I might've talked about this before here and there, but it's so important and it's constantly on my mind that I want to talk about. Forgive me for the very poor use of grammar and style of flow on this topic; I'm basically speaking whatever comes to my mind on the subject. I would grade myself a C+, but at least I can share my thoughts with you guys.
Our generation's culture has been known as the "Culture of Death" especially where regarding the number of abortions operated each day. And sadly, the reference "Culture of Death" isn't far from the truth. Beginning in the twenties something big happened...the industrialization of the car. What happened after that? The once common courtship turned into dating-a man can simply pick up his girlfriend in his new Ford Model T-4 and drive wherever he could without supervision. As a result, the number of unwed pregnancies went skyrocketing upwards. Of course, to solve this unwanted pregnancy crisis, there must be some form of blocking-now commonly referred to as protection-from the evils of conceiving. Birth control pills were being adapted as the better method to keep away from unwanted pregnancies and, therefore, reduce the numbers of abortions. Pope Paul VI, however, condemned the idea of birth-control. Especially in his encyclical writing Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI expressed that birth control was not the answer and that it would indeed bring harmful consequences. As we know, the birth-control still was popularly adapted and we now have in today's culture. Birth control (and the Model T-4) brought the idea that sex was a much more simpler and common thing. Sex was losing it's sacredness.
Our culture-the "Culture of Death"- is now the culture of sex: Children watch sex-educational videos at around the age of fourteen. Our popular media-magazines, movies, books, music, and television-generate the idea that sex (especially casual sex) is nothing new or wrong. Celebrities will gladly show their bodies for the sake of a "good" scene. On top of the fact that popularity celebrities sell their bodies for movies, they also get them published in magazines such as People, Inquirer, and so many other short-selling magazines that glamorize the flesh and the scandals (I will not discuss the eighth commandment in this post, however) of these celebrities. As you can see, our media makes a huge impact on the culture of sex. Sex sells!
As is known, as the sacredness of sex has decreased, huge factors have played out. First, abortions. They have literally skyrocketed as thousands of innocents are aborted a day. One of my liberal teachers himself said that abortion is to be pointed at as the result of obtaining a culture of sex, but that there is nothing wrong with a culture based on casual sex.
As the value of sex has gone down, there is also a huge increase of divorces. Many marriages are the result of unwanted pregnancies, and after the emotional bondage of sex has declined, the couple feel no need for each other and therefore divorce.
A third: the woman. Many women's right activists thrive on claiming their own freedom and civil rights, yet many of them don't know the facts that many women are not liberated, but in fact slaves of sex. Especially since the rise of abortion and birth control, women are (by others or, sadly, by themselves) turned into machines into which they have a hold on their most beautiful function: to procreate. An example: when birth control was first tested on both men and women, the men on the pill found some uncomfortable side-effects due to the pill. Immediately after, the pill was not an option for men. The women, however, had more drastic results; a few or more women had died as a result of the pill. And yet, that did not stop the pill being designed for women. What is the message here? That women are to be subject to birth control even though their side effects were far worse than those of a man? The value of a woman was (and still is) shot down to an objective being made for pleasure.
It's hard not to get sucked into the culture one way or another. With the influence given by the media-music, fashion, and film-it's hard to stay away. But with the help and grace of God, chastity can be attained. There are still people out there who fight for life and for morality regarding the sacredness of the unborn, women, and sex. It is extremely necessary to pray for the conversion of all souls regarding such issues.
Cheers.
