On the Four Plagues of the Modern Day:
MaroniteMaronite is an admin @nogals_redpills as well as /christian/ @christian_8ch
Plague 1: Pornography
This topic needs little introduction, as it is the disease which has killed more than the Black Plague, stricken more people than the cold, and infects more than any parasite. This disease is unspoken of, accepted as ubiquitous and looked upon as something so normal, it is unnormal and bizarre to resist and eradicate it.
This plague has seeped into society, and one of the main driving forces which heralds the destruction and degradation of the person, the nation, and then the world. Even when trying to combat it, many still fall victim and become ensnared at every turn; just as they feel one thorn removed, the vines constrict further upon them.
This plague is pornography.
Purely from a secular view, pornography is self-defeating. It flatters and tricks the intellect and viewer into thinking that they’re experiencing the acts committed within. Why, if one wishes to engage in sexual intercourse, would they view people committing those acts? Why would they choose the knock-off cheap imitation, when they could have it in real life?
With the rise of the usage of the word “cuck”, people overlook that they themselves are the word they levy at others to insult. Watching pornography is watching others engage in sexual activity while the view sits without any participation. They gain nothing from it, except tricking their brain into releasing dopamine to placate their natural desire for union. As we will see shortly, it is that craving for unity and completeness that is at the heart of these plagues.
Some statistics on Pornography:
12% of all websites online are pornographic
Every single second, 30,000 people are looking at pornography
40 million Americans consider themselves regular pornography views
Over 70% of men between the age of 18-24 regularly look at pornography
The average age when a child is first exposed to pornography is 11 years old
Pornography is awful for many reasons, but it physically and emotionally harms the user in two primary ways.
First, when viewing pornography, there is instantly a hook into the viewer. The material provides a powerful stimulant which is followed by sexual release, usually masturbation.
When persons become addicted, they cannot release their dependence. As time goes on, the person requires more explicit, more sexually deviant things to get their release. Marriage does not solve their problem. The pornography implants images into the brain, which ferments, like a disease and festers into your brain with actual chemical and emotional addiction.
It then desensitizes the view. Pornography, which was previously viewed as heinous now becomes normalized and defended as “everyone does it”.
But singularly, it rips apart intimate family and marital relationships. The seeds sown by pornography is destruction.
Even the United States Congress testifies:
"The clinical and experimental evidence supports the conclusion that there is a causal relationship between exposure to sexually violent materials and an increase in aggressive behavior directed towards women … We have reached the conclusion, unanimously and confidentially … that substantial exposure to sexually violent materials … bears a causal relationship to anti-social acts of sexual violence and, for some subgroups, possibly to unlawful acts of sexual violence …"[5]
"The evidence is also strongly supportive of significant attitudinal changes on the part of those with substantial exposure to violent pornography … and leads to a greater acceptance of the 'rape myth' … that women enjoy being coerced into sexual activity, that they enjoy being physically hurt in a sexual context and that as a result a man who forces himself on a woman sexually is in fact merely acceding to the 'real' wishes of the woman regardless of the extent to which she seems to be resisting. The myth is that a woman who says 'no' really means 'yes' … This attitude is both pervasive and profoundly harmful … any stimulus reinforcing or increasing the incidence of this attitude is … properly designated as harmful."[6]
"The non-violent … material studies … portray women as 'masochistic, subservient … nymphomaniacs and over-responsive to serving the male interest."[7]
"An enormous amount of the most sexually explicit material … as well as much of the material that is somewhat less sexually explicit, is material that we would classify as 'degrading,' the term we use to encompass the undeniably linked characteristics of degradation, subordination and humiliation … depicting people, usually women, as existing solely for the sexual satisfaction of others, usually men, or that depicts … women in decidedly subordinate roles in their sexual relations … or depicts people engaged in sexual roles most people consider humiliating."[8]
"Substantial exposure to materials of this variety is likely to increase the extent to which those exposed will view rape or other forms of sexual violence as less serious than they otherwise would have and will view the victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence as significantly more responsible … and will increase the acceptance of the proposition that women like to be forced into sexual practices."[9]
"The manner of presentation almost necessarily suggests that the activities are taking place outside of the context of love, commitment or even affection … It is far from implausible to hypothesize that such materials, depicting such activity, bear some causal relationship to sexual activity without marriage, love, commitment or affection … to the extent that the character of sex is public rather than private … then to many this would constitute harm."[10]
"Perhaps the most significant potential harm in non-violent materials exists with respect to children … much, probably most, and maybe even all material in this category … is harmful when it falls into the hands of children. Exposure to sexuality is commonly taken, and properly so, to be primarily the responsibility of the family … We have no hesitancy in concluding that learning about sex from the kinds of sexually explicit material in this category is not the best way for children to learn about the subject … There are harms to the children themselves and to notions of family control over a child's introduction to sexuality … We have little doubt that much of this material finds its way into the hands of children."
