"The Adoration of the Golden Calf" (L'Adoration du Veau d'or) by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) [WikiArt.org]
Posted on 06/04/2015 1:42:45 PM PDT by NYer
Both Jenner and the adoring media are falling prey to one of the oldest, gravest sins: idolatry, the worshiping of false gods which we ourselves have crafted.
By now, the hubbub over Bruce Jenner's Vanity Fair cover has reached most ears. And eyes. After extensive surgery and hormone treatment, with the aid of heavy makeup and Photoshop, Jenner posed in a corset as "Caitlyn" for Vanity Fair's exclusive 22-page article on his transition from a man to a woman.
Effusive praise for "Caitlyn" Jenner flooded the internet following the cover's debut—a reaction symptomatic of society's default approach to the human person. The reaction stands squarely on a decades-long foundation of practices that deny the God-given meaning of human sexuality, from divorce and contraception to porn and the social acceptance of gay "marriage". There is no inherent human nature that you could mar or offend by doing these things, says the world.
But why is our society so gullible in the face of such lies? It is said that the devil can appear as an angel of light—he is, after all, the father of lies. And Bruce Jenner is living a colossal lie. But because he looks glamorous doing it, he is heaped with praise as media echo chambers resound with affirmations of his "courage."
Lies are ugly things, but the point of a lie is to hide its true face; lies don't seem ugly, but attractive and appealing. They steal the looks of something good—beauty, compassion, or happiness—and mimic it, relying on a deceptive veneer to win us over.
This devilish tactic is one reason the world so easily swallows grave moral errors. Gay "marriage" wears the costume of love; abortion "rights" are promulgated as compassion. And as the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey shows, even violent sexual abuse, when it borrows the exotic appeal of a handsome playboy, can garner eager fans. If the forbidden fruit appears as a chance to be like gods, we'll bite into the lie with zeal—and blame others when the pains of our sin set in.
Society balks at ugly sins, such as alcoholism or drug addiction, that lack this protective layer of glossy media shellacking. When the deadly dance of stardom tempts a man to drink and drugs, we call it sad and shameful. Yet when the same narcissistic cult of celebrity pushes a sixty-five-year-old Jenner to dress up like a woman, we cheer his transgenderism without hesitation because of his bombshell-like poses for Vanity Fair.
But a pretty lie is still a lie; and pretty lies are often more dangerous. For this whole charade is merely the forging of a golden calf. Both Jenner and the media—applauding and ogling his attempt to reshape his biological identity—are falling prey to one of the oldest, gravest sins: idolatry, the worshiping of false gods which we ourselves have crafted.
We often relegate idolatry to the pagan past; no sane person, we reason, burns incense at the feet of golden calves any more. But in Lumen Fidei, co-written by Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, idolatry is presented as a sin against faith:
The opposite of faith is shown to be idolatry... Idolatry is 'when a face addresses a face which is not a face.' In place of faith in God, it seems better to worship an idol, into whose face we can look directly and whose origin we know, because it is the work of our own hands. Before an idol, there is no risk that we will be called to abandon our security, for idols 'have mouths, but they cannot speak' (Ps 115:5). Idols exist, we begin to see, as a pretext for setting ourselves at the centre of reality and worshiping the work of our own hands. Once man has lost the fundamental orientation which unifies his existence, he breaks down into the multiplicity of his desires.... Idolatry, then, is always polytheism, an aimless passing from one lord to another. Idolatry does not offer a journey but rather a plethora of paths leading nowhere and forming a vast labyrinth. (emphasis added)
One could hardly find a better description of today's ceaseless cycle of "trending" news and fleeting obsessions—a "plethora of paths leading nowhere and forming a vast labyrinth." Modern idolatry is our desperate self-veneration through things we have made; as C.S. Lewis once said, human history is the "story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy."
Likely driven by serious mental illness and pushed by a manipulative media, Jenner, in attempting to change his face and thus his identity, has made his identity an idol, "a face which is not a face" but a mask of his own making. He sets himself at the center of reality, reducing reality to his desires. The false identity—the graven image—which Jenner has fashioned for himself is a lie: the false face he paid surgeons to craft for him, the false body he robes in the guise of femininity, the false name he has taken on—these works of Jenner's hands are the form of a false god.
And the relativistic culture, seeking a new idol, pays tribute at his feet.
For idolatry complements relativism, as Lumen Fidei makes clear: "In contemporary culture, we often tend to consider the only real truth to be ... what we succeed in building ... what works and what makes life easier and more comfortable.... But Truth itself, the truth which would comprehensively explain our life as individuals and in society, is regarded with suspicion.... In the end, what we are left with is relativism."
By contrast, Jesus Christ reveals the true Face of the Father to us, and it is only when we direct our love to His Face that we discover our own identity, as Lumen Fidei states: "Christ is the mirror in which [man finds his] own image fully realized." Having long abandoned Christ, our culture's relativism seeks new identities through idolatry, the labyrinthine wandering from one false god to another—and for now, the culture worships transgenderism on that altar, lauding Jenner and reviling anyone who refuses to burn masculine pronouns before him.
