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To judge by my f-list and other Catholic bloggers I have seen, Mary Eberstadt's article on First Things about the vindication of Humanae Vitae has made more waves than anything in years. I suppose that is because it goes further than most Christians had been thinking of going. While most people are aware that abortion is at least controversial, very many outside the Catholic Church do not give contraception a second thought, and even many Catholics, especially of the older generation, imagine that the matter is settled and over. However, the evidence is that it is not. Mary Eberstadt's article was not the only one to say the same thing, and to judge by the reaction, it addresses a mood that is definitely growing among Christians, let alone Catholics. And since Christians and Catholics do not live in a vacuum, it is finding unnoticed echoes even among the ordinary secular types.

Comments

[stigandnasty919.livejournal.com]

It is certainly an interesting article. There were a few things I didn't like, her definition of Family Ties would not have included my family and her begrudging acceptance that human rights organisations have spoken out against forced sterilisation showed more about her own prejudices than anything else, but in general there were important points to think about.

I would question if she has sufficiently proven a cause and effect relationship between contraception and the negative impacts she attributes to it. It may be possible to produce an equally logical argument that the breakdown of the class system, or the industrialsation of society started western society on this path. I can't escape the feeling that there is something more fundemental behind all this. I have neither the time nor the skill with words to get the vaguely formed ideas down on paper.

But my idea basically comes down to the fact that western, Christian society was a well settled and evolved culture. It was stable and provided a generally agreed framework of morality which had developed over thousands of years. We are now in the early stages of a secular revolution, one that has brought with it unprecedented indivdualism. The stability in relationships and social structures that had developed are breaking down and nothing as stable has yet arisen to replace them. The revolution will either suceeed, and society will stabalise with a new norm, or it will fail and will either collapse or return to some sort of religious social structure.

The notion is still brewing somewhere in the back of my mind but this article has helped to develop it a little.