Humanity Dehumanized

Humanity Dehumanized

C.S. Lewis presciently wrote The Abolition of Man in 1944, before the full extent of how
modern man would deaden his humanity lay exposed as a bare bodkin. Man wages war upon
himself on three fronts: physically, mentally, and spiritually. Physically, the means to prevent
birth, to facilitate death, and to glamorize self-poisoning glittered in the dawn of the near future
like unsheathed swords. Mentally, the Common Core curriculum, which fashions students into
machines for the marketplace, lay unassembled. Spiritually, the replacement of God with the
State or the Self, whose guillotine first sliced through France in the 18th century, had not yet
become the hammer and sickle of today’s tyranny by the minority, which forces morally
repugnant politically correct agendas upon the public. Physically, mentally, and spiritually,
modern man dehumanizes himself.

Contraception fueled the sexual revolution’s separation of “the baby-making end from
the baby-making act.1 Pope Paul VI penned his controversial and prophetic Humana Vitae,
foretelling the ramifications of this debasing freedom, purchased at a dear price: the
objectification of the human person for self-gratification and the reduction of man to his
impulses. Although Reason ought to rule the appetites, today, pleasure overrules Reason and
discards the virtues of temperance and prudence.2 Nationwide ratification of abortion by the US
Supreme Court3 obviated the need for advanced planning; sexual hunger is assuaged unchecked
and the “products of conception” sliced up and suctioned away later.
Abortion, once touted as “legal, safe, and rare,”4 is “legal:” always unsafe for the baby

1 (Lewis 1944, p 33)
2 (Lewis, pp 70-71, 24)
3 (Roe v. Wade 1973)
4 (Roe)

and lethal at times for the mother. States strike down legislation to render abortions safer for the
mother.5 Instances where the “health of the mother” demands abortion are almost inconceivable;6
carrying the baby to term is safer and more humane. Today, “rare” would not describe the
appetite for abortions or abortifacient contraception. Consumers demand contraception as
“health care;”7 abortion can be accomplished chemically in the privacy of a home; abortion on
demand at any time during – and even after – delivery has been legislated;8 and the victims of
abortion are mined as a profit-making resource in this culture of death.9
People, rational creatures of a loving God, have been reduced to raw materials.10 The
modern expression of eugenics, genetic manipulation,11 insufficiently considers the ramifications
for future generations who will inherit the modifications made by the “man-moulders of the new
age.”12 Researchers create human-animal hybrids, exploiting human embryos and destroying
them,13 and harvest pluripotent stem cells from aborted children, vainly attempting to cure
diseases which plague mankind.14 The Catholic Church stands strongly against this technology
and against taxpayer dollars funding it.15 Scientists manipulate nature, descending to new depths
of depravity with the development of abortion techniques which maximize profit from the sale of
the body parts of aborted babies; the creation of chimeras; and the production of embryos for the
purpose of experimentation.16 They devalue knowledge, sought not for its own sake, but for its

5 (Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt 2016)
6 (Schwarwalder 2019)
7 (Epic Fight for Life 2019)
8 (Epic)
9 (Codovilla, Rise of Political Correctness 2016)
10 (Lewis, pp 72-73)
11 (Regalado 2019), (Rivera 2019), (Schiffer, Science Without God 2019)
12 (Lewis, p 60)
13 (Schiffer, Controversial Chimera Research 2017), (Schiffer, Science)
14 (Embryonic Stem Cell Research Reaches Moral, Medical Dead End 2019)
15 (Schleppenbach 2016)
16 (Schiffer, Chimera 2017), (Schiffer, Science 2019)

utility. The cost of knowledge ought not to be life.17
Several decades of aborted or abandoned female children changed China’s one-child
policy, which delivered an overabundance of males. As birth rates in wealthy countries fall
below replacement rate,18 US humanitarian aid to Third World countries is often tied to
contraception and abortion,19 portraying children there as an impediment to economic progress.
Children, considered a commodity in America’s consumer culture, may be procured through
morally illicit “therapies” such as IVF and surrogacy. The Catholic Church describes these
gravely immoral sins as contrary to the dignity of marriage and the human person.20
Life at its beginning can be manipulated or prevented. Lives at the end are exposed as
well. Belgium and the Netherlands legalized euthanasia for terminally-ill patients in 2002; by
2014, any child of any age who requests death will receive it, for any reason. Some who do not
want euthanasia find it forced upon them.21 In the US, assisted suicide is legal or being
considered in at least 15 states.22
The slow suicide of self-poisoning flowered in the “Summer of Love”: marijuana
among the hippies, heroin in the inner city ghettos, and LSD on college campuses.23 While
lawsuits, legislation, public disapproval, and inflated prices of cigarettes have curbed their use,
Big Tobacco has repackaged highly-addictive and toxic nicotine in kid-friendly flavors and a
catchy name: “vaping.”24 The war on drugs has been a dismal failure. One wonders if political
will

