In a very nice article at The Federalist today, Nathanael Blake uses an article by Nicholas Kristoff to launch into some reflections on the key connection between sexual ethics and the greater good—the human flourishing—of society. The subtitle gets to the core of what he’s saying:
Within the preamble of our Declaration of Independence is the phrase: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
It has been said that the foundation of the Bill of Rights added to our constitution is "...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights...". Some will say that there is no Creator, therefore we have no unalienable rights. Others will say that even if there is a Creator, there is no way to establish that the Creator did indeed endow us '...certain unalienable Rights..."
Still others posit that Man has a nature and that that nature can be determined through man's power of reasoning. Man can determine the nature of a tree, of a cow, of a horse and of a man. Some attributes of the nature of man includes pro-creation, self defense, raising of children and so forth.
It is this nature of man that establishes "..certain unalienable Rights..." and to violate these rights strips him of his very nature and reduces him to meaningless existence.
Our rights so established by 'natural law', are in grave danger in our modern times. It is not in our nature to surrender these rights, but many do so during fleeting moments of passion and/or weakness.
Our society and civilization will suffer greatly until our nature, our very foundation, is once again recognized and our way of life is reestablished.
Mark, I have never seen the statement you quote from Ratzinger before. It’s bizarre and strikes me as flatly opposite to what many consider to be key statements of his early pontificate — namely regarding the marriage of faith and reason in Christianity, especially insofar as it maintains the philosophical tradition of the Greeks — the infamous Regensburg Address, for instance. Do you think Ratzinger changed his tune once he became Pope?
Matthew Crawford has a provocative essay on sex and politics that I think complements the approach taken in Mark’s post: namely, arguing that “sexual revolution” is an establishment psy-op designed to politically neuter the population.
Hello again: Mark; I can not even begin to understand how your writings can be so varied, insightful and stimulating! Thanks, it's all I got...
This posting rooted deeply into what I've found and believed to be a core tenant to Western Civ's descendance. Yes, there are severe attacks on said Western Civilization as represented by Christianity but empowered, or perhaps better put, allowed success in the demise of sincere, genuine Christian virtues.
I fear the many wars taught in modern history as fought for 'religion' (which there were many, of course) while removing sound reasoning in defense of the Spiritual battle such wars represented as been used as a cornerstone of the Communist/Marxist necessity to remove true Faith as foundational in the promotion of the 'socialist' world we're seeing promogulated.
Many fronts are being fought on: from evolution to 'there is no human nature' - collectivism is the end game. The biggest casualty, amazingly ignored by so many lost souls today, is indeed Man's Soul. Not a loss if there were no Creator so I suppose that tool is of significant importance to God's enemies.
Thank you again for stimulating deep thought, Mark. I'll redundantly repeat myself again - your sharing of your writing is truly amazing and blesses me enormously.
Within the preamble of our Declaration of Independence is the phrase: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
It has been said that the foundation of the Bill of Rights added to our constitution is "...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights...". Some will say that there is no Creator, therefore we have no unalienable rights. Others will say that even if there is a Creator, there is no way to establish that the Creator did indeed endow us '...certain unalienable Rights..."
Still others posit that Man has a nature and that that nature can be determined through man's power of reasoning. Man can determine the nature of a tree, of a cow, of a horse and of a man. Some attributes of the nature of man includes pro-creation, self defense, raising of children and so forth.
It is this nature of man that establishes "..certain unalienable Rights..." and to violate these rights strips him of his very nature and reduces him to meaningless existence.
Our rights so established by 'natural law', are in grave danger in our modern times. It is not in our nature to surrender these rights, but many do so during fleeting moments of passion and/or weakness.
Our society and civilization will suffer greatly until our nature, our very foundation, is once again recognized and our way of life is reestablished.
Mark, I have never seen the statement you quote from Ratzinger before. It’s bizarre and strikes me as flatly opposite to what many consider to be key statements of his early pontificate — namely regarding the marriage of faith and reason in Christianity, especially insofar as it maintains the philosophical tradition of the Greeks — the infamous Regensburg Address, for instance. Do you think Ratzinger changed his tune once he became Pope?
Matthew Crawford has a provocative essay on sex and politics that I think complements the approach taken in Mark’s post: namely, arguing that “sexual revolution” is an establishment psy-op designed to politically neuter the population.
https://unherd.com/2022/12/the-politics-of-masturbation/
Also see E. Michael Jones book, Libido Dominandi.
Hello again: Mark; I can not even begin to understand how your writings can be so varied, insightful and stimulating! Thanks, it's all I got...
This posting rooted deeply into what I've found and believed to be a core tenant to Western Civ's descendance. Yes, there are severe attacks on said Western Civilization as represented by Christianity but empowered, or perhaps better put, allowed success in the demise of sincere, genuine Christian virtues.
I fear the many wars taught in modern history as fought for 'religion' (which there were many, of course) while removing sound reasoning in defense of the Spiritual battle such wars represented as been used as a cornerstone of the Communist/Marxist necessity to remove true Faith as foundational in the promotion of the 'socialist' world we're seeing promogulated.
Many fronts are being fought on: from evolution to 'there is no human nature' - collectivism is the end game. The biggest casualty, amazingly ignored by so many lost souls today, is indeed Man's Soul. Not a loss if there were no Creator so I suppose that tool is of significant importance to God's enemies.
Thank you again for stimulating deep thought, Mark. I'll redundantly repeat myself again - your sharing of your writing is truly amazing and blesses me enormously.
Wayne - 'Of Weiser' :^)