Thinking more about the Vanity Fair\u2019s Bruce Jenner cover I am thinking about the wider pattern and not the particulars of this story. After all there have been celebrities before with gender identity disorder, just not the same cultural reaction.<\/p>\n
Lost in yesterday\u2019s celebration of Caitlyn Jenner\u2019s Vanity Fair debut as a cultural touchstone for the transgender community was the fact that, at 65, she\u2019s the oldest woman to ever grace the magazine\u2019s cover, making her a gender revolutionary on an entirely different level. (Source<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Apparently gender identity disorder is not confined to individuals who suffer with this, but the culture at large. Words have become unstuck from their meanings. Language drift will always be with us as words come to have more meanings or even come to mean the opposite of what they once were defined. So I am not going to rail about \u201cgender\u201d in that it\u2019s meaning is grammatical in reference to words and not a replacement for the words \u201csex\u201d. It is easy to see why gender has taken the place of the sexes. The more accurate term was a \u201cthrowback\u201d to the binary nature of he sexes as male and female. Gender as expressed now is much more fluid and can now mean anything (which of course means it means nothing).<\/p>\n
Still this is a sidetrack to my observation in that the culture at large has become enablers for a range of problems. People are actually being praised for having mental illnesses or being morally deficient in some area. That for admitting some disordered behavior they are actually \u201cbrave\u201d and likely to get a phone call or tweet from the President congratulating them.<\/p>\n
On the one hand I see the good when people are not stigmatized and mocked for whatever failing they have. That we should always see the dignity of the human person and love them as our neighbor. That seeing our own major failings that we can become more empathetic towards others on their own journeys.<\/p>\n
On the other hand I do not see how it helps someone to pretend that they do not have some problem. The culture of enablers is a culture in love with the Emperor\u2019s new clothes and waiting for next season\u2019s lineup. A culture that can\u2019t make a distinction between sinfully judging others and making judgments. That it is better to normalize mental illnesses than to have empathy and to pray for those who suffer from them. That a problem goes away by saying there is not problem in the first place.<\/p>\n
No doubt moral relativity has laid the groundwork for all of this. It is easy to see why everything is so confused when everybody is so confused. For the most part moral relativity as practiced comes down to this.<\/p>\n
Morality is relative, but you\u2019re wrong!<\/strong><\/p>\n
This is especially true when it comes to sex. Everything regarding it has to be undefined where each individual defines their own terms. The radical autonomy of the individual means each define their own morality, gender<\/em>, etc. Just as long as you don\u2019t define them by terms accessible by the natural law<\/em>. Thus we have an excuse for everything. Teenage sex and fornication \u2014 they are going to do it anyway. No fault divorce – they fell out of love. Subsequent remarriage – of course. Psychological disorders regarding sexual identity – born that way. Adultery – everybody does it. You don\u2019t have to live up to any moral standards if there aren\u2019t any. As a consequence of original sin is is not a surprise when we do fall from a standard, but to deny standards does not eliminate the fall.<\/p>\n
So much easier not to pass any kind of judgment – really you just go \u201cpass judgement\u201d and move straight to enabling. Who want to do a spiritual act of mercy like \u201crebuking sinners\u201d, since it is too easy to be a jerk about doing it. Much better to not do it at all. When somebody writes a book displaying their extreme selfishness, where the destruction of the family is a necessary consequence, they are not condemned \u2014 instead a movie is made about this staring Julia Roberts.<\/p>\n
This enabling is not something just confined to the culture, but to the Church as well.<\/p>\n
How do you tell the difference between being pastoral<\/em> and not doing nothing at all? Usually I can\u2019t tell in the modern way pastoral<\/em> is used. Although this is to be expected as prayer for a person is also pastoral. Still so much is passed over with vary a word. What George Weigel describes as the Truce of 1968<\/a> seems be to a treaty with an automatic annual renewal. It is sad that when a bishop moves against dissent or towards teaching the faith of the Church it makes headlines. This does not mean that most bishops are heterodox, just that many don\u2019t want to makes waves.<\/p>\n
So just go with the cultural flow.<\/p>\n
\u201cA dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.\u201d<\/p>\n
– G.K. Chesterton (The Everlasting Man<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Or not.<\/p>\n
Suggested reading:<\/p>\n
\n
- Trent Horn\u2019s Five Questions for Supporters of Gender Transitioning<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Mark Shea\u2019s excellent essay Trangender Newspeak<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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