{"id":24048,"date":"2016-05-18T14:44:56","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T20:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=24048"},"modified":"2017-04-17T21:57:43","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:57:43","slug":"the-collapse-of-civil-discourse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-collapse-of-civil-discourse\/","title":{"rendered":"The Collapse of Civil Discourse","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"collapsediscourse\"Photo by Mike Christy\/Arizona, Daily Star<\/em>, AP <\/span><\/p>\n

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IF <\/strong>“the restrainer<\/a>” is being lifted at this time, such that lawlessness<\/em> is spreading throughout society, governments, and the courts, it is no surprise, then, to see what amounts to a collapse in civil discourse. For what is under attack at this hour is the very dignity<\/em> of the human person, made in the image of God.<\/p>\n

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LOVE GONE COLD<\/p>\n

In just one single generation, our “intellectuals” have persuaded, what is now a majority, that human life in the womb is disposable; that old-age, depression, and sickness are reasons to end your life; that your biological sex is irrelevant, and that exploration of what was once considered devious and perverted behavior is now “healthy” and “good”. Suicide rates are climbing and considered “epidemic” in many countries, and it is no wonder: we are a generation taught that there is no God, that everything is random evolution, that we ourselves are not only meaningless particles, but the worst enemies of the planet.\u00a0And perhaps the greatest attack on human dignity and worth is the plague of pornography that, almost single-handedly, is destroying self and mutual respect and the true meaning of beauty<\/em> in the greater portion of the population. When we hate ourselves, how can we love our neighbour? When the view of one’s own sexuality and meaning\u00a0is twisted, how can we view others otherwise?<\/p>\n

Thus, with such an attack on the value of life, sexuality, and the family\u2014in a word, all that is good\u2014<\/em>it now makes complete sense why St. Paul penned these words:<\/p>\n

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Understand this: there will be terrifying times in the last days. People will be self-centered and lovers of money, proud, haughty, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, irreligious, callous, implacable, slanderous, licentious, brutal, hating what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, as they make a pretense of religion but deny its power. (2 Tim 3:2-5)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Forget earthquakes, plagues, and famines\u2014the above, to me, is one of the greatest “signs of the times.” Indeed, speaking of the “end times”, Our Lord Himself correlated lawlessness<\/em> with\u00a0an accompanying decline in civility<\/em>:<\/p>\n

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…because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold. (Matt 24:12)<\/span><\/p>\n

And thus, even against our will, the thought rises in the mind that now those days draw near of which Our Lord prophesied: \u201cAnd because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold\u201d<\/em><\/strong> (Matt. 24:12). \u2014POPE PIUS XI, Miserentissimus Redemptor<\/em>, Encyclical on Reparation to the Sacred Heart, n. 17 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is all to say that what we are watching and hearing in our cultures, whether it is on television, the internet, or the freeway, is an extension<\/em> and natural consequence of the “culture of death” that has been institutionalized in nearly every facet of society. Moreover, the abusiveness that we see in the mainstream culture has grievously found its way into Catholic culture as well, where disagreements on the Pope, theology, politics, or analysis of the culture, frequently disintegrate into a smug\u00a0anathema<\/em> of the other. From one perspective:<\/p>\n

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Many of my non-Christian and non-believing friends have remarked to me that we \u2018Catholics\u2019 have turned the Internet into a cesspool of hatred, venom and vitriol, all in the name of defending the faith! The character assassination on the Internet by those claiming to be Catholic and Christian has turned it into a graveyard of corpses strewn all around.<\/span><\/strong> \u2014Fr. Tom Rosica, PR Aide for the Vatican, Catholic News Service, <\/em>May 17th, 2016; cf. cruxnow.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The same could be said for those who attack faithful Catholics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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BEING CHRIST IN THE CRISIS<\/p>\n

But may it not be us! May it not be us!<\/em> It is with tears that I write this, because I hear again the words of Jesus, draped in utter sorrow:<\/p>\n

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When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That is, will He find true <\/em>faith, which is love in action? Yes, love<\/em> in our words, love<\/em> in our actions. Oh, when I find such a soul, one who is “meek and humble of heart,”<\/em> [1]<\/sup><\/a>Matt 11:29<\/span><\/span>