"For children to be taught by these materials that sex is public, that sex is commercial and that sex can be divorced from any degree of affection, love, commitment or marriage is the wrong message at the wrong time."[11]
"The distinguishing characteristic of child pornography … is that actual children are photographed while engaged in some form of sexual activity, either with adults or with other children, [causing] a special harm. … Children as young as one week up to the age of majority are induced to engage in sexual activity … and … are photographed while engaging in that activity. The inevitably permanent record of that sexual activity created by a photograph is rather plainly a harm to the children photographed … [and] the very activity involved in creating the photograph in itself is an act of sexual exploitation of children … The issues related to the sexual abuse of children and … child pornography are inextricably linked."[12]
Secondly, pornography is a lie. It promises union and love that every human being wishes for. It promises to show acts of love, through the sexual union. It lies for both of these things, and it causes the view to live a life of lies.
Plague 2: the inversion and complete reversal of male and female
One can hardly walk down a city street without seeing signs such as “Women. Hear our roar” or some other feminist slogan. Their battle cry is “equality”, and their target is anything which offers resistance. But, can the carrot demand equality from the orange? We unequivocally answer negative, for the carrot is of the ground, while the orange grows from the tree. But the carrot returns, “we are both of orange color, yet you grow among the tree while I grow from the earth. I demand to grow from the tree”.
We may laugh this off as something silly, yet it is the very same idea that we are meant to uphold and even fight for. After all, the idiom “if you do not stand with us, you stand against us” applies to rabid feminism.
Just as we cannot compare a carrot and orange, though they both share the commonality of being of orange-hue, so we cannot compare man and woman though they both are human beings. For the carrot and the orange, the differences are quite easy to spot; for example, carrots are root-based vegetables, oranges are tree-based. Carrots are not sweet (though modern agricultural methods have genetically modified the carrot to become sweeter (and they were modified to change color from purple-blue to bright orange). Oranges are naturally sweet.
In the same way, men and women lie. Like the carrot, the natural beauty and natural virtue of women have become muddled and enhanced, while simultaneously, the virtue and strength of masculinity has become diluted and twisted.
But if that does not convince you, we need to turn no farther than to biology. As someone that studied the human brain in university (neurobiologist), I can tell you first hand that there are huge differences between the male and female brain. But, before we get into the differences, we must distinguish what role the brain has within the human person. Thus, we proceed
The Role of the Human Brain within the Human Person and the Relationship therein with the Human Soul
It still amazes me, that a society which tries to destroy and blur this still defends and recognizes this axiom elsewhere in the world. No one is trying to force male dogs to become female, nor are they saying that male dogs can become pregnant, nor are they trying to have homosexual or transsexual dogs (there may be a few isolated cases of absolute insanity wherein people try for this, but it is not widely accepted or promoted, as it is in our society and world today).
