One Scandalous Silent Night

So in case you haven't heard the show Scandal had an episode featuring the main character Olivia something or other (obviously not a viewer) getting an abortion to the tune of Silent Night.

It's an interesting world we live in because why would I be bothered by a show I don't watch covertly using a religious Christmas song to promote abortion in light of the heated debates surrounding Planned Parenthood? I mean if I don't watch it, it obviously doesn't affect me directly and why should I care if the character chose to have an abortion? She has her fake life to live and I have my real life to live so why can't I just peacefully go back to eating my Chick-fil-a and not drinking Starbucks? (Couldn't resist peppering this post with more stereotypes, it's quite vogue these days. Although Chick-fil-a is delicious.)

Well it bothers me because the juxtaposition of an abortion, an act that ends the heartbeat of a human baby who been deprived of his human rights because he or she has not reached 24 weeks of age (the qualifier of being considered human in the eyes of the law), with the religious song that celebrates the eternal God taking on the form of a man in the ultimate act of love and humility is an abomination. It was intended to insult and provoke.

It is disrespectful and in poor taste, not to mention intensely hypocritical because imagine what would happen if they insulted the #ConcernedStudent1950 movement sweeping college campuses or flagrantly mocked the Muslim or Jewish faith. Seriously, take a moment and think about what would happen, the waves of protest that would unleash.

But it's okay to insult me and my religion because I'm just a Catholic which automatically places me under the banner of ignorant Christian, and in the secular movement that is the new atheism. It is completely acceptable to insult me and my religion because I am as dispensable as a less-than-human fetus in their eyes, because I also am an unwanted member of society. The producers, writers, editors, actors and all who worked towards making that episode wanted to hurt me. And if I come forth with my hurt, it will not receive the same treatment as any of the movements or religions mentioned above. They will not apologize or claim their intentions were innocent, or say it was a misunderstanding, and no one will have to resign from any position. Because backlash is precisely what they wanted. They wanted to insult my religion because they hate my religion and the opposition it represents to their new agenda.

And I honestly think they are looking forward to having Christians come forth with their outrage so that they can belittle us even further, calling us paranoid, ignorant, and behind the times; Continuing to treat us as if we were an annoying family member at Thanksgiving that they have to tolerate because it would be too rude to come right out and say, "no one wanted you to come." Because that is a problem in a world without Christian morals, the code of acceptable actions is simply determined by what other progressive people would think about you if those actions came to light. (Note not all people, just the progressive ones who subscribe to the same progressive channels you do.) That's why an abomination portraying doctors performing an abortion to Silent Night, roughly a month before Christmas (which, believe it or not, is an extremely significant religious holiday for Christians everywhere, that is in fact sacred - I linked to the definition for clarification purposes, just in case) is absolutely fine and anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly overreacting.

And that is what bothers me. I've read so many articles about other people's pain in the news. And reading the particular article discussing the abortion to the tune of Silent Night pained me, not just because of what it represented, but because it was intended to offend me and demonstrated a total disregard as to whether or not it offended my God. It was a slap in the face to Him and his followers and, instead of opting to respect other people's God's as a sign of respect for them, even if one is a non-believer, they reveled in the act with a rebellious glee that only comes from hatred. And that makes me sad on so many levels.

Because people don't understand that I'm not just offended on a moral level, I'm offended because I love God. And many people don't understand that when I say I love God, I don't mean in some sugary sweet, extremely peppy, camp-counselor way. I mean it in the same context as when I say I love my mother, or father, or best friend, or any significant relationship, because it is the most significant relationship I have in my life, judge if you want to. And by the same token, when you insult my God, it hurts me as much as if you had insulted my mother, or father, or best friend, or any significant relationship.

And no one cares. And not only do they not care, they don't even care enough to keep up the pretense that they care. And people find this attitude completely okay. It is entirely socially acceptable to not care about people if they are not like you, to want them scourged from society because they are inconvenient and/or a nuisance. At the core, it is utterly selfish and that is frightening to me, because selfishness and pride are like a cancer to the soul and I see the symptoms of it everywhere, even in myself sometimes. Except when I see it in myself, I do my best to fight it with everything I have, whereas society seems to prefer making it trendy and justifiable- even packaged as something that you deserve because you've managed to become so sophisticated and urbane and why can't everybody else just get on your level?

It leaves me shaking my head because I know God loves still loves humanity, but I worry that we have so given in to our selfish human nature that by the time He comes back, there won't be any humanity left in us.