The Sexual Revolution Is Doomed

An ancient philosopher once remarked that nature is the first thing that is and the last thing we know. The evidence of earth, sea, and sky, the rhythms of the physical world, the alternation of day and night, and the succession of the seasons provide a constant awareness of the cycles of nature. In the Book of Genesis, God creates nature before man. He creates day and night, separates the waters from the dry land, divides the firmament, and establishes the flora and fauna before making man in His image.

As a part of nature, man participates in her seasons and cycles: “For everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted” (Eccles. 3:1-2). Nature is the first thing that is.

“Be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth, and subdue it,” man is told in Genesis. Like the rest of creation, man and woman are enjoined to be fertile and bountiful. They are designed by the complementarity of their bodies and their natures to be united in marriage and to found families that will educate children in manners and morals through the love and discipline of a father and mother. Chastity, courtship, marriage, fidelity, and generosity with life are all parts of God’s design and nature’s course.

The perennial teachings of the Catholic Church support this natural order and divine purpose. God created them male and female, which is one reason why homosexuality is forbidden. God said to be fruitful and multiply, hence one reason why contraception is evil and small families are not the ideal. Marriage is instituted for the mutual assistance of man and woman and for the rearing and education of children, and thus we have a basic reason why divorce is impermissible, fornication is immoral, and all use of sexuality outside marriage is sinful. Life comes from God (“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”), and so it should be obvious that abortion is intrinsically evil.