My husband and I were in Destin over Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. We went to Mass at the Catholic church closest to where we were staying and met a very interesting priest. Nearly twenty years ago, many of his congregation left his church for other churches in the area, saying that they were tired of listening to his preaching of politics. The priest told about the exodus of those parishioners in a Sunday homily. He said he’d never preached politics, never talked about a candidate or a political party–not even once during his time as pastor. But what he had preached was morality.
And wasn’t that a large part of his job as a priest?
Now, I ask you–what do you think? Politics or morality?
Preaching against abortion. Is that politics, or morality?
Preaching against sex outside of marriage. Is that politics, or morality?
Preaching that marriage is created by God as a sacrament between a man and a woman. Is that politics, or morality?
Preaching that drugs harm not only the physical body, but the human soul. Is that politics, or morality?
Preaching that lying–especially under oath–is a sin. Is that politics, or morality?
You may be able to bring up other similar examples that are referred to as political, but are actually moral questions.
Do you see an underlying–and current–problem here? Topics that have long been considered part of morality are, today, suddenly political questions where the answers are wishy-washy enough to be voted on as morally correct behavior. And worse— it is politically correct to adhere to them, even when the opposite is true.
This is too thin a line because it fuzzies up Truth.
What is the next step? A complete elimination of Truth?
That bothers me. Does it bother you?
Translating a World on the Edge 
Absolutely. As a nation, we continue to pass laws that make people feel good about the choices they have made and are making. People think this is great, that it’s “progressive,” but the truth is that politically correct “morality” does everyone a disservice, including — perhaps, especially — future generations. I don’t like to be told that I’m wrong, but I’d rather hear that than be told, “Go ahead and do it. It’s legal, after all,” and then come to find out that my actions have caused grave physical and spiritual harm, to myself and others.
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Today’s idea of morality always reminds me of the fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes. The people are told how wonderfully dressed the emperor is–he even believes it, too. But in truth the emperor is parading around stark naked. And everyone is afraid to say so. I think the priest from Destin was quite courageous. It’s hard to be one of the few standing against the crowd.
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