That indeed seems like an unnecessary reminder. But with the present developments, validated by many recent studies and even by random observations, this reminder again has become very relevant and urgent.
Fact is together with the many advantages that the progress of technology has brought about, serious dangers and threats to the moral and spiritual lives of people have also multiplied.
A clear case in point is the Internet pornography. Some studies indicate more and more teeners and even young children, often without parental supervision, are into it.
American observers are establishing a link between this fact and the other fact that in the US alone, nearly 900,000 teen-age girls become pregnant each year.
Also, the rate of sexually transmitted diseases is higher now among teen-agers than among adults.
There are other consequences that researchers are trying to attribute to pornography.
These consequences include susceptibility to depression and suicide as well as to alcohol, marijuana and drugs.
In Australia, a hospital reports that the number of children engaged in sexually abusive behavior has increased dramatically, from 3 cases per year in the mid-90s to 28 in 2000 and to more than 70 in 2003.
In Canada, the police uncovered cases of sexual assault done by children on other children. Almost all the children involved were under 12. The aggressors said they were imitating what they saw in pornographic channels and the Internet.
A study has made the conclusion that "there is a modest to strong correlation between exposure to pornography and deviant activity by individuals."
Several studies have established the correlation between pornography and the following six trends:
- Increased marital distress, and risk of separation and divorce;
- Decreased marital intimacy and sexual satisfaction;
- Infidelity;
- Increased appetite for more graphic types of pornography and sexual activity associated with abusive, illegal or unsafe practice;
- Devaluation of monogamy, marriage and child-rearing;
- An increasing number of people struggling with compulsive and
addictive sexual behavior.
In the US, a meeting of lawyers has also pointed to pornography as a prominent culprit in the cases of family violence and divorce.
All these should alert us to be ever vigilant to the presence and the spread of pornography in our society. We should find effective ways in regulating the Internet cafes where pornography is readily available even to little children.
More than this, we should always promote and construct a culture of chastity and modesty, keeping in mind that these virtues are first of all God's gifts that need to be asked for with humility. To pursue them on our own, independently of God, is doomed to failure.
We have to understand that chastity is an affirmation of love, not a list of prohibitions, and its source and goal, its pattern and energy can only be derived from our intimate relationship with God. We would be fooling ourselves if we think otherwise.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Media and public morals
WE are all sinners. We all know that. That’s nothing new. Our own personal experiences can readily attest to this fact.
St. John spells it out for us very clearly in his first letter:
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…If we say that we have not sinned, we make him (God) a liar and his word is not in us.” (8-10)
Our Catechism also tells us that “the Church, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal. All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners.” (827)
Still, we should try our best with the help of grace not to sin, not even to give rise to avoidable occasions of sin, and not to scandalize others, especially the little children.
Thus, Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to sin no more after she was forgiven.
And our Lord also said: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Mt 18,6)
Christ’s charity and mercy, which we are called to live, never do away with
the requirements of justice and prudence. They have to be together always, though we can discern the limitations of justice as compared to charity.
But more than these, I suppose we Christian believers are supposed to actively build a culture of holiness, practical, feasible holiness, around us. But what do we have?
It is in this context that we appeal to those in media and others concerned to be more sensitive to the finer moral aspects of their presentations.
Their work inevitably involves many ethical and moral issues and questions that they should resolve well and properly integrate into their plans and strategies.
Their audiences are not mere economic factors to be played with under purely economic laws. They are persons, made of body and soul, children of God made in the image and likeness of God. The moral dimension is an indispensable factor to consider always.
They have to be handled with great care, always upholding their innate dignity in spite of their earthly conditions. They never should be treated as animals or soulless buyers and consumers.
Media people cannot and should not be solely guided by ratings and popularity, or by purely market forces. Otherwise, we will also have another kind of deadly stampede, of the spiritual kind rather than the physical.
That Valentine gimmick Lovapalooza is a shameless commercialization of the passionate kiss, trivializing a very intimate expression of love between a husband and wife, and not just between any lovers.
What are we trying to tell for example to our youth with such mindless display of erotic love? That it’s just ok to have passionate kissing, as what you see in many European and decadent countries? After the passionate kiss, what next?
I’ve been to such countries before, and I have witnessed these shameless public manifestations of affection. I must say that it was not just kissing I saw. I also saw a lot of used condoms littering the ground.
Ok, we can say that it is just for fun, let’s not exaggerate it, let’s not be killjoys. But Sodom and Gomorrah started that way. We can be tolerant and understanding, no problem with that. But we have to be clear about the limits, especially when public morals get compromised and the more vulnerable sectors are affected.
