CHAPTER SIXTEEN CONCLUSION392 This book began with the reflection that the contemporary western world rejects the traditional Christian ethics of sex and marriage. It is not only secularized, non-religious people who dissent. A large number of American Catholics reject some of the basic moral rules regarding sex and marriage that the Catholic Church has taught and still holds as official teaching. A number of people, bothered by the dissonance between their own position and that of the magisterium, have left the Catholic Church, some drifting away from active participation in any Church life, some joining Protestant Churches whose teaching, they believe, corresponds more closely to their own positions. Others remain Catholics but no longer look to the Church as a reliable moral guide in matters of sex and marriage. Presumably if they can set aside Church teaching in this area they are likely in time to set it aside in other areas, if they have no already done so. Christian ethical teaching is properly based on Christian beliefs regarding the human person, the meaning of life and of society; one’s views on ethics have implications for one’s views on dogmatic matters. It is unlikely that dissent, once accepted as a normal part of belonging to a Church, will continue indefinitely to limit itself to matters of ethics. Dissent has far-reaching implications for the Church’s task of evangelization. It almost certainly keeps many in the world from listening to what the Catholic Church has to say. Even among those who do not dissent from official Church teaching, there are some who are uncomfortable with the Church’s insistence on ethical rules regarding sex and marriage. They can see why the Church should speak out on issues of war and peace, civil rights and Third World poverty. Is it really important, however, whether the young engage in pre-marital sex, or if married people use contraceptives? Who really gets hurt? 392
This chapter is not a conclusion in the sense that the rest of the book serves only to demonstrate the assertions here. There are many conclusions drawn throughout the book that are not taken up again here. This final chapter considers several themes that were introduced at the beginning and looks at them in view of the approach taken in subsequent chapters and draws out some practical implications.
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