The male and female reversal is evident in any place you try and look. Women are encouraged to work and put their careers over their family, and shamed and looked down upon if they refuse to follow this mindset. Men are degraded and deemed replaceable, if the woman does not feel satisfied with their marriage. Remember the serotonin levels? Which gender initiates divorce more? Women, by a staggering 70% more (American Sociological Association). Yet, the woman is praised for “leaving toxicity”, and the men is blamed as the cause.
Men are not off the hook either. They are to protect and guide women, and the first sin of man was Adam’s carelessness to guide and protect Eve. Men do not lead their families, do not guide their children, nor their wives, and are instead told and promoted to look at women as nothing more than objects for their sexual desires. Remember the serotonin levels? Once men fall into this way of thinking, they descend into a spiral of degeneracy which only hyper-magnifies sexual desires, which in turn rots society even more.
There is much more that could be shown that is a result of this cancerous society trying to reverse the roles of men and women, but they are evident to anyone who pauses to consider.
Thus concludes the second plague.
And so, we proceed to the next, showing how the male and female are different, not in souls, for both have rational souls, but in their material.
“The natural law is written and engraved in the soul of each and every man, because it is human reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin . . . But this command of human reason would not have the force of law if it were not the voice and interpreter of a higher reason to which our spirit and our freedom must be submitted” (CCC 1954).
For an example of Natural Law, look to how murder has been outlawed in societies since the dawn of man. Even within the first murder, though God had not given the Ten Commandments to mankind, and though no human had forbade it, Cain immediately accused himself by the murder of his brother Abel, without the Lord even assigning punishment, as we see in the Bible:
“And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon. [14] Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy face, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth: every one, therefore, that findeth me, shall kill me” (Genesis 4:13-14).
On the Relationship of the Soul to Man
Now, having demonstrated the soul and one of its attributes, we now proceed to see the soul’s relationship to man.
We have shown that Natural Law is written on the heart (read here the soul, for there is not literally any writing on the human heart, and heart is used in Scripture as a reference to the soul), and as such, it is there to inform man’s decisions. Aristotle, in De Anima, demonstrates that the soul constructs universals (ie, universal truths such as “basketballs are a certain shape” from particulars (ie, seeing and experiencing basketballs).
We can immediately see that the more particulars one experiences through sense-perception, the stronger the universal becomes. And sometimes the universal is known by natural law, for example that murder is always wrong.
The will and decision making is conducted immaterially by the soul and carried out materially through the brain and its connections to the human body. Sense-perception by the body, carried to the brain also helps inform the soul, but it cannot be decision or willing. I can will something, but still act contrary, for example, I can will the good of another person (this is the definition of love), but I can still act contrary and carry out something which is not what I willed. I can similarly will to not sin against God, and look at pornography, but I can still choose against what I willed, as addicts will readily tell you. Here you can see that the decision and choice can be influenced by sense-perception (i.e, addiction to the dopamine and other neuro-hormones released during drug use, for porn is a drug), but the will cannot be influenced or changed by anything except you. This why we say we have a free-will. That does not mean that a free-will automatically will be in perfect harmony with our actions or decisions. We are fallen human-beings, and St. Paul even testifies to this, as he says
“For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. [15] For that which I work, I understand not. For I do not that good which I will; but the evil which I hate, that I do” (Romans 7:14-15).
St. Paul illustrates the relationship between the soul and the body (body here including the brain). The soul is spiritual and immaterial, and his will is independent of the material, yet his decisions are still influenced by the body. We see this with those addicted to pornography. They know it is wrong (Natural Law), they despise it do not want to continue in it (they will not to fall into it), yet they nevertheless still fall into it (their decision and actions are influenced by addiction).
And that each soul is different is also easily shown. Consider identical twins, they are clearly different people, as their animating principles are unique and non-repeatable because they are immaterial. They are both rational human souls, but they are not identical.
Thus, we can see how the body (the material) affects the rational soul (reasoning animating principle) of man.
That Men and Women Differ in Material:
Though this may seem strikingly obvious, especially given the reproductive organs, it nevertheless remains necessary to drive this differences home in a culture which tries its best to blur all definitive lines.