In this regard, the media should be sensitive to screen product endorsers whose image can wrongly influence minds of people.
As I said, we are all sinners, and these product endorsers can be public sinners also. We should not make a fuss about this. But precisely when these endorsers capitalize on their sin to endorse a product, we should react. We cannot be passive.
St. John spells it out for us very clearly in his first letter:
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…If we say that we have not sinned, we make him (God) a liar and his word is not in us.” (8-10)
Our Catechism also tells us that “the Church, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal. All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners.” (827)
Still, we should try our best with the help of grace not to sin, not even to give rise to avoidable occasions of sin, and not to scandalize others, especially the little children.
Thus, Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to sin no more after she was forgiven.
And our Lord also said: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Mt 18,6)
Christ’s charity and mercy, which we are called to live, never do away with
the requirements of justice and prudence. They have to be together always, though we can discern the limitations of justice as compared to charity.
But more than these, I suppose we Christian believers are supposed to actively build a culture of holiness, practical, feasible holiness, around us. But what do we have?
It is in this context that we appeal to those in media and others concerned to be more sensitive to the finer moral aspects of their presentations.
Their work inevitably involves many ethical and moral issues and questions that they should resolve well and properly integrate into their plans and strategies.
Their audiences are not mere economic factors to be played with under purely economic laws. They are persons, made of body and soul, children of God made in the image and likeness of God. The moral dimension is an indispensable factor to consider always.
They have to be handled with great care, always upholding their innate dignity in spite of their earthly conditions. They never should be treated as animals or soulless buyers and consumers.
Media people cannot and should not be solely guided by ratings and popularity, or by purely market forces. Otherwise, we will also have another kind of deadly stampede, of the spiritual kind rather than the physical.
That Valentine gimmick Lovapalooza is a shameless commercialization of the passionate kiss, trivializing a very intimate expression of love between a husband and wife, and not just between any lovers.
What are we trying to tell for example to our youth with such mindless display of erotic love? That it’s just ok to have passionate kissing, as what you see in many European and decadent countries? After the passionate kiss, what next?
I’ve been to such countries before, and I have witnessed these shameless public manifestations of affection. I must say that it was not just kissing I saw. I also saw a lot of used condoms littering the ground.
Ok, we can say that it is just for fun, let’s not exaggerate it, let’s not be killjoys. But Sodom and Gomorrah started that way. We can be tolerant and understanding, no problem with that. But we have to be clear about the limits, especially when public morals get compromised and the more vulnerable sectors are affected.
In this regard, the media should be sensitive to screen product endorsers whose image can wrongly influence minds of people.
As I said, we are all sinners, and these product endorsers can be public sinners also. We should not make a fuss about this. But precisely when these endorsers capitalize on their sin to endorse a product, we should react. We cannot be passive.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Love defines God and man
“DEUS caritas est.” A passage from the first letter of St. John, meaning, God is love, these words are now the title of the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI.
As such, the document is meant to present the general thrust of the Pope Benedict’s papacy. It is where we can find the seeds and directions of his activities for years to come.
Yes, a very bold move, but that’s just how it should be. As the supreme authority on earth, the very Vicar of Christ on earth, the Pope is expected to give his all in the service of God and souls. Nothing less is expected.
Focusing on God and love is a good and timely reminder for the world that is getting increasingly indifferent and even hostile to God and, thus, also increasingly confused about its role and purpose.
Such focus is also a vital continuation of Pope John Paul’s rich and Spirit-filled magisterium. The truth is many of us are lost or at least confused in the complicated web we are making supposedly out of love.
The document’s storyline, so to speak, is that since God is love and we are children of his, made in his image and likeness, we ought to know what true love is and live it consistently in all aspects of our life, be it personal, family, social, etc.
This love is revealed in its fullness in Jesus Christ who perfected the old law with the new law of love—love of God with all one’s might, and love of neighbor as oneself.
It is a love that goes much farther than being sentimental. While it always respects and makes use of emotions, it is first of all based on the truth, taught by Christ and now by the Church and lived properly only in the Holy Spirit.
What happens many times is that we meet caricatures and counterfeits, distorting the real one by focusing on one aspect while missing out on the others, or simply showing love’s peripherals without having its real substance.
Some of them can be so subtly deceiving that they can affect big sectors of
society. This is when we can get into real trouble. Cultures can become blighted because of a grave misunderstanding of love.
