The Church teaches as a fundamental truth that as human beings we are created in the image and likeness of God, with a free will. Our very dignity rests in our ability to freely choose to return God’s love and share it with others. Without freedom of choice, moral action would be impossible, as would any hope of the common good. The action of love itself, our highest calling as children of God redeemed by Christ, is freely choosing the good of another. Love—by its very definition—cannot be forced.

The Catechism states “Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. By free will one shapes one’s own life” (CCC 1731). It goes on to say, “Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative” (1883).

Recent measures announced by the current administration regarding the free choice of individuals in relation to COVID-19 bring into sharp relief the Church’s teaching on free will, human choice, and their relation to our human dignity. Should people, who are created in God’s image and who possess intellect and free will, be coerced, shamed, or forced into making a personal medical choice?

In this lesson your students will:

• Explore what it means to have free will as men and women created in the image and likeness of God.
• Discuss the relationship between human choice and responsibility.
• Explore how free will is necessary for moral action.
• Discuss whether government coercion serves the common good or diminishes it.