Men and women differ not only in their outside bodies (it is quite obvious to anyone who cares to pause for a millisecond and consider the bodily differences), but their differ inside too.
The male brain, for example produces 52% more serotonin than the female brain (S. Nishizawa, C. Benkelfat, et alia). What does this mean? It means that though their souls, male and female are both rational (they are not the same soul), their decision making (which is influenced by the material) is vastly different. Serotonin, is responsible for a massive variety of functions, for example:
• Digestion
It reduces your appetite as you eat, it helps push food along your intestines
• Mood
It’s called the “feel-good” chemical for reason, because it directly contributes to your mood regulation, which is why low-levels for serotonin result in a host of mental-health disorders. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most prescribed anti-depressant in the world
• Sexual Function
Low levels of serotonin actually cause an increase in sexual desire, whilst higher than normal levels decrease it. This is glaringly obvious when you see that the vast majority of pornography users are depressed and unhappy, and it repeats itself in a cycle of addiction. It is also why those who live in the “Tinder-Culture” (more later) are unhappy, though they continually lie to themselves and spiral deeper and deeper away
And so now, we proceed.
Society’s complete reversal of male and female
There is a saying in basketball, “ball don’t lie”. It’s applicable to men and women too; “chromosomes don’t lie”. Given the fact that we just demonstrated above that the female and male brains are vastly different, society still tries to do its best to disrupt and blur this.
Transsexuals, try as they might to change their bodies, cannot and will never change their chromosomes which determine and guide their material (ie, bodily) growth. And we already saw above how male and female brains are different, so to think that mutilating the body will somehow change the brain is folly and asinine. The body influences the decisions of the soul (though it does not change the will, however, one cannot will what they do not know), so mutilating the body will not help, but only cause more harm.
But the mutilation encouraged by society is not only limited to transsexuals.
The family is being mutilated before our very eyes. A family is no longer one man and one woman, but, according to society, it can be any combination we could imagine. The mutilation does not stop there, men and women are mutilated too. As their bodies are different, so too are roles in society.
Again, at the risk of sounding unnecessarily loquacious, men cannot have children. A man cannot be impregnated by another men, nor can he be impregnated by anything. Men were not created by God to bear a child. Women cannot impregnate men, nor each other, as they were not created by God to impregnate. Women can, by the Wisdom of God, nurture and bear a child and give birth.
Now, I give you an axiom: men and women, no matter what society says are not and will never be equal. Men and women are not able to be materially (bodily) compared, just as a carrot and orange cannot be compared except in that which is shared between the two. Men and women both have immortal rational souls, breathed into their matter by God. It does not mean that men are better than women, nor are women better than men, they are complementary to one another, and are not equal because they are not the same.
Though I take it most people believe in the human soul, it still nevertheless remains important to demonstrate its necessary existence in the human person, and as a consequence, delineate differences between it and other kinds of souls. Once finished, we can then proceed to see how it carries out in the human person.
Example of the existence of the soul:
Some in this world claim that if it cannot be empirically determined, then it does not exist. These are those who demand “scientific proof” of everything, yet fail to realize that science itself is beholden and completely inferior (in terms of hierarchy) to the metaphysical (that being such which is not dealing with matter). As the soul is immaterial, it does not have something which “science” (and by science I refer to that which deals with material study) can prove, since it cannot be touched, examined, or otherwise be observed.
However, it nevertheless can still be shown to exist and we proceed:
The Latin word for soul is “animus”, while the Greek word for soul is “ἄνεμος”, meaning the same. Both these words are ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European “*h2enh1mos” which means “breath”. We also see that in Scripture, God gives the human souls to men by “breathing life into them”. And in this way we see what a soul does, it “breathes” live from the material. The word “animate” is directly derived from this, and we see it makes sense, as it literally “breathes life” into some material thing (albeit, not in the way that God does).