The Pope clarifies in basic terms what this true love is, reminding us that love can only be one though its expressions are varied. Manifestations of love not in keeping with this fundamental truth can only be fake and dangerous.
Personally, the encyclical reminds me of that excitement when I studied St. Thomas Aquinas’ proofs of the existence of God. I know there are many people still grappling hard with the question of whether God exists or not. To me and to many others, thanks to God, this is a settled question.
St. Thomas’ proofs articulated what I have been struggling to explain about the existence of God. Thus when he came up with the concept of God as “Ipsum Esse Subsistens,” the Subsisting Being Itself, I went ballistic. Things just fell into place.
St. Thomas’ philosophical explanation about God’s existence answered all the questions I had. Such explanation also coincided with what Moses heard from the burning bush—God’s name is simply “I am who am.”
God is not limited by any finite essence. His very essence is simply “to be,” to exist. Thus, God is the ultimate and constant object of our intelligence and will which go beyond the merely sensible and intelligible and toward the infinite.
But the infinite is not void and empty. The infinite exists because of God. Thus the natural tendency of our spiritual faculties, unless thwarted by a number of reasons, is to discover, find and savor God.
This is how far reason or philosophy can go. Imagine how I felt when I discovered from Christian faith that this God is not only a supreme being, existing from all eternity, but is love, and is manifested fully in Jesus Christ!
Try to read and study Pope Benedict’s encyclical. Perhaps you will get an idea of what I am trying to say here but cannot. Words fail me. It is love that defines God perfectly, and it is love that also has to define us.
As such, the document is meant to present the general thrust of the Pope Benedict’s papacy. It is where we can find the seeds and directions of his activities for years to come.
Yes, a very bold move, but that’s just how it should be. As the supreme authority on earth, the very Vicar of Christ on earth, the Pope is expected to give his all in the service of God and souls. Nothing less is expected.
Focusing on God and love is a good and timely reminder for the world that is getting increasingly indifferent and even hostile to God and, thus, also increasingly confused about its role and purpose.
Such focus is also a vital continuation of Pope John Paul’s rich and Spirit-filled magisterium. The truth is many of us are lost or at least confused in the complicated web we are making supposedly out of love.
The document’s storyline, so to speak, is that since God is love and we are children of his, made in his image and likeness, we ought to know what true love is and live it consistently in all aspects of our life, be it personal, family, social, etc.
This love is revealed in its fullness in Jesus Christ who perfected the old law with the new law of love—love of God with all one’s might, and love of neighbor as oneself.
It is a love that goes much farther than being sentimental. While it always respects and makes use of emotions, it is first of all based on the truth, taught by Christ and now by the Church and lived properly only in the Holy Spirit.
What happens many times is that we meet caricatures and counterfeits, distorting the real one by focusing on one aspect while missing out on the others, or simply showing love’s peripherals without having its real substance.
Some of them can be so subtly deceiving that they can affect big sectors of
society. This is when we can get into real trouble. Cultures can become blighted because of a grave misunderstanding of love.
The Pope clarifies in basic terms what this true love is, reminding us that love can only be one though its expressions are varied. Manifestations of love not in keeping with this fundamental truth can only be fake and dangerous.
Personally, the encyclical reminds me of that excitement when I studied St. Thomas Aquinas’ proofs of the existence of God. I know there are many people still grappling hard with the question of whether God exists or not. To me and to many others, thanks to God, this is a settled question.
St. Thomas’ proofs articulated what I have been struggling to explain about the existence of God. Thus when he came up with the concept of God as “Ipsum Esse Subsistens,” the Subsisting Being Itself, I went ballistic. Things just fell into place.
St. Thomas’ philosophical explanation about God’s existence answered all the questions I had. Such explanation also coincided with what Moses heard from the burning bush—God’s name is simply “I am who am.”
God is not limited by any finite essence. His very essence is simply “to be,” to exist. Thus, God is the ultimate and constant object of our intelligence and will which go beyond the merely sensible and intelligible and toward the infinite.
But the infinite is not void and empty. The infinite exists because of God. Thus the natural tendency of our spiritual faculties, unless thwarted by a number of reasons, is to discover, find and savor God.
This is how far reason or philosophy can go. Imagine how I felt when I discovered from Christian faith that this God is not only a supreme being, existing from all eternity, but is love, and is manifested fully in Jesus Christ!
Try to read and study Pope Benedict’s encyclical. Perhaps you will get an idea of what I am trying to say here but cannot. Words fail me. It is love that defines God perfectly, and it is love that also has to define us.
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