The Sexual Barbarians and the Dissolution of Culture

9/16/2012

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classic curriculum of a healthy sexual civilization. As the last preserve of a civilized sexuality, the Church is being called to serve human civilization by teaching the virtue of chastity to those who know nothing about it. To the intolerant, often close-minded, sometimes even violent sexual barbarian, the Church must reach out, and thereby achieve, with the aid of God, a re-civilization of sex.

To be sure, chastity is a hard-earned virtue, which is to say it is not a facile technique learned in one minute, one day, one week, or even one year. In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, chastity is a life-long "apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom." [CCC � 2339]. This hard-won freedom is gained when the human person controls, governs, and tempers his or her sexual passions, so as to culture and to civilize them, so that they are rightly ordered and so that he or she does not become enslaved to them.

Like all virtues, chastity is a habitus, a stable character trait, a personal excellence, one based upon truth, reason, and consonant with the moral law. This stable character trait or excellence rightly disposes a man or woman with regard to the rightful use of his or her body in the area of sex. Like all virtues, it is most commonly a blend of both acquired (natural or moral) virtue, and infused virtue (a gift of grace). This means that it requires grace along with personal effort or ascesis. [CCC �� 2340, 2345] Jesus Christ, both God and man, is "the model for all chastity." [CCC � 2348] Mary, the most chaste mother, shows us that chastity is a fully human trait.

"Chastity is a difficult, long term matter; one must wait patiently for it to bear fruit, for the happiness of loving kindness which it must bring," wrote John Paul II in his book Love and Responsibility. "But at the same time, chastity is the sure way to happiness."

It is a sexual culture informed by chastity which Pope John Paul II called the culture of life, a culture inspired by the Gospel of Life. Its contrary--what is currently reigning among the sexual barbarians--is the culture of death, a culture based upon convenience, efficiency, technique, and pharmacology, but not virtue.

This task of re-introducing the virtue of chastity presents a tremendous pastoral and pedagogical challenge to the Church, but no greater a task is before her than the conversion of the barbarian hordes during the Dark Ages.

This task is an essential imperative, since without chastity we lose the sense of personhood, we will invariably misunderstand justice, and we will become unable authentically to love.

Without the virtue of chastity, we are not fully the persons we are intended to be. If we are unchaste, we "depersonalize" ourselves. The reason this happens is that, by being habitually unchaste, we become blind to the personal significance of the body, whether that body is our own or another's. We begin to think of the body--either our own or another's--as a tool or a commodity that we might use for pleasure's sake alone and so separate from our person. When we blind ourselves to the personal significance of the body, we also blind ourselves to the "spousal meaning of the body," as John Paul II put it.

Once we lose sight of the personal significance of the body and its spousal meaning, it is sort of like opening Pandora's box: all the evils associated with unchastity come flying out in a whirlwind of stinging and poisonous vices: lust, pornography, fornication, masturbation, contraception, prostitution, adultery, homosexual activity, rape, pedophilia, and finally, that most heinous offense of them all, abortion.

That's why chastity is less a virtue of saying "no" than a virtue of saying "yes." Of course, some paths must be said "no" to, but only so that right path may be said "yes" to. Chastity is a dedicated and constant disposition to say "yes" to the personal significance and spousal meaning of the body.

Without developing the virtue of chastity, we cannot love. This is because, as the Catechism puts it, "charity," or authentic love, "is the form of all the virtues." It is under charity or love's influence that "chastity appears as a school of the gift of the person."

In other words, we have to be schooled in chastity so as to be able to give the "gift of self" to another, whether in friendship or in marriage. Without chastity, we can never fully and totally give ourselves to others. Instead, we invariably lapse into our own shells of selfishness. [CCC � 2346] "Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable of true love," wrote John Paul II in his book Love and Responsibility.

"If you want peace, work for justice," Pope Paul VI famously stated in his message for the celebration of the Day of Peace in 1972. In his many great writings on human sexuality, first as Cardinal Wojtyla and then as Pope John Paul II, a great corollary was added to the Pauline principle.

As Professor Gregory R. Beabout summarized John Paul II's corollary: "If you want justice, work for chastity."

We will never have peace without justice, and we will never have justice without love, and we will never have love without chastity.

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Andrew M. Greenwell is an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas, practicing in Corpus Christi, Texas. He is married with three children. He maintains a blog entirely devoted to the natural law called Lex Christianorum. You can contact Andrew at agreenwell@harris-greenwell.com.
- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: chastity, virtue, barbarians, culture war, purity, sexual revolution, Andrew M. Greenwell, Esq.