Only God knows how culpable Jenner is for his deeds—whether he is mentally ill, or the victim of the parasitic celebrity cult that has fed on him since the '70s. But one thing in this sad episode is certain: beautiful lies are still lies—even if, like the Israelites' calf, they are made of gold, the molten contrivance of our treasure, and the soulless work of our hands.
Thanks to this research, Dr. Meyer was able to make some sense of the mental disorders that were driving this request for unusual and radical treatment. Most of the cases fell into one of two quite different groups. One group consisted of conflicted and guilt-ridden homosexual men who saw a sex-change as a way to resolve their conflicts over homosexuality by allowing them to behave sexually as females with men. The other group, mostly older men, consisted of heterosexual (and some bisexual) males who found intense sexual arousal in cross-dressing as females. As they had grown older, they had become eager to add more verisimilitude to their costumes and either sought or had suggested to them a surgical transformation that would include breast implants, penile amputation, and pelvic reconstruction to resemble a woman.
There seems to be a bit of confusion about this Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner situation.
It’s well known that Jenner is a Republican. His gender reassignment surgery was part of a last-ditch effort by the Republican National Committee to increase the Republican female voter turnout.
Some of you men here will soon be receiving your surgical assignment cards in the mail from the GOP. I trust you all will join Caitlyn in making this great sacrifice for our party!
Cogent analysis from the Popes.
Its not my bag baby...
[ Some of you men here will soon be receiving your surgical assignment cards in the mail from the GOP. I trust you all will join Caitlyn in making this great sacrifice for our party! ]
If this is so, then I would assume both Bohner, now (Bohner-less, and Lindsey Gabby) made the sacrifice of being test subjects #1 and #2....
It could be both. But as we’ve seen lately there isn’t a floor anymore for depravity.
“Idolatry, then, is always polytheism, an aimless passing from one lord to another.”
Another cogent and clear insight from the Popes. Mr. Bruce Jenner will become bored with his new look and then move to another silly project, such as writing a book about his new religion.
Excellent point. If he’s a narcissist, as much of the commentary on his life strongly implies, then he’ll have to do something else to draw attention back to him once something new interests the press.
Maybe he’ll try to have a baby.
Yes, I agree...it’s totally depraved. But why in the heck are all these brainless newscasters out there shrieking that he’s a “goddess” and has “totally changed” society?
It was totally changed long before now, or this guy Jenner would be locked up in a mental ward and not parading his bizarre, distorted idea of a female body through every TV show and popular magazine in the universe.
True enough
That was before political correctness became more important than truth or medicine..
The DMS clearly labeled this kind of stuff mental illness.. today it is "normal"
Mr. Jenner is truly a very sick human being, sick in his mind, body and soul. The devil has such a hold on him that I wouldn’t be shocked if he is dead within a year from suicide or overdose. Nothing good will come out of this.
-— We often relegate idolatry to the pagan past; no sane person, we reason, burns incense at the feet of golden calves any more -—
I don’t think you could talk the ancients into believing that a man is actually a woman.
Good possibility - but the mass media and the left will blame religion for driving him to it rather than recognizing the actual cause.
I also found the posted article interesting. I'm not equating Jenner with satan, but I do believe that this is another example of Satan trying to mock the Image and Likeness of God in Which we were created. He corrupts souls, now bodies. The Hollywood elite and their quest to be eternally young had become an obsession; I wonder how many will follow suit.
This is the next step in the corruption of the family. I pity Jenner's first wife and her children. It was recently revealed that Jenner wanted their daughter aborted and told her that himself. How painful now, with all this publicity about a father and grandfather who moved on, not only from his first wife and children, but from being their father and probably grandparent to their own children. Qoheleth said there was nothing new under the sun. I believe, as it's in the Bible, but tell me, what did Sodom and Gomorrah do that we as a society don't deserve worse from God?
Aleister Crowley, founder of Thelema, the precursor of modern satanism had as his"religion's creed" one phrase: "Do as thou wilt." Guess this is one of the things he meant...
I think that in our day and age, there is a worship of sorts of youth, for which people risk surgery. Also, at least I’ve noticed, there is a certain “look”: not like Joan Crawford’s shoulder pads, Audrey Hepburn’s “little black dresses” or Farrah Fawcett’s hairdo. Look at media elite with the same eyes, nose shape, injected lips. Look at Jenner’s last family: he had trouble interacting with the family’s son, but not the girls. The son got put down because of his weight gain- possibly a symptom of the chaos he continues to experience. Anyone pick on “Chaz” Chastity Bono about weight problems? No. She/he comes under the radar as a transgender hero. Now it’s Jenner. Society casts idols in the image they choose, then proceed to “adore” them
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