And so, considering the above we move to an example:
Consider two genetically identical horses. Every atom, sub-atomic particle (i.e, “matter”, the material stuff) is the exact same. Let us say we have them both side by side.
Now then, let us kill one of the horses. Let us say, by deprivation of air. The instant the horse is dead, let us compare the two horses side by side. Materially, they are the exact same. Every sub-atomic particle is the same. What changed? For one horse is dead, and the other is alive. The “animating principle” (ie, the soul) has departed from the dead horse, whilst the alive horse is still alive.
The Human Soul
Though this is not the primary focus of this, it nevertheless is the case that some important iterations concerning the human soul must be shown.
We say that man is a rational-animal. And in this, he differs from angels, who are pure spirits (ie, have no matter, only immortal souls). But, man is not completely matter, as man is clearly different than a rock, which is completely material. So, man is animated matter. But a tree, a chimpanzee and a frog are all animated matter. But we see that man is indeed different than all these, though he shares in common with them being animated matter.
Man is different than a tree, because although both experience growth, a tree cannot delineate between good and bad, neither can a tree choose between actions, for a tree grows in the way that its vegetative soul animates.
Similarly, man is different than a frog, for though both undergo changes to their matter, a frog becomes a frog from a tadpole, and a human grows limbs in the womb, the frog cannot choose actions which are good and bad, only respond to stimulus according to instinct.
And too, man is different than a chimpanzee for though they have similar matter (humans share 96% of their DNA with a chimp, but remember, that is matter, not the animating principle, i.e, the soul), the chimpanzee cannot choose good and bad actions, it has a “modicum of discernment”, as Jean-Henri Fabre writes, but it cannot rationalize nor cannot choose according to natural law. The chimpanzee relies on instinct.
The human soul, however knows right and wrong from natural law. Natural Law, which is written onto the soul by God.
Plague 3: A Lack of Authenticity
We see the lack of authenticity in practically every single corner of the world. Countless hashtags, meaningless campaigns which are gone as soon as they started, sweep the world like wildfires. But, there is no embers remaining, there is nothing but meaningless ash which sweeps away in the wind.
Why? Because there is a profound lack of authenticity. By authenticity, I mean those attributes, morals, principles which do not change, are immovable, immutable and indifferent to whatever wildfire sweeps over them.
One hardly has to look to see it everpresent in our societies. Families, which are the bedrock of any society, once defined as one man, one woman and children, are now defined as to whatever interchangeable terms you want to place.
Men, once strong paragons of virtue (virtue, coming from the Latin word vir, meaning man), have become sissified, watered down. A voluntary watering-down too, in an attempt to appease the rabid equality wing of society.
Women who were once elegant muses, breathing life into everything men touched, have now become harpies, ripping through society trying to make oranges and apples equal.
The Causes of Lack of Authenticity
Firstly, we note that the rise of the irreligious correlates with the decline of authenticity. As people began becoming “non-religious”, they become less authentic, as they loose their anchors and become part of these sweeping wildfires. The percentage of religious in the West has sharply decreased with the turn of the century, and as the internet becomes the idol, people turn to it for their anchoring and it provides only wildfires to hold onto. Much like California, the wildfires devastate everything they touch, sparing nothing, and similarly without authenticity, every facet of a person’s life is ravaged.
Secondly, we see that social media only lends itself to promoting and increasing a lack of authenticity. Scientists identified a new mental disorder called FOMO (fear of missing out), which is caused by scrolling through social media, seeing the pristine and perfect photos of people who post only the highlights, leaving one to feel inadequate. The irony is that in order to post these photos, people must edit, filter and deceive to give the appearance of perfection.
In tandem, relationships which were once caverns of repose from these deceptions, are now more superficial and inauthentic as ever. Tinder Culture has led the masses to only pursue relationships based on appearances and sex. Much like Plato’s Cave, these inadequate shadows only lead one to despair and living a life which is devoid of any realness.