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1 - 10 of 15 Comments

Tafur
2 months ago
Even the Ancient Roman Republic had decent values and when those values were lost so was the Republic and that brought about the perversions of the Roman Empire where anything was allowed. The Founding Fathers of the United States had similar values, but now religion was for God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Chris
5 months ago
I contend that they weren't raised by their parents. Nay, they were raised by the chieftains of Hollywood. Seriously, I think many kids are / were raised 'in the wild' with little real guidance. After "free expression" (= no rules) was the norm (probably still is) beginning in the late-sixties.

And, RichStine, you're wrong. The culture today is so hyper-sexual that my personal belief is that you need to go back to Ancient Rome to find an adequate comparison. People sell themselves ... and others for the sexual pleasure of a third-party. I really don't believe that 1942 was as sexual out of control as 2012. Some of your points, individually, are well put but as a whole I am left confused. Sex is a gift, it should be treated as a divine gift. This indeed is the teaching of the Church. Individuals within the Church may have said otherwise or been confused/inaccurate, but the Church, as stated in the Catechism is not.
Stephen
5 months ago
Agreed, and I would take the argument even further. By replacing the words "sexual barbarians" with the words "pagans and barbarians" you have a comprehensive expose of the nature of the ongoing attack on the Christian world which, until a few decades ago, flourished in most of the planet, particularly in Europe, southern Africa, Oceana, North and South America. The entire fabric of Western Civlization is under attack from these barbaric movements united in one purpose only, i.e., to destory the fabric of Western culture and civilization, the Christian Religion which created and sustained it for nearly 2000 years, and replace same with a Brave New World of anarchy, barbarism, and hedonism.
Lisa C.
6 months ago
Why are we always blaming the woman for wearing skimpy clothes and not protecting herself? Look at Todd Akin, who thought the woman's body can "shut down" to prevent rape? Let's face it, one in three women will be raped in her lifetime. That is just unacceptable.

As usual, we need to educate our children and give them a religious upbringing. The Bible explains the sanctity of marriage. We shouldn't be afraid of sitting down with our kids and discussing why both boys and girls should wait till they are married.

Our society bombards them with the message that everybody's doing it, adultery is OK and so forth. Parents have a responsibility to teach both genders to respect each other and not try to force one's will on the other. If the parents need help, they should turn to the church, family and teachers to get the message across.

But it starts with catechism and the church. Teaching them about God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit. The Golden Rule. Think about if your mother, sister, brother were raped. This woman (or sometimes boy) is a sacred human being, one of God's children.

Without a religious upbringing, my two nephews are lost. Their mother didn't have a solid religious belief system although her mother did. Now one is married and raising a child at age 22. If only he'd been taught the benefits of chastity. But how could he? His mom was married four times.
Gabriella
7 months ago
The woman lost her mystique, something that men used to respect. She walks unclothed among us, flaunting her body as an asset to be exploited, used, etc. I do believe that it is the woman who is greatly responsible for what has been happening in our liberal societies - she does not respect herself, her body, her mind nor her soul. She does not even know, sometimes, that she is a precious human being, a possible carrier of life - how much greater can a human being be than through cooperation with the Almighty, create a new life.
She does no need to take her clothes off, we all know what is underneath, she does not need to be enticing, does she? She has been endowed with intelligence that in combination with her heart and her soul can save the humanity from a total moral destruction.
God, have mercy on us, save us from ourselves!
Esther M Ventura Ferencz
8 months ago
I appreciate this article. I just wish this topic was discussed in church pulpits and schools all over this nation. To observe the way people clothe and dont clothe themsleves is to somethines think I am in a waste land of loss modesty. Women and girls specifically show disgrace via their clothing Men? they are not innocent either, they take advantage of the women/girls who seem to offer their bodies freely as TOYS.. Its far worse when seen in churchs at Litgurys. I am not surprised at the rise of Sexual Barbarian behaviors in this land. Its as if its a plague. So sad and so disrespecting of all. Including SELF!
Theresa H.
8 months ago
Rich, I didn't intend to "place the long-standing multicultural....burden of behavior gone bad on girls and women...." No doubt about it, men are just as responsible! (Remember God's call to Adam and Adam's response to the Lord God about "the fruit?" (What Adam did was Adam's fault--just as much as what Eve did.) The point I was making is the same as we read in the Letters of St. Paul and in the CCC 1833-1839, which (sadly) are not being taught to our children in many--if not most instances. Human nature, being as it still is with it's "natural" tendencies, needs to be clothed with the virtues (Fruits of the Holy Spirit), including modesty, purity, and chastity; but if we are not taught these virtues, how will we know how to not conform ourselves to this world? (cf: Rom 12:1-2)
RichStine
8 months ago
@ Theresa H:

Agreed: how one dresses and behaves is an important step in learning to behave responsibly.
However, the long-standing mufti-cultural, mufti-religious, societal mores that places, unduly, the sole burden of behavior gone bad on girls and women is...wrong.

