Two weeks ago, I reflected briefly on the fundamental shift in worldview in the West, beginning with the Renaissance and then gaining greater traction with the French Revolution and the Enlightenment.
This movement from a theistic, God-centered vision to a humanistic, this-worldly orientation is complex, long, and multi-faceted, and therefore not easy to fully understand or articulate.
But, we clearly feel the effects of some fundamental shifts in our culture in just the last few years.
The legalization of marriage for same-sex couples, the emergence of transgenderism, the redefinition of sexuality, family, and the human person represent profound changes in our society which challenge traditional Church teaching and even the definition of religious faith and practice.
Understanding these dynamics
To understand these dynamics, we need to ponder some of the cultural presuppositions of our contemporary post-modern Western world.
The first is relativism.
Many people reject the notion that fundamental philosophical, moral and religious truth exists.
In the Middle Ages of Western Europe, most everyone believed in God, acknowledged Jesus Christ as the Son of God, (with the exception of Jews and Muslims, of course), and accepted the authority of the Church and its moral teachings.
Relativism denies the existence of such categorical truths.
Rather, each person has their own truth, their own belief, their own explanation of the meaning of human existence, or even of the universe, as our Supreme Court asserted several decades ago.
Any assertion of objective reality is viewed as oppressive and false, an artificial construct to gain power over others.
In such a vision, the human person is plastic and malleable; we are each free to choose our identity, sexual orientation, gender, marriage partner.
The mother can decide if an unborn child is wanted and human, or unwanted and therefore disposable.
Euthanasia asserts that we can choose when to end our lives.
In such a view, natural law and objective morality are simply religious constructs.
In a theistic culture, everything flows from God and back to God.
All human power and authority are derived from the Lord’s sovereignty; every facet of society has a moral and spiritual dimension because one cannot somehow live apart from God’s presence, the universal moral law, and the social obligation to serve others as a responsible contributor to the common good.
Secularism rejects this spiritual integration.
In such a view, religion should be tolerated at best, certainly not encouraged, and freedom of religion becomes freedom of worship.
In other words, secular extremists do not care what sacred rituals we perform in our churches on Sunday morning, but we should not bring our religious values into the public square, have a right to practice our teachings in our institutions if they run contrary to newly-defined rights, or make our contribution to the common good as believers.
Materialism asserts that the only true realities are things that we can touch, possess, see, and objectify.
Human worth is measured by efficient productivity and material wealth; success is quantified by profit and possession.
In such a view, there is little room for faith, love, prayer, sacrifice, or belief in eternal life as the ultimate goal.
Materialism closes all the doors and windows against the transcendent; humanity is a world unto itself, left to decide what existence means if it means anything at all.
In one of my parish assignments, I was meeting with a young woman, who self-identified as both an atheist and a materialist; she was mildly curious about Catholicism.
I asked her what life was about and what happened after death.
“I just want a pleasurable life with lots of nice things and when I’m dead, I’m dead. That’s it.”
Not a very profound or satisfying way to live, I’d say.
She never did come into the Church, and I pray for her to this day.
The sexual revolution, with the introduction of oral contraceptives, the subsequent disconnection between sex, marriage, and child-bearing, the legalization of abortion, the breakdown of marriage and family, and the dramatically increased acceptance of any sort of sexual expression outside of heterosexual marriage has profoundly changed our society.
To assert today that human life begins at conception and should always be welcomed and nurtured, artificial contraception is against the natural law, there are two sexes, marriage is between a man and a woman, and sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong is to run the risk of being labeled a hater, intolerant or at the very least, on the wrong side of history.
The Church does not change
Yet, the Church’s teachings on these essential moral matters have not changed, even as our culture has undergone a revolution of thinking and acting.
My short column is only a cursory look at some very complex and difficult dynamics in our society today.
But, we can clearly see how relativism, secularism, materialism, and the sexual revolution have fused together into a cultural world view that many people simply take for granted without really thinking through the implications.
To propose the Gospel and the Catholic faith to someone swimming in the current social milieu is profoundly challenging, to say the least.
A significant part of the Church’s work in the decades ahead will be the effort to lovingly help people to see themselves, as God sees them –beloved sons and daughters of the Father, offered salvation through the Precious Blood of Jesus and sanctified in the Holy Spirit.
To see the wonder of our human existence as a gift offered by God, yet defined by His moral parameters, so that we can live in freedom, joy, and generosity, giving ourselves away in love and service to God and others.
Who is the human person?
This fundamental anthropological question can only be fully and truthfully answered by the One who has created us and loves us forever.