Tinder Culture in Depth
I believer that Tinder Culture is the main driving force behind the increasing lack of authenticity today. Tinder, for those unfamiliar, presents pictures of potential people who are pooled together, allowing the user to view the selected pictures (heavily doctored) and swipe right or left to indicate interest. Though first appearances matter and are crucial for good relationships, they are not the end-all be-all of the relationship. As any successful married couple might tell you, there were times when the first appearance left much to be desired, but because they were real and in-person, they persevered and produced a fruitful relationship.
Tinder Culture encourages people to base their relationships superficially and only on the basis of appearance and because our culture is laced with sex, it encourages people to have sex and then continue on. Sex, when confined to its proper end (procreation of children, and the increase of the marital bond) and in its proper place (marriage) is essential to marriage. Sex is the greatest physical expression of love that we are capable of, and it is the summit of the marriage, as the couple participates with God in bringing forth new life (or, they allow God to participate and bring forth children). Devoid of its end, sex only drives people to further depths of despair, as its end is frustrated and in being frustrated, it frustrates the participants. Tinder Culture also devalues people, by placing their value on appearance. It dehumanizes people to function only as objects of pleasure.
Regaining Authenticity
What can be done? In the first, we must combat those things which cause the lack of authenticity. We must reject the notion that men and women are equal in their natures as man and woman, we must acknowledge that men and women are equal as being made in the Divine Image of God. We must stop viewing people as objects, and instead view them as person in the Divine Image.
Practical implantations which can be used immediately are the following:
1) Cease using social media unless absolutely necessary
a. If you use social media to connect with close family and friends, then use it only for that end. Do not endlessly scroll through it, do not use it to view people as objects of pleasure
b. Limit social media use to weekends and for no more than 10 minutes
2) Read. Read the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers who so clearly understood the virtues. I recommend starting with the Stoics, and then moving to Aristotle and Plato
a. If there is interest, I will start a reading group, and provide guidance and notes specific to each philosopher, as some of the readings can be difficult to understand
3) Do not be afraid to stand for what you believe.
a. If you believe something, stand for your convictions. Do not apologize for your views. Truth is under assault and it is a rare commodity which instantly stands out amidst the wildfires sweeping our world
4) The most important thing is to pray. Pray. If you don’t believe in God, then start searching. Faith is not contrary to reason; it is complementary and it is necessary for the human person. Do you trust your parents that you were born on your birthday, do you trust your doctor? Then you have faith.
5) Finally, keep expanding yourself. Stagnation leads to despair, and despair leads to suffering. Dealing with suffering is one of the most important qualities a human being can possess.
Plague 4: Worshipping the Creation, not the Creator
As mentioned in the previous plagues, we have seen how men and women have become inversions of each other, the feminine becoming the goal for men, and the masculine becoming the role for women. We have seen the rise of sexual degeneracy and noted how it drives people to become voids of themselves, only to be swept up in whatever fad is trendy.
The last great plague is the worship of the creation and not the Creator.
Lack of Foresight
Foresight, literally “seeing ahead” is almost non-existent in our culture. How many people run about with little to no money in their back account, spending it without care, hoping to survive until the next paycheck? How many people overindulge in food, only to wake up hungover, depressed and in despair, knowing that they must now over-exercise to negate their actions? How many people think in terms of hours, and not years?
Part of the issue is the inability to deny oneself. When one delays gratification, the gratification they finally receive will be much sweeter. Who among us would harvest unripe berries and claim that they are just as succulent and sweet as properly ripened fruit? When one delays gratification, they are becoming masters over themselves, as the Greek Philosophers wrote. Part of the struggle of man is overcoming the base animal desires, and tempering it with the rationality that is proper to man. When one engages in hedonism, they become animals, and the irony is that even the bear and bird plan for winter, yet in the hedonist, there is no forethought except where they get their next pleasure. To wit, the allure of pornography is instant release and “gratification”, even though it is shallow and completely devoid of any real pleasure.
When one lacks foresight, they also lack the proper appreciation as to where the origin of the pleasure springs forth.
