An Unexpected Invitation

1. “What the Heck is Going On? The Theology of the Body, Gender, and Genesis”Presentation 1: The CultureDiocese of LansingJohn S. Grabowski, Ph.D.

2. An Unexpected Invitation

3. The Church has a beautiful and compelling vision of the meaning of marriage, sex, and the family

4. The Church loves life

5. and welcomes children as a blessing

6. (the blessings are pretty excited too!)

7. . . . so why are we losing the culture without even a debate? “the same love”? Obergefell as the “redefinition of marriage”? “

8. The Signs of the Times “To carry out such a task, the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel” (Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes, no. 4).

9. Key DevelopmentsIn Modern Society & Culture 1. The Industrial Revolution2. The Sexual Revolution3. The Technology Explosion 4. Gender Dislocation

10. 1. The Industrial Revolution Massive expansion of industry in 18th-20th centuries Produced huge array of new goods and services Enormously destructive to land & labor Especially destructive of family life Home no longer a center of production Children seen as a burden vs. blessing

11. 2. The Sexual Revolution • Oral contraception unleashed massive shifts in sexual attitudes and behaviors • Produced skyrocketing rates of extramarital sex, unwed pregnancy, divorce and abortion • Traditional links between marriage, sex, and children were effectively severed • We now live in a “post-marriage culture” • Impacts on men, women, children, young adults • The vindication of Humanae vitae

12. 3. The Technology Explosion • Human life, communication & relationships increasing mediated & shaped by technology • Both good and bad • Communication technology can disconnect us from each other—especially in the family • Most destructive effects evident in pornography epidemic and its devastating impact on marriages, families & the “pornification” of society

13. 4. Gender Dislocation “The Chief Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, has shown in a very detailed and profoundly moving study that the attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of father, mother, and child, goes much deeper. While up to now we regarded a false understanding of the nature of human freedom as one cause of the crisis of the family, it is now becoming clear that the very notion of being – of what being human really means – is being called into question. He quotes the famous saying of Simone de Beauvoir: “one is not born a woman, one becomes so” (on ne naît pas femme, on le devient). These words lay the foundation for what is put forward today under the term “gender” as a new philosophy of sexuality. According to this philosophy, sex is no longer a given element of nature, that man has to accept and personally make sense of: it is a social role that we choose for ourselves, while in the past it was chosen for us by society. The profound falsehood of this theory and of the anthropological revolution contained within it is obvious. People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being. They deny their nature and decide that it

14. 4. Gender Dislocation is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves. According to the biblical creation account, being created by God as male and female pertains to the essence of the human creature. This duality is an essential aspect of whatbeing human is all about, as ordained by God. This very duality as something previously given is what is now disputed. The words of the creation account: “male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27) no longer apply. No, what applies now is this: it was not God who created them male and female – hitherto society did this, now we decide for ourselves. Man and woman as created realities, as the nature of the human being, no longer exist. Man calls his nature into question. From now on he is merely spirit and will. The manipulation of nature, which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man’s fundamental choice where he himself is concerned. From now on there is only the abstract human being, who chooses for himself what his nature is to be. Man and woman in their created state as complementary versions of what it means to be human are disputed. But if there is no pre-ordained duality of man and woman in creation, then neither is the family any longer a reality established by creation. Likewise, the child has lost the place he had occupied hitherto and the dignity pertaining to him. . . When the freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God, as the image of God at the core of his being. The defense of the family is about man himself.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, Christmas 2012)

15. 4. Gender Dislocation Terminology • LGBT • “Transgender” • Intersex • “Gender Identity Disorder” (DSM IV) • “Gender Dysphoria” (DSM -5) • “Gender Fluid” • “Gender Transitioning” • Transvestitism

16. 4. Gender Dislocation Identity confusion: Stefonknee (formerly Paul) Wolscht. See: http://www.mrctv.org/blog/52-year-old-father-lives-6-year-old-girl#.il0fyu0:kSLj

17. Discernment: “Lights & Shadows” “Faithful to Christ’s teaching we look to the reality of the family today in all its complexity, with both its lights and shadows . . .” (Francis, Amorislaetitia, no. 32)

18. Specific Challenges: “Shadows” “… the growing number of divorces; the scourge of abortion; the ever more frequent recourse to sterilization; the appearance of a truly contraceptive mentality. (St. John Paul II, FamiliarisConsortio, no. 6)

19. Specific Challenges: “Shadows” “A Culture of Death”(Pope John Paul II, Evangelium vitae, 1993, nos. 10-24). “Then the LORD asked Cain, Where is your brother Abel? He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper? God then said: What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!” (Genesis 4:9-10) 58,586,256 Abortions in America Since Roe v. Wade in 1973 (www.lifenews.com) “A throwaway culture” (Pope Francis, Evangeliigaudium, 2013, no. 54)

20. Specific Challenges: “Shadows” “. . . a ‘culture of the ephemeral’. Here I think, for example, of the speed with which people move from one affective relationship to another. They believe, along the lines of social networks, that love can be connected or disconnected at the whim of the consumer, and the relationship quickly ‘blocked’. I think too of the fears associated with permanent commitment, the obsession with free time, and those relationships that weigh costs and benefits for the sake of remedying loneliness, providing protection, or offering some service. We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects and the environment: everything is disposable; everyone uses and throws away, takes and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the last drop. Then, goodbye. “ (Francis, Amorislaetita, no. 39)

21. Specific Challenges: “Shadows” “The family is experiencing a profound cultural crisis, as are all communities and social bonds. In the case of the family, the weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children. Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. But the indispensable contribution of marriage to society transcends the feelings and momentary needs of the couple. “ (Pope Francis, Evangeliiguadium, no. 66)

22. Signs of Hope: “Lights” “there is a more lively awareness of personal freedom and greater attention to the quality of interpersonal relationships in marriage, to promoting the dignity of women, to responsible procreation, to the education of children. There is also an awareness of the need for the development of interfamily relationships, for reciprocal spiritual and material assistance, the rediscovery of the ecclesial mission proper to the family and its responsibility for the building of a more just society” (Familiarisconsortio, no. 6)

23. Signs of Hope: “Lights” Signs of a Culture of Life: • A majority of Americans pro-life even with rising numbers of “nones” • The youthful face of the pro-life movement

24. Signs of Hope: “Lights”A Tale of Two Statements September 20, 2016 The Catholic University of America 500+ scholars (now over 1000) • September 20, 2016 • 3 U.N. Agencies • 130 scholars

25. Signs of Hope: “Lights” “In some countries, especially in various parts of Africa, secularism has not weakened certain traditional values, and marriages forge a strong bond between two wider families, with clearly defined structures for dealing with problems and conflicts. Nowadays we are grateful too for the witness of marriages that have not only proved lasting, but also fruitful and loving.” (Francis, Amorislaetitia, no. 38) “Good news “ about marriage even in a post-marriage culture like the U.S.

26. Body, Person, Self • What does my body mean? • Is gender purely a social construct? • What does being male or female have to do with the faith? • What role does sex have in God’s plan?

27. The ToB: A Resource for the Renewal of Our Culture The Theology of the Body as a tool for catechesis on sexuality and love in the New Evangelization • the body as integral to the person • the spousal meaning of the body