The ubiquity of the contraceptive mentality is such that people will not talk about the issue and when there is talk, if it cannot be explained in a sound-bite answer, it is rejected. Such is the loyalty—unwitting or not—to the foe of our race. As Pope Paul VI predicted, contraception is a potent weapon in the hands of the very powerful in society. From the partner in the law firm who is adulterously sleeping with his secretary, to the government official conditioning the provision of aid to a poor nation, to the local public school who demands the rigorous attention of elementary school aged children to instruction on different sexual practices, contraception has changed and continues to change the landscape of society. Children are seen more and more as things to be avoided or inconveniences to a lifestyle trying more and more to be devoid of difficulty. With this mentality, it is a short step to abortion and infanticide. On this point, it should be no wonder that the largest provider of abortion in the United States is the foremost promoter and peddler of contraception: Planned Parenthood. This mentality, however, would never have gained traction had not human persons disparaged the search for the answers to the ultimate questions; had not disparaged metaphysics. Thus the difficulty of engaging in discussion in the modern world–especially in the United States.
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As is manifest in the most recent encyclicals and allocutions of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the Church is now not only defending the Faith, but she is defending reason. She is the last voice on the earth that stands foursquare against the enemy. She always has and she always will. The reason is simple: she is preoccupied with metaphysics–namely, the ultimate metaphysical question: God. In so doing, she defends the truth, freedom, and the dignity of the human person. It is our task as the sons and daughters of Mother Church to do the same.
Metaphysics is practically absent in the Catholic scene, and it shouldn't be.
It's absolutely necessary.
Nothing irks me more than Catholics who disparage metaphysics. Because it's the basis for understanding all Catholic doctrine.
The difficulty for laypeople like me is finding resources to vulgarize it. I remember there used to be a website called The Sixty Second Aquinas. It was awesome. It took a small point of metaphysics and gave every day examples to explain it.
If there are any philosophers out there looking for a mission, this would be it: trying to explain to the folks in the pews the basic and finer points of metaphysics.
