Pepsico, Nestle And Kraft Brands/products And Aborted Baby Cells.

[KarenJoanna]

Is it sinful to eat from these? A thread on here said it was as it has been asked before, but only for pepsico brands/products, but what if others are eating from these companies too, do you tell them even if they are strangers? and when is eating these not sinful? Or is it always sinful because they use aborted baby cells and if we buy from them we encourage and approve of it?

[cappie]

First, we must recognize the crucial distinction between formal and material cooperation with evil. Formal cooperation occurs when we deliberately cooperate with the immoral action of another person, sharing his or her evil intention. On the other hand, when we cooperate with the immoral action of another person without sharing his or her evil intention, it is a case of material cooperation.

Formal cooperation with evil is always sinful. Material cooperation may or may not be, and moral theologians have come up with all sorts of distinctions to describe the various degrees of material cooperation, such as proximate vs. remote, immediate vs. mediate, active vs. passive. The idea is that the greater the degree of material cooperation, the greater the “proportionate” reason should be for allowing such cooperation to occur.

Let’s be clear, though. There is a world of difference between formal and material cooperation with evil, and Catholics with delicate, well-formed consciences generally aren’t formally cooperating with evil, or even cooperating on a material level to a degree that would be considered sinful. Rather, the question often involves the avoidance of any and all material cooperation with evil, which often isn’t possible, and at any rate is not a matter of sin.

Sometimes we can’t even know that we’re supporting evil materially. For example, we may shop at a small local business that appears squeaky clean on the outside, but the owner is using his profits to support some sort of evil enterprise. Clearly in that sort of situation there is no issue of “cooperation with evil” on our part.

Yet, we know about the “messiness” of the situation and still have to make difficult decisions.

Making people aware of the situation can be a good thing. Faithful Catholics should view situations opportunities to do good, and not as minefields fraught with moral danger at every turn.

In the Old Testament, people who “touched” sin became tainted themselves, but with Christ this dynamic was turned upside down. When Christ touched sinners, they were cleaned, and yet Christ did not become tainted or impure Himself.

That’s not to say we are to go looking for “pools of impurity” to jump into, but instead, given the mandate to evangelize the world that comes with our Baptism, we should see in these decisions opportunities to play offense, to change things for the better, to choose good over evil. That’s much better than a defensive, reactionary posture that sees sin even when it isn’t there.