The French Revolution began in 1789 inspired by the noble ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity, and in the first months of revolutionary fervor many old injustices were redressed, including not a few caused or excused by the Church. But in short order things began to go badly wrong, and grave new injustices soon replaced the old ones.
What started as a search for freedom degenerated into totalitarian repression enforced with violent brutality against anyone with the temerity to question the dictates of the revolutionary government, a regime which proclaimed itself to be based on pure reason but which was in fact too often grounded in the basest corruptions of the human heart.
And one of the reasons for the Revolution’s tragic descent into barbarism is that the intellectual architects of the French Enlightenment, despite their earnest search for true knowledge, had also embraced several falsehoods about the human person, in part because of their visceral contempt for biblical religion. The enlightened sages taught mistaken ideas about human nature which in turn shaped revolutionary policies that eventually organized society against man by attempting to organize society without God.
And that, in part, is why what began with idealism ended with savagery.
For example, one of the fathers of the French Enlightenment, Denis Diderot, expressed his contempt for Christianity with candor: Men will never be free, he said, until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest. And the eminent philosopher Voltaire sought to destroy the Church by encouraging his countrymen, as he put it, to crush the infamous thing.
And so Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was desecrated and turned into a temple for the veneration of the goddess of reason, and Christianity was officially replaced in the French Republic by the Cult of Reason. And as a further sign of contempt for biblical religion, the seven day week derived from the creation account of Genesis was replaced with a scheme of decimal time based on a ten day week in which each day had 10 hours and every hour had 100 minutes.
All of the Church’s property was confiscated, and where religion was permitted at all, it was only as a department of the state. The de-Christianization of France was enforced with murderous ferocity, and to this day the public life of France is marked by the continuing struggle to come to terms with the explosion of hatred for the God of the Bible which was at the heart of the French Revolution.
I begin with these thoughts today because last week in Washington, the United States House of Representatives passed something called the Equality Act by a margin of eighteen votes. If passed by the Senate, this legislation will amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include gender identity among the personal qualities protected by law. And contained in the Equality Act is a provision that prevents the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act from allowing religious communities or persons to insist on exceptions to the new law to guarantee our natural human right to religious liberty, acknowledged and protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Equality of persons before the law is a noble ideal to which all reasonable people should aspire, but when false ideas about the human person are embedded in law, then terrible injustice will follow just as it did in the French Revolution. And in the case of the Equality Act, the falsehood in question is found in the novel claim that the human person is a disembodied intellect and will possessing a bundle of desires which can determine the gender identity of the individual and then define the meaning of the body with the force of law, both for oneself and for everyone else, without any reference to biological sex.
If this construal of human nature is enshrined in law by the Equality Act, then any custom or practice anywhere in the United States which connects human identity or activity to biological sex will become illegal,. Activists will immediately begin to use the judicial branch of government to enforce obedience to the claim that God did not create the human race male and female and that the objective genetic differences of male and female are entirely irrelevant to human life.
In a very short time, every religious institution in this country could find itself forbidden by the state to run schools, hospitals, or charitable activities of any kind unless we are willing to agree that men can become women, that women can become men, and that girls should be permitted even before puberty to change themselves with surgery and chemicals into boys and vice versa. In due course, single sex bathrooms and locker rooms will be illegal, and if the revolutionaries prevail, then even celebrating the sacraments such that only one man and one woman can make a marriage or that only a baptized man can become a priest or bishop will become civil crimes.
If this sounds like science fiction to you, then think how hard it would have been to convince the Archbishop of Paris in 1788 that the Catholic Church in France, which had shaped the life of that nation for more than a thousand years, was just about to be nearly wiped out of existence. And yet so it was. In the explosive riots of last summer we saw graphic evidence of what the revolutionary Left will do to have its way, and the Equality Act is no less a tool of the revolutionary Left than a Molotov cocktail.
Replacing the seven day week with decimal time will seem calm and reasonable by comparison to surgically altered men competing with biological women in every sport. And desecrating churches and cathedrals, which is already happening in too many places, will be insignificant next to the desecration of the temple of the body which will first be enabled for minor children and then required even against the opposition of their parents.
Now, make no mistake: gender dysphoria is real, and for the those who experience it, life can be miserable. Professionals of every relevant discipline should help those with gender dysphoria to find a path to peace in their lives, and we should all be compassionate, patient, and understanding of those who feel existentially out of place in their own bodies and extend to them the same respect we give to all persons, every one of whom should be protected by law from genuine injustice.
But compassion, understanding, and respect cannot include our agreement to the false claim that gender is a purely personal preference and cultural construct disconnected from the biological sex of the body, and so the Church must oppose the so-called Equality Act not because this legislation seeks equality of persons before the law but because it denies an essential truth of human nature and does so in a way that seeks to compel everyone to accept the claim that the emperor’s new clothes are magnificent or else face the wrath of the state’s awesome power to compel obedience by the threat of financial ruination or even imprisonment.
