Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of
this power [i.e., contraception] passing into the hands of those public
authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a
government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire
country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married
people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent
public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they
consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even
impose their use on everyone. (Bl. Paul VI, Humanae Vitae 17)
Sin loves company. It’s not
content to sit quietly by itself, but seeks to implicate others in its
corruption. And so we see now the
working out of Pope Paul’s prediction: having freed ourselves from the burden
of Christian morality, we determined first that contraception was Good for
married people; next, if it’s good for them, well then, it must be good for
everyone. If it’s good for everyone, it
must also be good for brown-skinned people living in poor countries, even if
they don’t want it. If they don’t want
what’s good for them, then we more enlightened folks (having freed ourselves
from the burden of Christian morality) have not just the right but an
obligation to force it on them.
So it goes when we allow such power to pass “into the hands of those
authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law”. The problem is, such authorities and, come to
think of it, individuals, tend to create their own precepts, their own “moral
law”, but it is untethered to God’s law, which is the only law perfectly
attuned to the true good of humanity.
Thus Henri de Lubac, S.J., famously said: “It is not true, as is
sometimes said, that man cannot organize the world without God. What is true is that, without God, he can
only organize it against man”.
Catholics have long believed that our personal sins affect not only
ourselves, but our neighbors, the Church, and the rest of the World. We have usually taken these effects to
be more spiritual in nature, but we can see that it is true in a very practical
material sense as well. When we reject God and his precepts, we reenact the
rebellion of Satan and the Fall of Adam and Eve. And as we see here, even private sins can
eventually become Public Policy.
Now, going to confession and resolving to avoid further sin will not
directly or immediately help the exploited women of Kenya: that requires
exposing the wrongdoing and working to change the policies that allow it. In the long run, however, an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure. If
we want a more decent and moral world, we all (myself included - mea culpa!) need to become more
decent and moral people. And we can only
do that with God’s help.
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