Erroneous Ranking of Pleasures and Overindulgence
Hand in hand is the erroneous ranking of pleasures which is also everpresent in our societies. Consider one who parties constantly, hardly a infrequent example. Do they rank the pleasure of a well-rested sleep above drinking alcohol and staying well past normal hours? No, instead they rank the pleasures of alcohol, companionship and good food above their bodily health, and they overindulge in the lesser pleasures, to the point that they harm higher pleasures. When one focuses only on the lesser pleasures, they will instinctively consume more and more to the point of overindulgence, since they try to satiate themselves not realizing that what they desire is the highest pleasures and goods. The lesser pleasures will never please as the higher pleasures do, since they are lesser pleasures.
This is not a condemnation of companionship, alcohol or good food, but it is an exhortation to moderate and regulate them to their proper places.
Overindulgence also leads to egotistical inclinations. For when one is not the master of themselves truly, in the sense that they command and subjugate their desires, they instead turn inward to themselves, trying to satisfy their desires with lesser pleasures. And as these pleasures will never satisfy, they will continually consume more and more in an attempt to please themselves, not realizing that they turn more and more inward. Consider for example pornography and masturbation. What the human person is longing for is authentic love and the profession of that love through the highest physical expression we are capable of. But because they do not properly order that to be the highest pleasure and work accordingly, they instead devolve into their animalistic tendencies and keep saying “I, I, I”. Masturbation is also known as self-love, although the term is completely wrong, because it is utterly and completely turned to the pleasure of one person, promising that human summit of love, even though by its very nature it will never and can never bring that high pleasure.
Self-Worship
As we noted in the social media craze, people have now become idols unto themselves, worshipping themselves and gauging their followers through likes and retweets. The church is themselves, and their followers are their sect. And they constantly check and compare themselves to others, in an attempt to prove how popular their self-religion is. Consider “influencers” or other social media “celebrities”. It is a cult, where the followers live and breathe as if they are the disciples of the person, promulgating their every action and word as gospel truth.
Consider the gym fanaticism and plastic surgery phenomenon we are experiencing. The gym is meant to keep the body healthy, not meant to be a hall of self-worship. Mirrors line every corner, and people stare narcissistically at themselves, worshipping their veins, muscles and physique. There is no foresight as to what they are doing, except to keep themselves as perfect as possible so that they might score their next Tinder conquest.
To be sure, there is a time and a place, a proper ordering for one’s bodily health, but this can just as easily be accomplished through other means, and does not require one to enter the den of self-worship.
Plastic surgery too, has swept across the world. Lip fillers, breast augmentations, buttock implants have all become commonplace, and if you do not support these endeavors, you are seen as ruining one’s right to self-worship. Falsehoods and heresies do not deserve equal footing as the truth. Plastic surgery is only adorning these idols of people with gold and myrrh, incensing themselves as they continue their rites of worship.
Worship of the creation, not the Creator
We see also the subgenres of culture where people become so enamored and caught up in their subcultures that they lose sight of who they are, what their purpose is and Who created them. One of the selling points of the website Reddit is that there is a subreddit (a subculture) for any interest. One only has to spend a few seconds perusing these various places to see how caught up people are in these cultures. Whether it be craft beer, certain video games or movies, people define themselves by their interests and rank these things as the source and summit of their lives. How often do we hear people wail and moan about having to wait months for a new season of a tv series and they cannot function until they watch it? The bread and circuses must come to a close. People must stop worshipping themselves and creation, and instead turn to the source of all goods, God.
Only God can properly satisfy man. God, who is the source and summit of every single person, created us for a specific purpose, in a specific design with a specific end. If we do not act in accordance with this end, then we become like zoo animals, who do not thrive or live and die in pent up cages, a shell of what they truly are. We must remind ourselves at each turn that whatever good we have is not the highest good, and that when we enjoy it, we enjoy it knowing that it is not the end all be all of our existence. We must define ourselves as creatures of God, and act in accordance with that notion.