In society today, a vision of life prevails permeated with secularism, in which the sense of God, and hence a sense of sin, is lacking. Therefore the meaning of life itself is no longer grasped. In such an environment, the so-called "anti-life" mentality has been able to develop, that is a mentality set against human life. The ultimate reason for this mentality is "the absence in people's hearts of God, whose love alone is stronger than all the world's fears and can conquer them". (Familiaris Consortio, n. 30).The serious loss of hope which characterizes today's widespread "culture of death", should arouse deep disquiet in consciences, which, however, seem dulled to the point of suffocating in each soul that inborn instinct to love and serve human life. It is evident that forces, structures and programs exist -- supported by centers of ideological, political and economic power -- which feed a culture of death. But no one wants to be considered a member of this culture.
The commitment required to oppose this dramatic human condition must be expressed in a broad and organic strategy of education.To further this end, it is useful to promote a courageous effort to discern what elements still survive in consciences in favor of the human person, expressed in the form of deep concerns. This educative strategy could lead to an authentic civilization of love, where the human person will be respected in his psycho-physical and spiritual unity, in truth, through a renewed commitment to the New Evangelization and through working for a culture of life, to which we are called by the Holy Father (cf. Christifideles Laici, n. 38; Centesimus Annus, n. 39).
Guided by the word of God and listening to the authentic aspirations of the heart, the Church, as defender of the human person and "expert in humanity", will know how to find ways to speak to reason and conscience. Each person is aware that the life of every human being is certainly a biological reality, but it is not reduced to that. It is of much greater value.
A deep yearning for a better "quality of life" is present in our society. Often this desire does not only concern peripheral aspects of health or well-being, but genuine states of physical or psychological difficulty. Now, if the parameters of the value of human life remain at the level of physical efficiency or consumerist criteria, one could easily draw conclusions concerning the uselessness of some human lives, or at least of those who have reached a completely irreversible situation. But the central criterion for the value of life is of the spiritual, moral and religious order, that is of the very dignity of the person.
In spite of the fact that the value of human life and its inviolability may be evident through right reason and conscience, unfortunately in our day it is the object of many attacks, above all at the beginning and at the end of life itself or in situations of weakness and suffering. We understand the difficulty in which people who suffer in these situations find themselves and the temptation which perhaps they undergo. But one cannot forget that life belongs to God alone and that the mystery of suffering confronts us with the mystery of the person, which in turn reflects the very mystery of God.
On the other hand, while the desire for motherhood or fatherhood in itself arouses a spontaneous solidarity, it should not open the door to research for the "child at any cost". With the practices of artificial procreation and genetic manipulation or alteration, with the "waste" and the destruction of embryos or experiments on them, the unborn child is reduced to a "product" of technology, and his or her life and personal dignity are harmed. Thus ever wider openings are made for man's domination over man and for his desire to become his own "creator" (cf. Donum Vitae, Part 1, n. 5, Part 11, premise).
One outstanding aspect of the "quality of life" concerns the instrumentalized and depersonalized way of understanding sexuality and corporality. Some of the effects of an illusory sexual "freedom" are the break up of the family, adultery and divorce, the spread of abortion, contraception and sterilization. Pornography, in is various forms, is another powerful factor spreading morally irresponsible behavior and also various forms of sexual perversion.
The contraceptive mentality causes the will to become detached from its tendency towards the good and therefore towards true love. Thus sexuality and corporality become trivialized; their links with transcendence and the mystery at the origin of human life are overlooked or rejected. In consequence, human values such as chastity, fidelity, fertility, the gift of self, come to be despised and are not rightly understood. The unborn child itself comes to be thought of in an instrumental way as only the "inconvenient and unwanted fruit of sexual activity". The unborn is not welcomed in his truth, dignity and value as a human person destined to love and be loved. All this opens the way to the tragedy of abortion.
It is certainly no accident that the forces which promote abortion are the same as those spreading contraception. In fact, the connection between the two phenomena, at first above all psychological and sociological, is always effected and made concrete through so-called contraceptives that also have an abortifacient effect.
This mentality also strikes at a woman's dignity, often entailing her being used as an instrument, conditioning her to live in situations which are not fully in accord with her will and which contradict her deep yearning for motherhood (cf. Mulieris Dignitatem, n. 18).
To overcome the culture of death a change of mentality is necessary and urgent. We need to rediscover the deep meaning and value of each human being and to teach respect for his or her right to life, from conception until natural death -- that is, to find once more the significance of each human person.
Furthermore, there is an urgent need to put forward a healthy conception of sexuality, of self-respect as a person (so as also to teach respect for others), of chastity before marriage and conjugal fidelity, as well as educating the conscience in the deeper value of fertility. Teaching the methods for the natural regulation of fertility should be included in this context.
Some of the fields in which such educative work is most urgently needed are: first of all the family, because of its primary task of education; the school in collaboration with the family; Christian communities, above all the parish and youth associations; areas of social work and health care; the mass media.
The irreplaceable contribution of women should be recognized and emphasized much more in education for life and in the formation of a culture of acceptance and love, whether in civil society or in the Church herself (cf. Familiaris Consortio, n. 23
I still think you're right, though. Most folks these days do think in the same terms as the Culture of Death.
To further this end, it is useful to promote a courageous effort to discern what elements still survive in consciences in favor of the human person, expressed in the form of deep concerns
For what? The marriages they know better than to risk? The children they know better than to have? The Potential children they intend to purchase and have some surrogate mother birth for them? The parents they will put to sleep lest they suffer? Their own selves on whom they plan to exercise their Right to Die lest they themselves become a burden?
The inverse awful reality of abortion actually having settled like a cloud over the consciences of the Living, I suppose, and ingrained in them the Obligation to die they've enforced on the Unwanted whom they're certain would rather be dead than born deformed or Unwanted or somehow an unecessary Burden on others or the Resources of the Planet.
I realize Peter Singer won't off his Mom but folks conditioned to deciding life or death matters and the relative worth -- en masse -- of others generally exempt themselves from whatever algorithm they've devised for the Rest ... The Excess.
Even if you can catch them being human to their own (being excited when the pregnancy stick turns blue within a fortnight of your Best Shot), how does one extend that to all without coming smack up against some kind of Randian rabid individualism or "hopeful" transhumanism as expressed by the likes of Ivory Tower intellectual (and liberal useful idiot) Hillary Clinton?