distracted and even
corrupted those charged with pursuing and preserving the
common good. Politicians are dined by lobbyists, given
special considerations for tickets to performances and
sporting events, transported in luxury, and given choice
hotel accommodations. These actions are not in themselves
always bad. They can, however, have a corrupting influence.
The scale is certainly tipped when a public official is
motivated by a desire for more of these privileges rather
than a desire to pursue the public good. Perhaps worse is
when a person cannot distinguish between the two.
For many in public life, power itself corrupts more than
the food, special attention, or wealth. The ability to get
someone to do something that he or she would not otherwise
do is a gift. Like any gift or skill, we must use it
wisely. That is where the virtues of prudence and justice
come into play. The exercise of power, however, has a
residual effect on the person exercising it. The feeling of
empowerment is like a drug and many cannot resist wanting
more. Thus, even when power is used wisely, it can corrupt.
Temperance prevents a person from desiring political power
for the sake of power or exercising power for the sake of
exercising power. In other words, it can prevent the
separation of power from its proper ends.
Lobbyists can also benefit from the virtue of temperance.
For one thing, the lobbyist’s world is often similar
to the politician’s, with its dining, outings,
travel, and power. Similar to the problem of acquiring
power solely for the sake of using it, lobbyists, political
activists, and issue advocates can be driven by the desire
to win so much that the reason for winning becomes lost.
For those truly committed to serving Christ by pursuing the
common good, this is how the devil can corrupt an otherwise
good act. The lobbyist may accomplish the right thing - for
example, defeating a bill to expand abortion - while
jeopardizing his or her soul because he or she did it for
the wrong reason.
Public policies themselves can fuel our own appetites,
taking advantage of our human weaknesses. Economic systems
can be structured to reward the pursuit of solely material
wealth. Indeed, Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical,
Caritas in Veritate, touches upon this very problem.
“Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it
is produced by improper means and without the common good
as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and
creating poverty,” he writes.
Just as government has a role in developing economic
systems that do not give undue emphasis on profit, it can
foster and not hinder temperance in more specific tasks.
For example, the encyclical also warns against tourism that
“follows a consumerist and hedonistic pattern, as a
form of escapism.” Since tourism is often closely
connected to government policies, public policy has a role
to play in ensuring that tourism fosters rather than
hinders true human development.
An appeal to read Caritas in Veritate is a fitting way to
end this series on the cardinal virtues and public policy.
The Pope’s call to infuse all policies with love
formed by truth requires the instillment of virtue and
virtuous actions by people of good will. This relationship
between love, truth and virtue is why the Catechism begins
its discussion on virtue by quoting Saint Paul:
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of
praise, think about these things." (Phil 4:8)