17 (Lewis, pp77-79)
18 (Gallagher 2018)
19 (Bourne 2017), (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation 2019)
20 (Catechism, 2331 to 2379)
21 (Death on Demand 2019), (Lane 2018)
22 (Beale 2019), (NJ Legislature Pases Bill Legalizing Assisted Suicide 2019)
23 (Decades Drug Use 2019)
24 (E-cigarettes 2019)

exists to shut down the pipeline of poison or if the government prefers its citizens to wander
about dazed under the influence and beneath human dignity.
The befuddled minds of the Millennials repudiate the physical reality of their DNA in
favor of their subjective “conception” of themselves. With puberty blockers, hormone therapy,
and gender reassignment surgery, one can seem to be a woman or a man. In 1966, Johns
Hopkins pioneered gender surgery; its chief of psychiatry Paul McHugh found these patients
were not helped and closed the clinic. Studies conducted over thirty years bear him out; the
suicide rate of the gender-confused is twenty times that of the rest of the population.25 The
trajectory away from truth continued despite Dr. McHugh’s findings. By 1973, pedophilia and
homosexuality had been removed as mental disorders from the American Psychiatric
Association’s DSM. In 2017, gender reassignment surgeries resumed at Johns Hopkins.26
Homosexuality and gender ideology are being taught to young school children as alternative yet
normal lifestyles. Parents who do not endorse their child’s “perceived gender” may lose custody
of their children.27

The homosexual agenda has morphed from “recognition” to “acceptance” to enforcement
as “normal.”28 To avoid offending the gender-confused, new pronouns have evolved (“ze” and
“hir”.) 29 This re-evaluation of language for ideological purposes subverts the truth; as language is
re-purposed,30 even the words of Jesus Christ have been labeled “hate speech.”31 C.S. Lewis
defends objective truth32 and offers the definition in Hebrew: emeh denotes permanence; and in

25 (Anderson 2018)
26 (Timeline of Gender Identity Research 2019)
27 (Dreher 2019)
28 (Timeline)
29 (Parekh 2016)
30 (Lewis, pp 63, 74)
31 (Preacher Locked for Hate Crime: Quoting Bible to Gay Teenager 2017)
32 (Lewis Note I, 19, p 104), (Catechism, 31-141; 2464-2475)

the Indian language, satya denotes “correspondence with reality.”33 Clearly, gender ideology and
the homosexual agenda have drifted far from the Truth.

Modernity rejects the idea of absolute truth; relativism reigns. Secular society declares:
“let us decide for ourselves what man is to be...because we want him to be such.”34 Society
embraces Original Sin, denying God and replacing Him with one’s self. The US Supreme Court
spoke the serpent’s part in Roe v. Wade in its startling statement: “At the heart of liberty is the
right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery
of human life.”35 Yet the recognition of objective truth harmonizes with Reason. The inability to
conform to objective reality is a defect, as a color-blind or deaf person has a deficiency. While
one may feel that something is true, the heart should always obey the head. Once objective truth
has been rejected, men are subject to the whims of emotion36 and to the “dictatorship of
relativism.”37 Before Vatican II, ethics were based on Natural Law; after Vatican II, ethics
became relative according to human intention.38 The 2015 US Supreme Court decision in
Obergefell v Hodges amply demonstrated that human intention, rather than Natural Law, decided
the issue.39

Schools cheat students of the intellectual heritage of the minds of great thinkers.40
Students today do not read the classics; they are not encouraged to ponder or debate. Bill Gates
of Microsoft designed the Common Core curriculum to equip students to enter the workplace.41

33 (Lewis, Note I, 19, p 104 )
34 (Lewis, pp 12,51)
35 (Roe)
36 (Lewis, pp 18-19, 65-67)
37 (Ratzinger 2005)
38 (Benedict XVI 2019)
39 (Codovilla 2016)
40 (Lewis, p 9)
41 (Golod 2014)

