Christians can use the Bible and the Church
as sources of authority
Reflect on your own opinion on the authority
of the Bible and the Church.
What do you already
know about the
Bible?
•
How do you make a moral decision?
•
Where did you learn how to do this?
•
What is an appropriate way for Catholics
to make moral decisions?
Moral decisions are when you have to decide
between what is the right and wrong thing to do.
Believe it or not, most people use the Bible or the
Church to help guide their moral decision making.
The following is a Fool-proof (if you actually take
the time to think through it) method of MDM
The STOP Sign Method for
Making Moral Decisions
S.T.O.P
E
A
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C
H
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N
K
T
H
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S
R
A
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SEARCH
THINK
OTHERS
S.T.O.P.!
PRAY
1. SEARCH out the facts:
What? Why? Who? When? Where?
To make Moral decisions you need to
make INFORMED decisions!
Remember these principles:
• A good intention does not justify evil
means to attain it.
• If any part of the act is wrong
(action, motive, circumstances) DONT
DO IT
2. THINK about:
•The Alternatives
•The Consequences
3. OTHERS: Consult and Consider
• Talk to other people
• How your actions will affect them
**The “OTHER” portion of the S.T.O.P Sign method does not
take into consideration what other people are doing or what
they think of your decisions because not everyone is a good
model for Morality **
4. PRAY!
JESUS
CONSCIENCE
REASON and REVELATION
VALUES
CHURCH
LAW
INSTINCT
IMAGINATION
JESUS: Does this action serve others?
Is it Loving?
REASON/REVELATION: Is this action
human? What does the Bible say
about it?
CHURCH: What does our Church
teach about this moral issue?
LAW: Consider the natural law as
well as the civil, church, and Divine
law.
IMAGINATION: Are there any
creative ways to solve this problem?
INSTINCT: What do your “guts” tell
you about this issue
VALUES: List them as the relate to
the issue and rank them Is the
proposed act worth it?
CONSCIENCE: Properly form it. Let it
guide you. ACT.
Answer the following questions in your notebook:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Things that I feel cannot change or do not have control over are:
Things that are easy for me to make decisions about are:
One bad habit that I could break is:
One good habit that I could acquire is:
A decision that I have made that affected others besides myself is:
I feel like it is difficult to make a good decision when I am with
________(person)
7. I feel like it is difficult to make a good decision when I am at
_________(place)
8. Two people that I admire and think are probably good decision
makers are:
9. What about these people makes me feel that way?
10.One quick decision that I have made but am still feeling the
consequences of (good or bad) is:
11.One decision that I wish I could change is: