Contemporary culture is undeniably profoundly confused about the nature of the human person and what constitutes right relationships between men and women. This is due in no small part to the introduction of the birth control pill in 1965, which held out the promise of sex without consequences; we all know only too well that its advent created a fissure between the unitive and procreative dimensions of the sexual act that led to decades of misunderstanding concerning the nature of love and the authentic meaning of human sexuality. Instead of regarding one another as persons, deserving of love and ordered toward the total gift of self, it is now an acceptable social norm for men and women to view each other merely as objects, to be used as instruments of pleasure and discarded when “used up.” The muddle created by the fight for women’s reproductive “rights,” the on-going horror of abortion, the ubiquitous “hook-up” culture, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and the onslaught of the gay agenda—all can be said to be the legacy of the so-called sexual revolution.
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