Students are indoctrinated, not educated; stamped out “like tools to serve society.” Man is more
than his job; man is not a “trousered ape.” Aristotle taught students discernment; Plato
nourished his students’ souls through discrimination between right and wrong. Today’s schools
offer lessons which teach children to call what is good, evil; and what is evil, good (IS 5:20
NABRE). By rendering our students incapable of judging between that which merits approval
or disapproval, they fall away from objective truth and into error. Public schools destroy
traditional values, replacing them with the insanity of relativism.42 People no longer speak of
“the Truth,” but of “my truth.” Yet logically, there must be an objective measure of what is good
and true against which all other goods are measured.43

Educated people engage each other with ideas based on sound argument. Today’s
students even at the university level “melt down” when met with opposition to their ideas and
have thus been dubbed the “Snowflake Generation.”44 They seemingly cannot reflect upon or
respect the ideas of others. Tradition and truth are replaced with a false sentimentality45 and an
exaggerated appreciation of man’s relationship to the world. Ideologies of climate change,
carbon footprints, and environmentalism, almost a new pantheism, are poor substitutes for
prudent stewardship of God’s Creation.

Those who teach Tradition hand on what they have received, acknowledging God’s
authority over all. Modern “man-moulders” decide what kind of conscience is acceptable,
twisting virtues into vices.46 The virtues of prudence and temperance become the vice of anticonsumerism.
The virtue of chastity is anti-social prudishness. The life of virtue is counter-

42 (Lewis, pp 2-29)
43 (Lewis, p 37)
44 (Harrison 2019)
45 (Lewis, pp 21, 13)
46 (Lewis, pp 60-61)

cultural altogether. Society fails to recognize that remaining within Tradition is to be truly
human, free within a framework which upholds and protects the dignity of every person. Man
gains self-control as he exercises the virtues and cooperates with Grace. In rejecting Tradition
and objective truth, man is conquered by political correctness, which shuns and shames nonconformists
as “deplorables.”47

The good news arises from the Catholic Church. God is the sole source of value
judgments; if He is rejected, all value is rejected.48 The cardinal problem is how to conform to
reality; the solution is self-discipline, self-control, knowledge, and virtue.49 Archbishop Chaput
has stated: “What is love? What is truth? The answer...is not some theory or equation, but the
Person of Jesus Christ.”50 After all, “God made us to make the times, not the times to make
us...unless we make the times better with the light of Jesus Christ, then the times will make us
worse with their darkness.”51 Only Catholics who practice their faith fully, consciously, and
with devotion can be the light in the darkness.52 The choice lies between living a supernatural
life or an animal life.53 Supernatural life embraces God and the traditional values, recognizing
mankind’s status as beloved children of a benevolent God. As long as men remain chained to
natural passions or to the egotistic idea that they wield ultimate power over nature, manipulating
man physically, mentally, and spiritually, disastrous dehumanization will be the result.

47 (Clinton 2016)
48 (Lewis, p 43)
49 (Lewis, p 77)
50 (God's Will is the Answer to Dark Times 2019)
51 (Have Hope Because God Doesn't Lose 2019)
52 (Lewis, pp 45, 49)
53 (Escriva 1981)

