- Feb 5, 2002
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DIFFICULT MORAL QUESTIONS: Living in a sinful world requires all of us to cooperate in evildoing sometimes, and most of us to do it frequently.
Q. I read that the Adobe Company supports Planned Parenthood. I have used Photoshop over the years to supplement my income. I recently bought a new computer, on which my old software is incompatible. Unfortunately, I’ve found that Adobe no longer sells the program outright; rather, I am required to lease it on an annual basis. A priest told me that leasing it is “remote material cooperation,” which apparently means it’s okay. But I have my doubts.
My question is this. When dealing with an intrinsic evil such as abortion, wouldn’t this kind of cooperation still be wrong? How can there be “proportionality” between the benefits I receive in using Photoshop and the evil that they do with the money I give them, especially killing unborn children?
This question can also be applied to shopping at companies like Walmart, Home Depot and Starbucks, all of which support causes contrary to good morals. — Mary
A. Whenever we contribute to the success of another’s evildoing, moral theology calls it an instance of moral cooperation (e.g., working as a janitor in a hospital that performs abortions or acting as a defense attorney for obviously guilty clients).
Living in a sinful world requires all of us to cooperate in evildoing sometimes, and most of us to do it frequently. Moral cooperation can be entirely legitimately; even Jesus paid taxes to Rome, which used the money, among other things, to fund evildoing (e.g., to pay the procurator and soldiers that unjustly put him to death). But cooperation in evildoing can also be wrongful, which is no doubt why you want to know whether it’s legitimate to lease something from a company that supports another company that kills preborn children...
Continued below.
May I Patronize Companies that Support Intrinsic Evil?
Q. I read that the Adobe Company supports Planned Parenthood. I have used Photoshop over the years to supplement my income. I recently bought a new computer, on which my old software is incompatible. Unfortunately, I’ve found that Adobe no longer sells the program outright; rather, I am required to lease it on an annual basis. A priest told me that leasing it is “remote material cooperation,” which apparently means it’s okay. But I have my doubts.
My question is this. When dealing with an intrinsic evil such as abortion, wouldn’t this kind of cooperation still be wrong? How can there be “proportionality” between the benefits I receive in using Photoshop and the evil that they do with the money I give them, especially killing unborn children?
This question can also be applied to shopping at companies like Walmart, Home Depot and Starbucks, all of which support causes contrary to good morals. — Mary
A. Whenever we contribute to the success of another’s evildoing, moral theology calls it an instance of moral cooperation (e.g., working as a janitor in a hospital that performs abortions or acting as a defense attorney for obviously guilty clients).
Living in a sinful world requires all of us to cooperate in evildoing sometimes, and most of us to do it frequently. Moral cooperation can be entirely legitimately; even Jesus paid taxes to Rome, which used the money, among other things, to fund evildoing (e.g., to pay the procurator and soldiers that unjustly put him to death). But cooperation in evildoing can also be wrongful, which is no doubt why you want to know whether it’s legitimate to lease something from a company that supports another company that kills preborn children...
Continued below.
May I Patronize Companies that Support Intrinsic Evil?