"The Frenzy of Consumerism and Hedonism Destroys the Human Being"

The comment from Prodigal Daughter in response to the Brave New World post was so good I had to repost it as a blog today:


"In contemplating the origins of this "fertility center," today I have been asking myself all morning, "what has led to this?"Is it consumerism gone mad? Has the "Have it your way" mentality led us to disrespect ourselves to such a degree that even our own bodies are simply another machine for the production of a consumer product, other human beings? Is it the contraceptive mentality spun out of control? Has the separation of the unitive and procreative purpose of our human sexuality caused us to consent to being merely procreative machines? Is this the breakdown and redefinition of the family taken to an extreme? Is family literally becoming what we decide it will be, not only who we will live with, but who we will allow to reside or not in our very wombs? I know that it is all of these realities and more. How sad to think that we have degraded and disrespected the gift of our humanity to the point of a mere tool of our own pleasure and consumption. As our beloved late John Paul II has said:"Indeed, Christ alone can free man from what enslaves him to evil and selfishness: from the frantic search for material possessions, from the thirst for power and control over others and over things, from the illusion of easy success, from the frenzy of consumerism and hedonism which ultimately destroy the human being." February 13, 2005