Bibliography
Anderson, Ryan. When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Movement. New York:
Encounter Books, 2018.
Beale, Stephen. "Assisted Suicide Battle Plays out Across Several States." National Catholic Register.com.
March 18, 2019. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/assisted-suicide-battle-plays-out-acrossseveral-
states (accessed April 10, 2019).
Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus. "The Church and theScandal oc Sex Abuse." April 2019.
Bourne, Lisa. "US Foreign Aid." LifeSite News. October 2017. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/u.s.-
foreign-aid-includes-millions-of-hidden-dollars-for-contraception (accessed April 10, 2019).
Clinton, Hillary. "2016 Presidential Election speech." New York City, September 9, 2016.
Codovilla, Angelo. "Rise of Political Correctness." Claremont.org. November 2016.
https://www.claremont.org/crb/article/the-rise-of-political-correctness/ (accessed April 11, 2019).
"Death on Demand." The Guardian.com. January 18, 2019.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/18/death-on-demand-has-euthanasia-gone-too-farnetherlands-
assisted-dying (accessed April 11, 2019).
"Decades Drug Use." Gallup.com. (https://news.gallup.com/poll/6331/decades-drug-use-datafrom-
60s-70s.aspx) (accessed April 10, 2019).
Dreher, Rod. "Transgender: Yes, They Really are Coming For Your Kids." The American Conservative.com.
March 17, 2019. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/transgender-yes-they-really-arecoming-
for-your-kids/ (accessed April 10, 2019).
"E-cigarettes." CDC.gov. March 11, 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/
index.htm (accessed April 20, 2019).
"Embryonic Stem Cell Research Reaches Moral, Medical Dead End." National Catholic Register.com.
April 4, 2019. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/embryonic-stem-cell-research-reaches-moralmedical-
dead-end (accessed April 11, 2019).
"Epic Fight for Life." National Catholic Register.com. April 7, 2019. http://www.ncregister.com/dailynews/
epic-fight-for-life-pro-life-victories-amid-the-struggle (accessed April 10, 2019).
Escriva, Josemaria. Friends of God. Dublin: Four Courts, 1981.
Gallagher, James. BBC.com. November 9, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46118103 (accessed
April 10, 2019).
"God's Will is the Answer to Dark Times." National Catholic Register.com. March 21, 2019.
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/archbishop-chaput-to-college-students-following-gods-will-isanswer-
to-dark) (accessed April 10, 2019).
Golod, Amy. "Guide to Common Core." US News.com. March 4, 2014.
https://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/a-guide-to-commoncore/
articles/2014/03/04/common-core-myths-and-facts (accessed April 11, 2019).
Harrison, George. "Snowflake Generation." The Sun.co.uk. February 7, 2019.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5115128/snowflake-generation-meaning-origin-term/ (accessed April
10, 2019).
"Have Hope Because God Doesn't Lose." National Catholic Register.com. March 29, 2019.
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/archbishop-chaput-have-hope-because-god-doesnt-lose)
(accessed April 11, 2019).
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. "US Government Family Planning." KFF.org. January 28, 2019. ¬
https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-international-familyplanning-
reproductive-health-efforts/ (accessed April 10, 2019).
Lane, Charles. The Washington Post.com. August 2018.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/children-are-being-euthanized-in-belgium (accessed April
10, 2019).
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Abolition of Man. New York: HarperCollins, 1944.
"NJ Legislature Pases Bill Legalizing Assisted Suicide." National Catholic Register.com. March 27, 2019.
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/new-jersey-legislature-passes-bill-legalizing-assisted-suicide
(accessed April 11, 2019).
Obergefell v. Hodges. 576 US (US Supreme Court, June 26, 2015).
Parekh, Ranna. "Gender Dysphoria." Psychiatry.org. February 2016.
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphoria/what-is-gender-dysphoria (accessed
Aprill 11, 2019).
"Preacher Locked for Hate Crime: Quoting Bible to Gay Teenager." Telegraph.co.uk. February 25, 2017.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/05/preacher-locked-hate-crime-quoting-bible-gayteenager/
(accessed April 12, 2019).
Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal. "The Dictatorship of Relativism." Homily given to cardinals. April 2005.
Regalado, Antonio. "CRISPR Twins Had Brains Altered." Technology Review.com. February 21, 2019.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612997/the-crispr-twins-had-their-brains-altered (accessed
April 10, 2019).
Rivera, Roberto and Stonestreet, John. "CRISPR Faux Outrage." Breakpoint.org. February 11, 2019.
http://www.breakpoint.org/2019/02/breakpoint-crispr-and-faux-outrage (accessed April 10, 2019).
Roe v. Wade. 410 US 113 (US Supreme Court, 1973).
Schiffer, Kathy. "Controversial Chimera Research." National Catholic Register.com. January 30, 2017.
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/kschiffer/controversial-chimera-research-is-this-little-piggy-really-parthuman
(accessed April 10, 2019).
—. "Science Without God." National Catholic Register.com. April 7, 2019.
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/kschiffer/science-without-god (accessed April 7, 2019).
Schleppenbach, Greg. "Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities." USCCB, August 2016.
Schwarwalder, Rob. "Best Pro-Life Arguments." FRC.org. May 25, 2011.
https://www.frc.org/brochure/the-best-pro-life-arguments-for-secular-audiences (accessed April 10,
2019).
"Timeline of Gender Identity Research." Trans-Health.com. www.trans-health.com/2002/timeline-ofgender-
identity-research/ (accessed April 11, 2019).
United States Catholic Conference. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, English
Translation. Washington, D.C.: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997.
Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. 579 US (US Supreme Court, June 27, 2016