Friday, December 22, 2017

A Nativity Renaissance

We could all use some good news about religious expression right about now. What with Satanists putting up displays at public parks during the Christmas season, it's encouraging to hear what another pair of organizations is up to at this time of year.

In the last two years, Nativity scenes have popped up at a number of state capitol buildings, including those in Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Washington, Texas, Nebraska, Massachusetts, and yes, even California. How has this happened?

The well-known legal firm the Thomas More Society teamed up with the American Nativity Scene to provide Nativity figures (free of charge) to capitol buildings and other public places with the goal of keeping the key message of Christmas--the birth of Christ--in the pubic eye. It's all perfectly legal, soundly protected by the First Amendment. The National Catholic Register* reports:  
In just the last three years, the ANS and the Thomas More Society working with “the blessing of [their] special benefactor/angel,” as they put it, have shipped over 300 Nativity scenes to 32 different states.  Their official notice about the continuing success of this Nativity scene emphasizes that many of these “were placed in public parks, libraries, farm roads and government buildings but most importantly they are being displayed in the capitols in many of our states.”
How refreshing! Good things are happening, but most often quietly. It's easy to miss them, hidden behind the noise of the headlines. 

God bless the Thomas More Society for their valiant work on so many important fronts, as well as the generous American Nativity Scene organization. And may God bless you, faithful reader, with a glorious Christmas and a bright spirit in the year ahead.
_____
*For more information on the project, see the article in the National Catholic Register (Nov. 15, 2017).

Thursday, December 7, 2017

How Could the Scandals Come as Any Surprise?

Too much has been written about the recent raft of sexual abuses by media and Hollywood luminaries. Weinstein, Lauer, Conyers, Rose, and let's not forget Bill Cosby. But most of the palavering entirely misses the main point. So I am here to make it.


At the bottom of these flagrant abuses is the concerted campaign waged over the last several decades to change how women are viewed. More than ever, women--pretty much since 1960 when the Pill came out--have been relentlessly sexualized in the media and entertainment industries. They are supposed to want sex as much as men do and Look! now they can indulge. Yes, now they can without shame admit that sexual encounters are what they are after, and, thanks to new aids in pregnancy control, they can have them freely, just as men have always done. And hey--it's no big deal, right?

In addition, we women have been preached at from all sides that to really count for something we need to get OUT of the home and hold down a paying job--like a man does. And please don't hold the door for a gal or give her your seat on the bus. How demeaning that would be! The loud-and-clear message is that our bodies may look and function a bit differently, but inside, Hans and Helga are just the same.

What was lacking in this modern scheme was the respect for women's time-honored specialties such as their talent for raising children, feeding people, nursing sick family members, hospitality, all sorts of home arts, and performing compassionate works in the community. Men largely acknowledged these abilities, understanding they were no match for women when it came to running a home, and even publicly honored and accommodated them by opening heavy doors and allowing them to sit when seats were limited. It was understood that women were human beings with real and unique gifts.

The new "liberated" view served only to indulge men's inherent selfishness (we're all selfish, of course), with women no longer applying the brakes to risky behavior but instead fully participating.
In the media, music, and movies, women's Number One gift now seems to be their physicality. Their bodies--often enhanced through surgery--are relentlessly accentuated with skimpy clothing and provocative movement. Even female news anchors on some channels must have a bombshell figure and sport tight dresses and stilettos. 

So all this sexual harassment and abuse are no wonder at all. Men are able to tell themselves that women are sexually driven too and should have no objection to their advances. Women fail to draw the line because that would make them look like a fuddy-duddy, or, when pressured by a boss, they could lose their job or promotion. 

What we are seeing is the natural result of the hyper-sexualization--and consequent dehuminization--of people. 

I imagine old Lucifer is rubbing his hands and chuckling mightily.

Follow-up to our last column:
The Satanists will NOT have a presence in Boca Raton's park this year. Some 50,000 signatures were presented to the City in protest, and during the December 1 Rosary rally in the park, the news circulated that the display would not go up this year. Word was that the middle-school teacher behind the last two years' Satanic display, just yards from the Nativity scene, had missed the deadline for his permit this time. Hallelujah.