Each and every of us have rights, duties as well as responsibilities to oneself, one another, our

families and the society at large. Catholic teaching presents a right as a moral claim that is rooted on ones dignity. Rights also covers basic necessities necessary for a person to live with dignity. Duties and responsibilities are what the society, church and state expect from us. Every person has the fundamental right to life, right conditions for a decent life. It is our duty to respect and secure our rights, for others, as well as fulfill our responsibilities to self, family and the larger society.

We have the fundamental right to life and live in a condition that promotes a decent life in terms of

having food and shelter, faith and family, employment and education, housing and healthcare. However, it is our duty to secure as well as respect these rights. For instance, it is our duty to preserve our own life and other people in the society by taking food, not taking our own life or others by killing, working hard to get education and employment and bring food to the table.

According to Massaro (2015), protection of human dignity and ensuring that we live in a community

that is healthy can be attained by protecting  human rights as well as meeting our responsibilities. Violating ones right to life including of the unborn, right to physical integrity and any other right is a social sin. This can either be sin of omission (not doing what the society expects of you) and commission (doing things that result in harm).

To sum up, each and every one of us has the right to life and right conditions for living a decent life. It is our duty and responsibility to secure and respect these right in order to ensure protection of human dignity and create a healthy community. The society and the church expect us to fulfill our responsibilities to self, family and the society at large.

 References

Massaro, T. (2015). Living justice: Catholic social teaching in action. Rowman & Littlefield.