The Passion of the Church, part 2: The Modernist Attack on Feminine Dignity

I feel an indescribable pleasure in reading the Acts of the Martyrs; but when the Martyr is a woman, my enthusiasm is doubled. For the frailer the instrument, the greater is the grace, the brighter the trophy, the grander the victory; and this, not because of her weakness, but because the devil is conquered by her, by whom he once conquered us. What excuse [is there], after this, for men, if they be soft and cowards? Can they hope for pardon, when women fought the holy battle with such brave, and manly, and generous hearts?
-- John Chrysostom, Homil. de diversis novi Testamenti locis, quoted in Alice von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention, 61.

The topic of this article is a very grave one, and unfortunately it is not discussed often today. The attack and loss of feminine dignity has had more destructive effects upon this nation and upon the world than any other immorality, save blasphemy and sacrilege. It is certainly a crisis, and as we shall see, the modernist attack on feminine dignity has seeped into the sanctuary of the Church herself; confusion and ambiguity of principles the Church has held since antiquity. The attack upon feminine dignity is founded upon the widespread acceptance of the theory of evolution, pornography, contraception, and abortion.  

The Catholic Church has always held that every person, regardless of race or sex, has a profound and wonderful dignity given to them by God. First, man is the higher and nobler than any other animals on earth, being made in the image of God and possessing an intellect and free will. Second, since they are made in the image of God, every person is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Third, every soul is infinitely valuable to God because Christ died for them upon the cross.

Now, it is true that the roles of men and women are different both within the family and within the culture. In the last article, the different roles of the man and woman in the family were discussed; men being providers and spiritual leaders, and women holding the standard of morality within the family. If women hold the standard of morality in the family, it follows that they also hold the standard of morality in society. God gave women this gift of being more disposed to virtue because men are more affected, according to Saint Thomas Aquinas, by the concupiscible (lower) passions and what they perceive through the sense of sight; they are led by example. A certain spiritual dignity is placed upon the woman within the doctrines of the Catholic Church that is lacking in all other religions, beginning with the Blessed Virgin Mary as the greatest creation of God and the co-redemptrix of the human race. Saint Paul writes extensively in Ephesians 5 on the husband’s duty to his wife; that he should treat her with respect, as his own body, and love her as Christ loved the Church.

Now, contrast this with the evolutionary theory. Evolution puts mankind in the same category as animals, for according to evolution man descended from animals. There is no profound dignity placed upon individuals; the female is treated as a reproductive object which males will trick, manipulate, or rape to fulfill their duty of passing along their genetic material. The individual's only significance is to reproduce. Evolution justifies sexual licentiousness and has also been at least partially responsible for the widespread acceptance of homosexuality within our culture (i.e. if some animals do it, why can’t man?). Men and women are but beasts in the eyes of an evolutionist.

The evolutionary principles that men and women are beasts violate the traditional Catholic view of the human person in every aspect, and it has given possessed and deranged individuals the excuse they need to cause grievous human suffering. It was, in part, the evolutionary theory which gave Hitler and his henchmen the justification to try to exterminate the “imperfect” races (http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/08/did_hitler_use063571.html). It was evolutionary theory which was behind the founding of Planned Parenthood, whose original goal was to exterminate minority populations through forced sterilization, including blacks, and those who did not meet standardized testing requirements (http://www.dianedew.com/sanger.htm) Finally, it is evolution which gives militant atheists fuel to defend their beliefs, and to plant seeds of doubt in those who try to compensate the two viewpoints. Instead of treating a woman with love and respect (as his own body), evolution gives the man an excuse to use a woman and discard her at will. Instead of seeing her as an example of virtue, the man sees in a woman only the objectification of sexual desire. Truly, the first method of the modernist attack on feminine dignity, and the dignity of the human person in general, is the acceptance of evolutionary theory. Unfortunately the modern Catholic is so confused on this topic they are the first to bash and lay low those who question this theory. The popular notion that the Church has never defined fiat creation (instant creation out of nothing by God’s word) as an article of faith is false. See the footnotes for conciliar documents and encyclicals which the Catholic Church uses with its full weight to promulgate fiat creation, and insist upon certain beliefs that contradict evolutionary theory as it is taught today.

The second front of the battle against feminine dignity is the culture of death; i.e. contraception, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, abortion, and pornography. The culture of death dehumanizes the individual person (mainly the woman), and this dehumanization begins with pornography. Pornography is more accessible now than ever before; research shows that the average age of first exposure topornography is 11 years old. This same article suggests 80% of boys and girls have had multiple “hard core” (graphically/violently depicted) exposure to pornography by the age of 15-17. This means that now the notion of the objectification of the human person has fully been established by the age of 15-17. Pornography leads to sins against the 6^th and 9^th commandments, and contraception is a way for men to use and discard women at will; if contraception fails, then there is abortion.

