Sheila Liaguminas, author of the recently published Non-Negotiable: Essential Principles of a Just Society and Humane Culture
(Ignatius Press, 2014), reflects on MercatorNet.com on some of the reasons for writing the book:
Over the past five decades, the world has gone through radical changes in every area of life. Mass populations have gained great access to information and lost the sense of its meaning. Nations have lost their borders and become what Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George calls “communities on continents in conversation”.
But people can’t have a conversation when they don’t speak the same language or understand the words as a minimally basic reference point. Even if they’re all speaking English. Even if they’re all living in the United States of America.
Words can define, or distort and divide, and they’re currently at the heart of this divided country. We don’t know how to talk with each other, apply critical thinking skills, carry ideas through to their logical conclusions. We don’t know how to presume good intentions, defend a position with reason, or disagree with civility.
The lines are drawn. Rights and wrongs are more strongly asserted and fought over than they have been in a long while. But who drew those lines and who declares what’s right and wrong, based on what authority? There are as many questions as answers. But the good news is that there are answers. The moral compass of a nation may be broken, but at least there is one in the world, and for purposes of this discussion, in a nation founded on Judeo-Christian ethics written into its founding documents, ingrained in its people and woven into the fabric of their common life.
This discussion is my new book Non-Negotiable: Essential Principles of a Just Society and Humane Culture. It has been forming since a little girl encountered segregation in the Deep South and became a little activist for social justice without knowing that such a term existed.
It grew in my intellect and experiences as a student in the age of revolution and as a journalist for a major secular newsmagazine, television network, and assortment of magazines in an era of liberal dominance of each, and of academia. It even conquered the Catholic Church, wrung through a false interpretation of the Second Vatican Council. The world was turning upside down and inside out.
But some things, I knew, were still immutable truths. I just kept my head down and went forward, confused and yet searching for the truth. Always searching for The Truth. Because I knew it was there and could be found.
Read her entire essay at MercatorNet.com.
Here is what George Weigel, Cardinal George, and others are saying about Non-Negotiable:
"Sheila Liaugminas is an articulate voice of the New Evangelization and as she demonstrates in this powerful book, being seriously Catholic today means being part of a culture-reforming counterculture."
- George Weigel, Author, Evangelical Catholicism
"Combining the passion of personal conscience and the convictions of reason and faith, Sheila Liaugminas analyzes conflicted points in our culture in the light of first principles. It's a good tool in skilled hands."
- Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. Archbishop of Chicago
"Sheila Liaugminas stresses in her fine book that 'Complacency is not an option,' and she hammers home that point with brilliant insight into the past, present and future of all the so-called 'social issues' that continue to divide America. This book is a must-read for every person of faith who understands that action is needed – now – if we ever hope to build a free, just and humane society."
- Dr. Alveda King, Director of African-American Outreach, Priests for Life
"I truly admire Sheila Liaugminas. She is an outstanding journalist. We have dialogued extensively on her radio program about the rights of conscience and the protection of what we call our 'first principles.' Sheila has laid out in great breadth and depth the need for a revived understanding of the essentials of human dignity and societal organization."
- Jeff Fortenberry, Member of Congress
"Both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have spoken of the 'dictatorship of relativism' in our world today and its negative impacts not just on our faith, but to the common good of society. Shelia Liaugminas draws upon the universal principle of natural human rights and dignity to address several contemporary moral issues which have suffered as a result of a relativistic mindset. Her book is a valuable resource in the struggle to restore a true, just and virtuous society."
- Most Reverend Thomas Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield, Illinois
"Sheila Liaugminas brings her keen insights on applying timeless truths to important issues of the day. She demonstrates how 'first principles' have made free, just, and humane society possible and explains why these principles must be non-negotiable. As America grapples with issues of freedom and justice today, Sheila's book is a must-read for those who want to understand why it is critical that we do not back down from "human truths" – affirmed by the Catholic Church and others – if we want a society that protects every individual's life and dignity."
- Dan Lipinski, Member of Congress
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