Study of Szombathely county bishop János Székely in the Magyar Kurír.
In the space of a few decades, the Western cultural circle was flooded with a new outlook on life, which considers almost any form of sexuality to be correct, elevates its exercise as a human right, wants to remove all restrictions from it, and attacks with great force all those who might not agree with this new outlook on life - writes, among others, the chairman of the Caritas in Veritate Committee of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference on the Catholic news portal.
International processes
Various organizations of the UN, the United States and many foundations give development aid to developing countries on the condition that abortion is made free and easily accessible to all women, that gay marriage is legalized, that contraceptives are distributed, that they are introduced in schools sexual enlightenment encouraging complete freedom. The bishops of Africa have protested against this ideological colonization on several occasions.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated in 2019 that
"states should remove all restrictions on adoption related to gender identity or expression, including transgender, intersex and/or non-binary".
Every year, 40-50 million abortions take place on Earth. The lobby that wants to recognize the right to abortion as a universal human right is getting stronger in the ranks of the UN. In the February 2021 UN report on the child and private life, the right of the child is to be able to decide on an abortion without the parent's knowledge, or that the parent may not request that the child be sent to therapy in case of difficulties related to sexual attraction.
National level provisions
In 2005, the Spanish parliament (after the Netherlands and Belgium) voted for the right to same-sex marriage together with the right to adopt children. Not long after, the subject called "civic education" was made compulsory in schools, within the framework of which it was stipulated that different family models must be presented as having equal value.
In the sex education advisory booklets of the German State Health Information Center (BZgA), parents were encouraged to pamper their children's genitals.
Kindergarten teachers were also advised to teach kindergarteners songs that talk about genital stimulation. Although some of the brochures have been withdrawn due to huge protests, similar content continues to flow into the German education system in other ways.
In England, instead of policeman, the term police officer must also be used for male police officers. The new German government has also set itself the goal of creating a completely gender-neutral language.
Where does this outlook on life come from?
What tree did these fruits grow on? The intellectual roots of gender ideology are the ideas of extreme liberal and left-wing thinkers. I will quote only a few typical sentences from them.
One of the distant intellectual forerunners is Friedrich Nietzsche. He wrote that "Christianity poisoned love". It didn't die of it, but it turned into evil. However, modern Western man has "killed God" in order to become a "superhuman man", "beyond good and evil".
Simone de Beauvoir calls on women to free themselves from the “slavery of motherhood”. He writes:
"A woman perceives pregnancy as enrichment and mutilation at the same time. The fetus is part of her body and at the same time a parasite that lives at her expense.”
The mutual belonging of mother and child is "a fatal, two-sided oppression." As a mistress, a woman must be able to control her own body.
These radical formulations are then dressed up in seemingly sympathetic slogans. An example is the "right to reproductive and sexual health". Who would have guessed that by this they also mean free and easy access to abortion and contraception, as well as information organized along the lines of gender ideology? How safe is the so-called "safe abortion" for the child? The slogans of "all forms of the family", "discrimination", "homophobia" and "hate speech" are slowly making it impossible for anyone to have a different opinion and to conduct a meaningful dialogue on the topic (34).
Which we totally agree with
Representatives of the feminist, gender and LGBTQ movements are also fighting for many goals with which we as Christians fully agree. It is also important for us Christians to learn and develop empathy, goodwill and helpfulness towards all people, regardless of their gender, writes Bishop János Székely in his study.
Of course, it is true that women have had to suffer a lot of disenfranchisement, marginalization, and restrictions for thousands of years. In many cases, they were denied the opportunity to study, certain professions and jobs, the right to vote, or equal income for equal work.
Their struggle for equal rights and equal dignity is right, and should be supported by all people of good sense.
It is possible to research what the social roles of men and women are in society and in the family, what the correct division of family work is, for example, is it correct that the woman does 95% of the housework, or if a man almost never expresses his his emotions. However, this social role (gender) should never be separated from the biological sex, it should not be treated as independent from it.
It is also true that people with uncertain sexual preferences or those attracted to people of the same sex are also entitled to the respect due to human dignity and goodwill from everyone.
It is important that the family and parents do not push their child or family member away if they discover such affections in themselves. It is also true that it is important to educate children and young people to respect and benevolence due to all people.
Where we already think differently
We Christians believe that there is objective truth, there is objective reality. We believe that this objective truth can be known to man.
We Christians believe that a beautiful harmony, a wonderfully beautiful divine order is created and implanted in the universe, in the atoms, in our cells, in our souls.
We do not create our identity
As Christians, we believe that one does not invent or create one's gender identity, but rather receives it. We receive it in the same way as we receive our mother tongue, we receive the historical period in which we were born, we receive the life history of our parents and grandparents, from which our life sprouts. We believe that this objective identity is not a limitation. We believe that reality is not an obstacle, not something that should be demolished, but the source of life. It's like a talent that needs to be built on and made the most of.
We are creatures, we are not omnipotent. The created world precedes us and we must accept it as a gift.
At the same time, we are called to preserve our humanity, and this means above all that we must accept and preserve it as it was created.”
The family and the blessing of children
We believe that the main purpose of sexuality is not simply individual pleasure, and that is why it is wrong to think of it as a separate human right. We believe that the natural purpose of sexuality is to celebrate and realize the unity and love of man and woman, and inseparable from this is the opening towards the blessing of children and the passing on of life.
We believe that family is not a curse, childbirth and motherhood are not slavery. We believe that not any adult has the right to a child, but the child has the right to a mother and father. The child has the right to develop his life and sexuality in harmonious conditions.
We believe that the small child under the mother's heart is not a parasite, not simply a part of the mother's body, but a small human life, a fellow human being who develops in his mother's womb. No one has the right to take his life.
What should we teach and raise children for?
We believe that marriage between a man and a woman is not equivalent to same-sex cohabitation, and it should not be taught to young people that way. It is therefore gratifying that 12 European states (Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine) have enshrined in their constitutions that marriage is a life union between a man and a woman.
We believe that the child needs to be slowly and gradually introduced to the values of the family, the blessing of children, and marriage. At the same time, teach him to respect all people.
We Christians believe that gender ideology is the wrong fruit from the wrong tree. The desirable exterior cannot mask the toxic interior. Let's not part with this tree! Don't offer this fruit to children and young people!
Above all, let's teach young people selfless, self-sacrificing, self-sacrificing, generous love, teach them the passionate search for truth, teach them the value of marriage, family and the blessing of children. Let's teach them to recognize God's dream for their lives and the world, and to realize as much of it as possible!
János Székely's study in its entirety in the Magyar Kurír here .
Featured Image: MH
