February 8, 2020
The world has seen many wars and battles within wars. The bloodshed and the lives lost can only be estimated, for the toll is truly beyond simply counting the bodies of the dead.
When one understands these wars correctly, you can only begin with the Fall of Man and the pride of those who have political power. Stated another way, from man’s descent in Paradise, the battle of good versus evil has been continuous to the present time.
It is quite difficult to hide bloodshed, whether real or virtual, but some evil people have accomplished it through means that decent people would never consider. In our time, it has become possible through medicine, technology, and the evil motives of men to conquer their enemies without initiating a conventional war. These actions can rightly be thought of as silent deadly wars. The end game (goal) is the destruction of the family, a war that has been taking place much longer that what is usually considered.
In the Old Law, divorce was tolerated by God because of the hardness of the hearts of the Israelites. How many of these divorces were the result of adulterous thoughts or actions which opened the door to the war? In a time and place unknown to men, when the first abortion took place, the war began. When the first woman either planned or was simply able to wrongly prevent the conception of her child, the war began. When men were first guilty of onanism so as to prevent the conception of a child, the war began. When the first man and woman lived in sin as though they were married, the war began.
One does not know which of these acts occurred first, but it really does not matter. To use a battlefield analogy, does it matter which occurs first: bombs are dropped, grenades are launched, bullets are fired or torpedoes are launched? No, it does not matter, for the war has begun.
Relatively speaking, in more recent times the promotion of divorce by Martin Luther and Henry VIII opened the door to a more permanent damage to the married state. What has happened as a result of the Luther’s “shot across the bow” concerning the marital contract and for the baptized, the Sacrament of Matrimony?
Looking back over the previous five-hundred years or so, one will see a growing degradation and undermining of the married state. All of this deterioration eventually takes a toll. All wars over time bring about effects which may not have been foreseen in the initial days of the conflict. Some refer to this as the “principal of unintended consequences.” Those with evil intentions are able to foresee the consequences in a much clearer manner than those who have good intentions. Those individuals who are naïve and otherwise well-intentioned were initially appalled by the effects upon the family, but over time become indifferent to its disastrous results.
Perhaps a real-life example will better illustrate the point. In a time in the past when a man sought a divorce from his wife, in what condition did it leave the wife and children? Too often they were left in a destitute state and struggled to have the basic needs of daily life. In addition, did the woman remain true to her vows or did she end up leaving the Church and civilly marrying outside the Church in order to have an income for herself and the children? Thus, another casualty of the war and too often ignored by society. So where did it leave this woman and her children with these “unintended consequences?” How many women perished because of the consequences of divorce? Many today will attempt to defend women in these circumstances, but ultimately the issue is indefensible.
Empathy is understandable. Making the right decision for one’s salvation is another. As difficult as life may be for the wife and children, the right spiritual decision must always be made. Perhaps this example illustrates better than others the destructiveness of divorce. To again use a war analogy, this was a direct hit which leaves few real survivors.
Without a doubt, divorce increased adultery in society. How often did adultery bring about divorce? How often did the divorced encroach upon the married and find himself guilty of adultery? No doubt there has been a viscous cycle of infidelity for many years. If those who have accepted divorce believe they are able to easily “escape” an undesirable marriage, they have no reason to be faithful to their spouse.
The 20th century has brought with it a level of war and destruction upon marriage unlike anything that has been witnessed at any time in the past.
These assaults began with the development of the birth control pill and later with different “devices” which would prevent conception. The birth control pill was promoted by the likes of Margaret Sanger and her associates whose primary purpose beginning from the 1920’s onward was to eliminate the Black Race and secondarily those of Hispanic descent. It must be noted that still at the present time most Planned Parenthood abortion mills are located in the poorer neighborhoods of the inner cities. To their credit, many blacks have become aware of the plot to destroy their own race and are fighting back. It should be noted here that in recent years the Black population in the United States comprises about 13% of the total population. The percentage of abortions among blacks is an astounding 33%!
The recent history of how the federal government has horribly abused their power to destroy the black family in the United States is a topic for another article. It should be noted, though, that until the 1960’s when welfare and other federal programs entrapped far too many black families, the vast majority of black families had two parent homes and were far more stable than at the present time.
To be Continued
Fr. Joseph Noonan, OFM