We live in a desert with no moral signpost
Picture a group of people lost in a trackless desert with just enough supplies to last for the journey to the nearest safety point. Their problem: they have no directions for getting to that point.
Free to choose, but with no reason to set off in one direction rather than another, how may they proceed? Knowing that their lives depend on choosing the right direction, how will they decide?
As time goes on, with no destination in sight and no rational grounds for the direction they chose, what emotions will they experience: confusion, frustration, resentment, anxiety, apathy, rage, blind hope, desperation, despair?
What kind of quarrels, divisions, even violence will arise between them? Will some strike out on their own? Will others band together to steal from the common resources? Will the strong cast out the weak or the slow-moving?
Unable for the pressure, will some seek to numb the pain with drugs? Will others give up, opting to distract themselves from their plight by making the best of life until death comes? Will still others end the misery by ending their own lives?
Perhaps the final scene might show a few surviving stragglers eating their last meal, still with no idea where safety lies.
This scenario is not as fanciful as it might seem. In fact, it could be seen as a parable for the plight of the modern world, dominated as it is by the ideology of choice.
We have become a people that is searching for some meaning or purpose in life, some kind of “salvation”, but with no directions as to where we might find it.
As in the parable, radical freedom is the central value of modern "pro-choice" culture. It is expressed in phrases like “freedom of choice”, “right to choose”, “personal autonomy”. This “liberty” is the core of modern liberalism.
Strangely enough, its roots lie in one strand of Middle Ages theology, in an understanding of God that put his freedom above his intelligence or wisdom.
But it was with the turn away from Christianity in post-Reformation Europe, and then from God, that this notion of freedom really took off.
Morality, it was argued, should be guided by reason alone, with no reference to religious beliefs or a Supreme Being. This sounded sensible and reasonable, providing a basis for peace between groups with conflicting religious views.
And it seemed to work for a few centuries, due to the hidden but continuing influence of Christian faith.
Catholics and the many divisions of Protestants still largely agreed on how they should behave, what they should do – no stealing, no killing, no adultery - even if they no longer agreed on why, as Christians, they should behave that way.
But as the Christian basis for morality was gradually washed away, as the signposts were torn down, people agreed less and less on how they should behave.
Tolerance or permissiveness, being “non-judgmental” or “minding our own business” became the only acceptable response. Like the characters above, each person can set off on his own chosen path.
The process of tearing down the signposts, of destroying the Christian foundations of our society continues, with virtually no reflection on the chaos being created.
Worship of God is ignored or despised, justice is the will of the powerful, human life is belittled, marriage is undermined, mothers are set against their unborn children, fatherhood is treated with contempt, consumption measures our success, happiness is momentary.
The result is the range of emotions and behaviours we see in the parable above – all of them now a reality in our despairing society. But it need not be that way.
To put it bluntly, the Catholic faith is the only way out of this chaos. Given Christianity’s impact in forming Western civilisation would it not be reasonable to approach the vision and teaching of the Church with at least an open mind?
Free to choose, but with no reason to set off in one direction rather than another, how may they proceed? Knowing that their lives depend on choosing the right direction, how will they decide?
As time goes on, with no destination in sight and no rational grounds for the direction they chose, what emotions will they experience: confusion, frustration, resentment, anxiety, apathy, rage, blind hope, desperation, despair?
What kind of quarrels, divisions, even violence will arise between them? Will some strike out on their own? Will others band together to steal from the common resources? Will the strong cast out the weak or the slow-moving?
Unable for the pressure, will some seek to numb the pain with drugs? Will others give up, opting to distract themselves from their plight by making the best of life until death comes? Will still others end the misery by ending their own lives?
Perhaps the final scene might show a few surviving stragglers eating their last meal, still with no idea where safety lies.
This scenario is not as fanciful as it might seem. In fact, it could be seen as a parable for the plight of the modern world, dominated as it is by the ideology of choice.
We have become a people that is searching for some meaning or purpose in life, some kind of “salvation”, but with no directions as to where we might find it.
As in the parable, radical freedom is the central value of modern "pro-choice" culture. It is expressed in phrases like “freedom of choice”, “right to choose”, “personal autonomy”. This “liberty” is the core of modern liberalism.
Strangely enough, its roots lie in one strand of Middle Ages theology, in an understanding of God that put his freedom above his intelligence or wisdom.
But it was with the turn away from Christianity in post-Reformation Europe, and then from God, that this notion of freedom really took off.
Morality, it was argued, should be guided by reason alone, with no reference to religious beliefs or a Supreme Being. This sounded sensible and reasonable, providing a basis for peace between groups with conflicting religious views.
And it seemed to work for a few centuries, due to the hidden but continuing influence of Christian faith.
Catholics and the many divisions of Protestants still largely agreed on how they should behave, what they should do – no stealing, no killing, no adultery - even if they no longer agreed on why, as Christians, they should behave that way.
But as the Christian basis for morality was gradually washed away, as the signposts were torn down, people agreed less and less on how they should behave.
Tolerance or permissiveness, being “non-judgmental” or “minding our own business” became the only acceptable response. Like the characters above, each person can set off on his own chosen path.
The process of tearing down the signposts, of destroying the Christian foundations of our society continues, with virtually no reflection on the chaos being created.
Worship of God is ignored or despised, justice is the will of the powerful, human life is belittled, marriage is undermined, mothers are set against their unborn children, fatherhood is treated with contempt, consumption measures our success, happiness is momentary.
The result is the range of emotions and behaviours we see in the parable above – all of them now a reality in our despairing society. But it need not be that way.
To put it bluntly, the Catholic faith is the only way out of this chaos. Given Christianity’s impact in forming Western civilisation would it not be reasonable to approach the vision and teaching of the Church with at least an open mind?