Now given that we have come to this moment only after centuries of civilizational change spanning the globe and involving the radical transformation of religion, philosophy, law, politics, and the very idea of what it is to be human, what can we possibly do to resist this new injustice? Well, we can live in the truth. To be disciples of Jesus Christ we must abide in the Word of God; we must know the truth, and love the truth, and live the truth, and speak the truth to others. Only in this way does the truth set us free from slavery to sin and death, and precisely for this freedom, Christ set us free by his suffering, death, and Resurrection.
The things I have just said are already condemned as hate speech by the mandarins of academic life, journalism, entertainment, Big Tech, woke corporations, and political activism, and this false charge of hate speech makes it all the more urgent that Christians always speak the truth in love and never from anger, resentment, arrogance, or contempt for other people, no matter what their opinion of Christianity may be.
But speak the truth we must, no matter the cost.
We must proclaim the truth of the eternal Word of God, the Word who was made flesh, the Word who united our human nature to his divine nature in the womb of his virgin Mother Mary and was made man so that he could take upon himself the weight of all human misery and selfishness and then liberate us from the everlasting death of all the lies told by the father of lies.
Although I have attempted to speak today with charity and with clarity, there are some who will be wounded or enraged by my words, and to them I say this: the only hope of the human race for the perfect peace and eternal freedom which our hearts crave is found in Jesus Christ crucified and risen. He and he alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and by living in the light of his Gospel, we find the strength to endure the often painful struggle to understand our bodies and affirm their goodness even as we learn to govern their passions and transcend their limits, including in the midst of suffering. We are made in the image and likeness of God, and in the Lord Jesus, in the Eternal Word made flesh, we lose nothing authentically human. Open your hearts to Christ, and find the healing you seek.
At the Transfiguration of Christ about which we read today, the uncreated light of divine glory shone forth from the human body of the rabbi from Nazareth to give courage in the darkness to all who follow him in the Way of the Cross on the road to his Resurrection. And as with Peter, James, and John after the Passover of the Lord, we are called to proclaim with our words and with our lives, with our minds and with our bodies, that Jesus Christ is Lord.
(Note: This essay was originally given in slightly different form as a homily on February 28, 2021, the Second Sunday of Lent.)
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WOW…That was very very very well said. Let’s hope it is taken to heart by all who love the truth.
It is deeply ironic — and yet at the same time absolutely perfect — that the endgame of feminism is the denial of the existence of women.
Feminists have, in fact, always hated anything that makes women different from men.
The life giving. The nurturing. The sacrificing.
They resent it all.
Thank you Father for your witness. God bless you!
Thank you Fr för this excellent analysis and for speaking the truth. So comforting to see that among all the silent (or worse) among the clergy there are good and faithful priests like you. So many, if not most, in the Church are so afraid of speaking like this, just plainly saying the full truth.
Comfortable Catholics have been silent for decades, accommodating. Now many are awakening to the harsh reality of sooner than later maybe not being allowed to practice their faith and being persecuted. Churches being attacked and vandalised with the tacit approval of the many hateful Democrats in power.
The great Solsjenityn warned the Americans already in the mid 80s about what he saw was gaining ground there; the fast spreading of Marxism. How many listened to him?
Silence in the face of evil was and remains a great evil.
Many ” Catholics” are now learning this (?) a bit too late.
Thank you, Father Newman, for putting this subject into historical context. If we lose our history, we lose the lessons it teaches us. I love your advice to speak the truth not in anger but in the love of Christ. That isn’t easy when people deny our beliefs, as if we don’t count at all. Their “truth” is so deranged that it’s difficult to remain calm in the face of such discrimination against anyone who disagrees with them. The Way, the Truth, and the Light will give us courage, if we just remember to call on Him! Again, thank you.
Thank you Father for the clear explanation and for the metaphor of the emperors new clothes. Both resound in me and I am grateful you have given me a tool to use in this crazy new world we live in. God bless you and keep you safe in His Heart.
It would be appreciated if you were to identify each of the people in your accompanying photograph – name and state.
‘It would be appreciated if you were to identify each of the people in your accompanying photograph – name and state.”
***************
Yes, please.
“Speak the truth we must, no matter what the cost.”
The cost is high now, and it’s going to get nigher.
What this culture calls “gender dysphoria” and some try to normalize by seeking rights of privelege for “transexuals”, I would call pervasive societal anomie which has at its roots a denial of God’s existence and sovereignty. It’s amazing how creative Satan can be.
“ But speak the truth we must, no matter the cost.”
It begins by refusing to call men women, and vice versa. Preferred pronouns have to be rejected if they do not conform to reality. I know that I am apprehensive, and will wiggle out of confrontation whenever possible, but in the end, we cannot lie. Such lies—concerning something so important and about which we know the truth—are most likely mortal. “Just a pinch of incense” in the Roman Empire has become “Just a harmless little pronoun.” Lord, give us fortitude in this matter!