The shame of behaving improperly according to morals set by any institution, group, or society should not be on just one component of those communities.

I don't suppose there is any better example of extreme modesty than that of Muslims who adhere to extreme, full-body-burqas for the women. And yet, their community is still morally bereft in sexual indiscretions.Men of most faiths can't seem to get the message that they are at fault, and have never learned to behave modestly and check their appetites for sex. Men have been inundated with the notion that that is just how God made them, and it is up to women to not tantalize them.
The worst thing is the apologetic rhetoric I hear from educated, 'civilized' women, who, like you, still feel somehow responsible as a gender, towards society's lust for sex.
If girls and women are dressing modestly, their behavior still can lure. It's called flirting.

Men, however, are EXPECTED to flirt (even married men, though most will say it's wrong, really think it is harmless, because after all, that's how God made us). Men are expected to speak about women sexually, and it is acceptable to even brag a bit about *blush* conquests. But out of earshot of women, of course, if the men are 'respectful'.

I've spent a lot of time in the military. Worked beside a lot of good, Christian men, most of them married. I can tell you the double standard that is tolerated is something I firmly believe Jesus takes issue with, and we will all have to answer for, one day.

It starts at home and in Church, what we learn.

Time for men and women to grow up in Christ. Not merely bide their time.
Theresa H
8 months ago
While it may be that immodest dress is no good excuse for sexual assault, I would dare to say that most extra-marital sexual acts are consentual. Extra-marital sex is a big problem that has become culturally acceptable. Immodest dress has a lot to do with consentual acts....How many children, especially young woman and even mothers of mothers today have heard much, if anything about the virtue of modesty? (It doesn't appear to be very many among the families and individuals coming to Church on Sunday.) We have no "sense of shame" even when we come to Church. (Remember Adam and Eve, after they ate of the forbidden fruit and covered themselves when they heard God calling to them?) This is because the virtue of modesty in dress, especially, as well as chastity are hardly taught at school and at home anymore. I have been told of a teenager coming to CCD class pregnant and their classmates all excited about their peer having a baby. No doubt, there is a conundrum in this context (the baby is a child of God, etc.,) but the point here is, the behavior that led to the pregnancy should not have happened and most probably would not have happened had the young girl (and boy) been taught about the beauty of the virtues of chastity and modesty, the Sacrament of Marriage, etc..) The above may be a more extreme example, but the point is immodest dress is rampant in our culture and even many, if not most of our Catholic children appear to have little chance of learning anything different--and it should be no big surprise that "one thing leads to another...." St. Paul reminds us that we should not conform ourselves to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of our minds--that we may know what God's will is for us--what is good, pleasing (to God) and perfect! It would certainly be good if we took up his advice--in many ways!
RichStine
8 months ago
Sexual Barbarianism has always been around.
To suggest that people--religious, or not--are mostly civilized, is a mistaken notion that is directly in opposition to what we know for certain about human nature. Hence, the need for a savior, if from nothing and no one, but ourselves.
Which punctuates why our God had to become one of us...human...to do as one of us, what we cannot do, ourselves: be the fulfillment of the law and become the perfect sacrifice for the propitiation for human sin.

Sexuality is used in uncivilized ways for a lot of reasons. That's why sex, and our relationship with the part of our nature and bodies which involve sex, often gets a bad rap.

We love it, we fear it. We worship it and condemn it.

Until we begin to rest in our faith with the same trust and assurance we have when coming home from a hard day at work, and ease ourselves into a chair to rest, never worrying about whether or not the chair beneath us will give way.

Sex, within the world and within the Church, has been a much maligned thing. One thing we have yet to do as a body of believers is address it for what it is: A gift.

And like any gift, it can be used improperly, and with malice, selfishness, and hatred.

We should not fear that which God designed. We should protect it though.

The world, we cannot change. We can make little changes here and there, perhaps, but real change comes inside us.

There is no good reason, rhyme nor excuse, however, for the Church to be more tolerant than the world is, for sexual barbarianism that cloaks itself beneath the Righteousness of God.

Forgiveness is a prerequisite to our life as Catholics. That, everyone can agree upon.

But to keep a discretion quiet under guise of honoring the sacred confessions of pedophiles and other sex offenders who rely on such obedience, is absurd.

The trust in discretion and confidentiality is forfeited, when those who are thought to be holy use their power and influence over others to manipulate, abuse and molest others.

The world and all its worldliness is expected to be somewhat barbaric, however civilized they think they are.

We the Church, however, have no such excuse.

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