The abortion movement, in recent times, has taken up the slogan, “the woman’s right to choose”. In reality, it is almost always the man who coerces, manipulates, or forces the abortion to take place. Again, the concept of freedom without responsibility comes into play. It is ironic that feminists push for abortion rights when abortion dehumanizes the woman in every sense of the word. Not only does abortion kill the unique individual and soul which is her child, the procedure is akin to a violent rape, leaving the woman emotionally scarred for the rest of her life. People do not like to talk about abortion in this light, but this is the truth! It dehumanizes both mother and child, killing one physically, and the other emotionally and spiritually. The man, on the other hand, is now free of his burden, and can now flee without any responsibilities.

What can we do to stop this onslaught against feminine dignity? The first thing that must take place is that women must become counter-cultural, raising the standard of society once again, and leading men once again by practicing heroic virtue. How is this done? The first method is modesty in dress. Just as men are influenced by virtue, they are also influenced by vice. It is the teachings of the Doctors of the Church that women are responsible and culpable for the sins of thought which arise in men’s minds if they dress immodestly (this website is a very good handbook for dressing modestly, by the words of the saints). Without modesty in dress, a counter-revolution is not possible against the culture of death and the war on feminine dignity.

The second thing which must occur is to detach yourself from the culture of death, and pray for those it victimizes. If you have been using contraception, stop! Go to confession, and reform your life! If you have become addicted to pornography, stop accessing the near occasions of sin! Put blocks on your computer or TV. Go to confession and receive communion frequently, ask the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and pray the Rosary daily that you may overcome the vice of impurity, which causes so many souls to go to hell.

Third, it is important to humbly adhere to the teachings of the Church. It is better to be a clown for Christ than a pawn of Satan. Evolution is an all-encompassing theory which leads to atheism, strengthens the culture of death and objectifies the human person. It declares false the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and facilitates the notion of man being equal to beasts. Pray for the grace of humility; pray that your eyes may be opened to the truth. Accept the teachings of Holy Mother Church, for she is without error.

Let us review. We learned that the attack upon feminine dignity is founded upon the widespread acceptance of the theory of evolution, pornography, contraception, and abortion. We learned that the Catholic Church has always taught that the man and woman are images of God and temples of the Holy Spirit, and are higher than animals because they have an intellect and free will. In contrast, evolution says the human being is equal to animals and leads to sexual licentiousness and is the basis for the foundation of Planned Parenthood and the extermination camps of Nazi Germany. We learned that pornography devalues the human person and leads to contraception, which justifies abortion. Abortion is really giving man an excuse to use a woman and discard her without responsibility. Finally, we learned to defend feminine dignity, first by dressing modestly, detaching oneself from the culture of death, and by humbly adhering to the teachings of the Church. Let us begin these practices today, and sway the battle which is costing God so many souls. Please pray for me. For the glory of God and the salvation of souls, Amen.

I. Vatican Council 1, Third Session: Canons. “If anyone does not confess that the world and all things which are contained in it, both spiritual and material, were produced, according to their whole substance, out of nothing by God; or holds that God did not create by his will free from all necessity, but as necessarily as he necessarily loves himself; or denies that the world was created for the glory of God: let him be anathema.” http://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/v1.htm

II. Pope Pius XII in Humane Generis explicitly forbids polygenism, that is humanity came from more than one man and one woman, and affirms that all of humanity descended from one man and one woman, namely Adam and Eve (article 37). He also states that the first 11 books of the bible pertain to history in its true sense, and should not be interpreted otherwise (articles 38-39). http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html

III. The IV Lateran Council affirms fiat Creation. “[God] who by His almighty power at the beginning of time created from nothing both spiritual and corporeal creatures, that is to say angelic and earthly, and then created human beings composed as it were of both spirit and body in common.” (constitution 1, confession of faith) http://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/lateran4.htm

IV. A very common rebuttle to the Creation stance is 2 Peter 3:8 “A day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day”. if the verse it read in context Peter is actually defending fiat creation and the historical flood, and predicting mockers of biblical historicity will spring up in a future time. “Knowing this first, that in the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers, walking after their own lusts, Saying: Where is his promise or his coming? for since the time that the fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they are wilfully ignorant of, that the heavens were before, and the earth out of water, and through water, consisting by the word of God. Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.  But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of the ungodly men.

V. Why your position on this subject matters: http://www.kolbecenter.org/the-traditional-doctrine-of-creation/