Thanks Father! One thing you haven’t addressed though, and which raises some uncertainty about your assertion that “gender dysphoria is real” is the exponential increase of persons supposedly subject to this confused belief over the past few years. That makes it seem more like a behavioral fashion than a deep-seated existential condition. It would be good if you took this aspect of the current phenomena into account and addressed it.
Mark, as a psychologist, you are more correct than you might know.
To comprehend, to trace out the specific inherent inconsistencies, contradictions and absurdities of gender and transgender ideology’s origins forms and consequences, and to deal effectively in debate, the best survey is the magisterial “Transgender One Shade of Grey” [Patrick J Byrne, Wilkinson, 2018, and its abridgement, “The Little Grey Book on Sex and Transgender, 2019.] Unless we can win the public intellectual contest, the political contest is so much more difficult.
The Dems outnumber us, thanks to the feckless voters in Georgia who sent two DEM radicals to the Senate. And Harris is the robotic tie-breaker. Its very probable that unless some DEMs grow a spine, we are losing this fight. I wonder how far the church is actually willing to go to defend it’s truths, judging from its complete capitulation to the shut down, which is still in effect in some places in SPITE of a Supreme Court ruling? The Little Sisters of the poor went to Court to fight their issue. Fortunately they won. THEN. With the DEMs poised to enact whatever legislation they can to despoil the court, this may not happen again. IF the Sisters had lost, would they have provided the contraceptive coverage anyway as the price for doing their work? Like the Chinese church has accepted “direction” from the Chinese government?? I hope the Bishops are working on a contingency plan to deal with this if the worst happens. Options are few. Capitulate. Or refuse, and accept whatever draconian measure will head the churches way. Are they making plans for an underground church sans buildings? They will need to. A good start however would be to do some blunt talk to the parishioners in the pews who voted in this cabal of amoral destroyers.These “Catholic” voters betrayed the church as much as the legislators, and might well have enabled the church’s demise by the government. Its time someone told them so, and to hammer home the point, suggest they not approach for Communion at Mass unless they effect a change. This is not politics as usual. This is the destruction of the very foundation of the country and the church.
“These people deserve compassion for their afflictions, and by these people I mean these highly unstable and vicious individuals who helped precipitate armed black mobs to overrun the country with molotov cocktails, and will soon be coming for YOUR children, against YOUR will, to cut off YOUR boys’ penises, as sanctioned and ordered by Big Tech, Big Dem, Big Pharma, and Big Trans.
But mind you, I speak of them with compassion.”
Once again, you embarrass yourself.
Then the author is in Good Company!
Good article father…although I believe in approaching this with love and compassion it’s not a feel good mushy love but a godly love
..a love Jesus had in the times of his righteous anger..what is happening to young children between 4 and 18 is tantamount to child abuse and we need to forcefully speak on their behalf the week and defenseless or the havoc our society will experience will be devastating and will be as blood on our hands…gof help us
In May 2014, a full year before the Obergefell decision, there was a billboard campaign around NYC by Manhattan Mini Storage that promoted gay ‘marriage’. “If you don’t like gay marriage, don’t get gay-married” “Gay Marriage = Gay Registry = Gay Clutter.” This latter one was paired next to the chilling message: The French Aristocracy Never Saw it Coming Either.”
Much needed article, very good. These are the kind of writings we need and appreciate.
Thank you, Fr Jay Scott Newman
“But compassion, understanding, and respect cannot include our agreement to the false claim that gender is a purely personal preference and cultural construct disconnected from the biological sex of the body, and so the Church must oppose the so-called Equality Act not because this legislation seeks equality of persons before the law but because it denies an essential truth of human nature and does so in a way that seeks to compel everyone to accept the claim that the emperor’s new clothes are magnificent or else face the wrath of the state’s awesome power to compel obedience by the threat of financial ruination or even imprisonment.”
While it may be much more unlikely I can suggest an alternative to this scenario. Imagine if a person had to swear an oath that he didn’t believe that one’s biological sex had anything to do with a person’s psychological makeup. After he swore that oath he would be given some kind of identifier. Without this identifier, he couldn’t purchase food, or enter into any store. Or worse, he would be required to wear a shirt which somehow affirmed this belief. This is a scenario similar to what happened in the Soviet Union.
“Now given that we have come to this moment only after centuries of civilizational change spanning the globe and involving the radical transformation of religion, philosophy, law, politics, and the very idea of what it is to be human, what can we possibly do to resist this new injustice?”
All that has changed (i.e. “radically transformed”) is that errors have been promulgated by a disproportionately influential cabal. This is a direct result of the current weakness of the Church, the “freedom” of speech, and modern “philosophy.”
Lawsuits or civil “disobedience” would help fight this injustice. This act is clearly as unconstitutional as the original 1964 act. That said, I believe that by the principle of subsidiarity one could make the case that a just federal law should be able to supersede an unjust state “law” or fill in a horrible “gap” where there is no law.