There is, among faithful Catholics, a dismay, and
even an understandable anger at the events unfolding at the Supreme Court these
past days related to to gay unions. And even if the court were to uphold
traditional marriage (which does not seem likely), or merely return the matter
to the States, it seems quite clear where our culture is going regarding this
matter, approving things once, not so long ago, considered unthinkable.
What then to do with our dismay and
anger? It is too easy to vent anger, which is not only unproductive,
but in the current state of “hyper-tolerance” for all things gay, angry
denunciations are counter-productive.
Rather our anger should be directed to a
wholehearted embrace and living out of the biblical vision of human sexuality
and marriage. Our anger should be like an energy that fuels our zeal to
live purity, and speak of its glory to a confused and out-of-control
culture.
The fact is, traditional marriage has
been in a disgraceful state for over 50 years, and heterosexual misbehavior has
been off the hook in the same period. And, if we are honest,
heterosexual misbehavior and confusion has been largely responsible for bringing
forth the even deeper confusion and disorder of homosexual activity, and
particularly the widespread approval of it.
We have sown the wind, and now reap the
whirlwind (Hosea 8:7).
Our anger, dismay and sorrow are better
directed inward toward our own conversion to greater purity as a
individuals, families and parishes, than outward toward people who will only
interpret it as “hate” and bigotry” anyway.
A few thoughts to frame our own reflections in
how we have gotten to this place of darkness in our culture.
1. The fundamental flaw in modern thinking about
human sexuality, the “Ur” (root) problem, is the (sinful) declaration that there
is “no necessary connection” between human sexual activity and
procreation. Here is the real taproot of modern confusion about
human sexuality and all the disorders that flow from it. Such notions began as
early as 1930 in the Lambeth Conference where the Church of England was the
first Christian Denomination to serious brook this sinful notion. The thinking
gained steam through the 1950s, via Margaret Sanger et al. and came to full (and
ugly) flower in 1960s with the pill and the sexual revolution.
2. Any 8th grade
biology student ought to be able to see the flaw in the “no necessary
connection” argument. For if sex has no necessary connection to
procreation but can be only for fun or pleasure, then what are the sperm and ova
doing there? Did not nature and nature’s God intend some connection. Alas, what
even an 8th grader can see, was set aside and/or became unintelligible to a
generation obsessed with its passions. Claiming to be wise they became fools
and their senseless minds were darkened (Rom 1:22-23)
3. Once the necessary
connection between sex and procreation was set aside, contraceptives moved from
being something related to prostitution to being a downright “noble” thing to
use and promote. Sex became a frivolous plaything and promiscuity
became widespread, since the most obvious consequences of sinful, frivolous and
out of control behavior, now seemed to be to largely preventable. Promiscuity
exploded on the scene and was celebrated in popular culture, in the music, on
T.V. and so forth. Enter the further explosion of sexually transmitted diseases,
teenage pregnancy, single motherhood and exploding divorce rates. Because guess
what? Contraceptives were not full-proof (or should we say “foolproof”). It’s
not nice to fool Mother Nature and our “no-necessary connection” insistence
thus ushers in all these disorders.
4. But never mind all
that, we didn’t learn, we just doubled-down. Next we put marriage in
the shredder by further declaring that there is no necessary connection between
marriage and procreation. More pills and condoms please. Divorces continued to
skyrocket, as birthrates plummeted.
5. In a parallel
trend, single parent families entered the scene in a big way. For if it
is true that marriage does not have any necessary connection to children, then
apparently having children has no necessary connection to marriage. As single
parent families rise, so do juvenile delinquency rates, and teen suicides. SAT
scores and graduation rates, however, went down.
6. But never mind all
that. What was needed is more condoms! Never mind that contraceptives
and the underlying “no necessary connection” distortion ushered all this pain
and distortion in. No! what we need is some more hair of the dog that bit us.
More contraceptives! The government should promote and provide them free. In
fact, start giving them to children and teens. After all, with decades of sexual
misbehavior, who is really able to control themselves? And any one who suggests
we ought to try is called puritanical, judgmental, unrealistic and a likely
Christian. Let’s add free abortion to the mix and pass laws that permit parents
to be kept in the dark when their daughters are taken to abortionists.
OK, you get the point, we heterosexuals
have been involved in a down spiraling series of distortions and sexual
misbehavior for over fifty years now. And this misbehavior is
widespread and even celebrated in our culture.
Add to this terrible picture, the
scandalous silence of pulpits, the shrugging over flagrant fornication,
cohabitation and high divorce rates by Church leaders, parents, and other
community leaders.
Yes, we have sown the wind. And now comes
the whirlwind. Enter the “gay” community who have in effect called our
bluff and illustrate the absurdity of our “no-necessary connection” philosophy.
For, if sex has “no necessary connection” to procreation, and can just be about
what pleasures you, or is just your way to show “care” for another, if this is
the case, what’s wrong with homosexual behavior? And if marriage is just about
two adults being happy and there is “no necessary connection” to procreation,
why can’t homosexuals “marry”?
