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| Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin, "Lily of the Mohawks" |
Enlightenment in education has sought to shed what was considered out-dated superstitions restricting sexual liberation.
"The area in which [radical enlightenment...the stated goal of education and the aegis under which the spirit of the times deliberately chooses to present itself] is most recognized...[in] the attempt to do away with the problem of sex and eros in the name of enlightenment, to turn it into a nonproblem by means of a knowledge devoid of taboos...[This] is only one (admittedly characteristic) symptom of an optimistic enlightenment that has, as its ultimate goal, liberation through knowledge."
Joseph Ratzinger, Principles of Catholic Theology, San Francisco: Ignatius, 1989 (an article originally published in 1975 under the title "Formation and Belief in our Time").
Fornication, adultery, and sodomy have all been decriminalized in the West, along with abortion. Contraception is promoted as a standard of healthy and responsible sexual license. "Consensual" fornication among minors (i.e. statutory rape) is all but decriminalized, with some weight given to the consent of the parents of the minors. Never mind about the related problems of ubiquitous prostitution and widespread pornography.
It is very important to note that precisely in this purposefully licentious environment of practically half a decade the problem of sex has come back to haunt us with a vengeance. And the problem was first felt in the Church. (Note in this regard the passage from a post two days ago: "Through the faith of the priest, doors open up all around for the people: it is really possible to believe, even today. All human believing is believing-with, and for this reason the one who believes before us is so important. In many ways this person is more exposed in his faith than the others, since their faith depends on his and since, at any given time, he has to withstand the hardships of faith for them. This is the reason why crises of the Church and of faith often make themselves felt sooner and more acutely among priests and religious than among the laity.")
Then there was some publicity about the epidemic problem of pedophilia in the schools and in school sports programs. Now, in the most recent exposures of these widespread crimes, Hollywood takes center stage in sexual abuse, and politicians are also being called out for their abuses.
The upshot is that sex in America is still a problem, and bigger than ever. Denial does not make it go away! Did we actually think that freeing people up (principally men--the biological penetrators) to do whatever they want sexually, the problem would go away? Lust does not take away lust.
In olden times a man making indecent suggestions to a woman (or to a man for that matter) would be charged with indecency in his attempted fornication or adultery (or sodomy). Not so today. All of that is open game today because those sins are considered o.k.. But that makes things very confusing because everything is made to hang upon a degree of consent rather than on a forbidden act. Not to belittle the gravity of real sexual abuse, but all of America is sexually abused by this novel and experimental permissiveness and licentiousness, which are failing us in every way. And the ones who suffer the greatest losses here are the weakest and the most vulnerable, the children in utero and extra utero, youth, and women.
The sexual laws (including marital laws) of a society are primarily supposed to defend the rights of mothers and children, that is why we call marriage matrimony from the Latin, the rights due to motherhood: the greatest safeguard against every form of abuse to women and children, including every manner of sexual sin. What is more, no sexual sins are healthy, and condoms are not healthy. They are dirty and they dirty and damage the body and the person very deeply.
Chastity is the remedy to lust. And holiness is the source of chastity. Jesus Christ and the Ever Virgin Mary and all the Saints are the masters of chastity, responsibility and respect.
May I here suggest that the State needs to consult the Catholic Church on how to remedy the present crisis which was created precisely because of the State's blatant rejection and mockery of the Church's time-honored and true societal norms regarding this aspect of the sanctity of the human body.
Cf. Fugite fornicationem: 1 Corinthians 6:15-20.
Condoms are Bad for Health
Homosexuality is Bad for Health
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