Fake Freedom. . .

Many were told that contraception was the gift of freedom -- no longer would sex be captive to procreation.  In the end, it was not freedom that contraception bore but death.  The death of love and fidelity, the death of family and the goodness of having children, and the death of sex that meant something more than the moment of pleasure it accorded.  Not to mention the death of any real value assigned to life, any preciousness or sense of duty to protect it until its natural end.

Many were told that abortion was the gift of freedom -- no longer would a woman be captive to the child growing within her and she could choose to let the life live or kill the life in her womb.  In the end it was not freedom that abortion gave but death.  The death of the millions upon millions of children whose lives were swept away in a moment of decision, the death of any sacredness to life and any real responsibility to protect and defend it at all costs, and the death of two parties bearing equal duty to the act through which that life was created and to its fruit in the child.

Many were told that feminism was the gift of freedom -- no longer would a woman be captive to a man, to less pay, to the home, to the family, or to a vocation without choice.  In the end, it was not freedom that feminism gave but death.  Women now suffer equally the impact of stress, of coronary disease, of a life defined by a paycheck, and of the competition for dominance in the marketplace.  The death of the family came when it became the best choice for both parents to pursue careers, to work to achieve their financial dreams, and the children were relegated to the care of relatives of a business specializing in child care.  The #metoo movement has proven that women are just as vulnerable as before and maybe more so since often they find obstacles to their success in the form of brutes who exploit them using their power in cruel and shameful ways.

Many were told that sexual identity was a choice, a flexible and fluid choice, and that consent was what defined something as good, right, moral, and beautiful  -- no longer would the world be ruled by prudes who believed that sex was wrong that did not conform to antiquated patterns and ideas.  In the end, it was not freedom that casting off all restraint has borne but death -- the death of marriage as an enduring relationship built upon a sacrificial love that did not end in times in the worse or poorer or sickness.  Those who marry have not been changed -- marriage has been changed and with it family so that the once solid relationship on which all of society was built has become fragile, weak, and subject to the constant evaluation of happiness.  We found out that those once excluded from marriage did not want to be married but to change the institution forever, retaining the name but not the idea of a lifelong sacrificial love lived out in fidelity with the hope and expectation of children as the fruit of that love.

Many were told that religion was a crutch at best and bondage at worst -- cast off the constraints of the old morality of control and people would find real happiness and pleasure in their lives.  In the end, it was not happiness and pleasure that have flourished but loneliness, depression, and fear that have come to replace the void created when faith was vacated from our lives.  We spend more money on pain relievers, mood altering drugs, and legal/illegal cannabis than we just about anything else and it has not given us what we sought.  The "we" of our culture has succeeded in making religion not only optional but foolish but it has given little of value to replace what was lost when we chose to believe in ourselves instead of God.  Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, the consequence was not apparent until it is too late.

The Church remains a lighthouse shining Christ in the darkness and in that light is the one hope for a world determined to undo itself.