Welcome to the whirlwind. Yes,
we heterosexuals have misbehaved for over fifty years now, and, in process
dispensed widespread confusion about sex and distorted its purpose. We have
loved the darkness, and now the darkness deepens with the obvious absurdity of
homosexual “marriage” a misnomer before it is even uttered. But so is
contraceptive marriage.
Is Homosexual activity disordered? You
better believe it. But so is contraceptive heterosexual activity since
it is no longer ordered per se to procreation. In fact, it is rightly
argued that contraceptive sex is really just mutual masturbation, it is not true
or ordered human sexual activity at all. It is disordered, for it is not ordered
to its proper end.
The grave disorder of homosexual acts and
the equally grave celebration on them in our culture is a very deep darkness.
Scripture calls homosexual activity παρὰ φύσιν “para physin” (contrary
to nature – cf Rom 1:26). Any cursory examination of the structure and design of
the human body (which is revelation) makes it clear that the man is not for the
man, the man is for the woman. The woman is for the man, not another woman.
Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? (Mk
8:18)
In Romans 1:17ff St. Paul and
the Holy Spirit describe a culture that has gone very dark. For the men
of St. Paul’s day “suppressed the truth by their wickedness” (v. 18). And this
suppression of the truth led to an ever deepening darkness wherein their
thinking became futile and their senseless minds were darkened. Although they
claimed to be wise, they became fools (vv 21-22). And darkness led to
depravity wherein: God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to
sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They
exchanged the truth about God for a lie…Because of this,
God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual
relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural
relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed
shameful acts with other men, and received in their bodies the due penalty for
their error. (v 24-27).
Some Protestant preachers have warned
over the years that God would punish this nation for celebrating homosexual
activity. But St. Paul’s point is even more poignant: The widespread
acceptance of homosexual activity IS God’s punishment. It is a
punishment that does not single out homosexuals, it is a punishment on us all.
We are collectively very confused, and the darkness grows every deeper. We have
sown the wind, we are now reaping the whirlwind.
The faithful Catholic is right to be
dismayed and angry. But allow this anger to fuel commitment to living
and speaking the truth. Do not direct it merely to wrath or scapegoating. Let
this anger fuel your commitment to speak the truth about human sexuality to your
children and grandchildren, to be silent no more, embarrassed no more. Speak
plainly and boldly, clearly and with charity. But let your anger fuel commitment
to the truth, by what you say and how you live. Be angry, but do not
sin (Eph 4:26).
Most of us have contributed to the
darkness of these times and need to repent. Perhaps we have bought into
the lie of contraception and spread it. Perhaps some have been promiscuous.
Other too may have been pure, but were too silent to the impurity around them.
And having sown the wind, we reap now the whirlwind. It’s time to repent. It’s
time to be angry but sin not.
Update:
Thanks to everyone who participated in the discussion
here. I think it is now necessary to close to any further comments. First it is Good Friday and time to focus on the Lord who
died for us poor and confused sinners, who endured our darkness to bring us
light. Secondly, the remarks have turned largely poisonous and I’m getting some
pretty awful remarks.
Trackbacks show that this post was linked to by a
couple of “gay” interest sites because the tide has rather suddenly turned and
the discussion has drifted from the point of the original post. The initial hit
backs came at the post mostly from the contraception dissenters and that was
ugly enough but now things are getting even uglier in the combox and the topic
in the thread is morphing too much.
I admit to opening the door to “gay” push-back. I
am very clear, as is the Catechism, that homosexual acts are intrinsically
disordered and that this is obvious not only from Scripture but also from
biology. Our bodies are simply not built or designed for what homosexuals do.
But as is well attested in the article, there are
many ways in which Heterosexuals also offend against the proper ordering of sex
and thus also engage in disordered sexual practices.
For what it is worth, as a closing comment the
point of the post was to wade into the current “marriage equality” (I would call
it the “marriage redefinition”) debate with the perspective that we are all to
some degree responsible for the current darkness. 50 years of heterosexual
misbehavior and redefining the meaning of both sex and marriage has set the
stage for cultural whirlwind we are currently in. Many moderns are currently
exulting in its lusty breezes, but as I argue, it is rooted in darkness and the
body count of the sexual revolution (literally and figuratively) is very high.
We all have much to answer for, whether as outright sinners in these matters or
as all too silent “saints.”
Clergy are high on the hit list for our silence.
But, as can be seen, these issues are hard to discuss well, and with the proper
balance of courage and compassion. Yet still we ought to have spoken long before
things got so dark and hot.
I do not deny my anger at the current situation
that many of my interlocutors accuse me of (as if they were not also
angry). My point is to suggest that we who are believers be angry without sin.
To use the energy that anger supplies to do whatever personal repenting is
necessary, to become ever clearer on the central issues and the “why” of
biblical and Church teaching, and to courageously witness to the beauty and
truth of a proper understanding of human sexuality.
I want to write more next week and focus a bit
more on what the Church must finally offer to those of homosexual orientation
(namely the call to live as celibates in heroic witness to the truth of God’s
Revelation) if she is to be faithful to Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and Natural
Law.
Peace to all even if you think badly of me.
Veritatem in Caritate!
Msgr. Charles Pope
He continued on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:39)
BY: 
